PALM BEACH, Fla., Oct. 17, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FN Media Group News Commentary - The business use cases of commercial drones have expanded significantly over the past few years and the commercial drone market is growing to interior uses in warehouses/facilities in additions to all of the well know exterior used. They are also being increasingly adopted in the construction and real estate sectors due to their ability to survey the property, offer constant and exact project alerts, increase safety, and prevent harmful accidents on construction sites. Moreover, their conventional applications, such as monitoring, surveillance, and security, have instigated the product demand for search and rescue operations, identifying unstable roofs in dangerous and inaccessible positions, tracking out elevated infrastructure that might have damaged electrical cables, etc. A recent report issued by Grand View Research, discussed the segments on the market, saying: “Product Insights: The rotary blade segment held the largest revenue share of over 78.9% in 2024. The demand for rotary blade drones is anticipated to surge for inspection activities owing to its ability to hover and execute agile maneuvering while maintaining a visual on a particular target for prolonged periods. These drones are often seen as a suitable alternative for various business applications such as surveillance, filmmaking, photography, and monitoring. In addition, they are easier to control than hybrid and fixed-wing counterparts. The hybrid segment is expected to attain a CAGR of over 18% over the forecast period owing to the advantages associated with these commercial drones. These drones enhance their efficiency and power by integrating the capabilities of batteries and fuel. Moreover, these drones can fly for long periods with heavier payloads, even in severe weather conditions. Tech giants like Facebook and Amazon use hybrid drones to transport packages effectively and quickly while enabling internet access in remote locations.” Active Tech Companies in the markets today include ZenaTech, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZENA), Red Cat Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: RCAT), Joby Aviation, Inc. (NYSE: JOBY), EHang Holdings Limited (NASDAQ: EH), AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVAV).

Grand View Research continued: “Application Insights: The commercial application segment accounted for a revenue share of over 74.02% in 2024. - End Use Insights; The media & entertainment segment accounted for a revenue share of over 21.4% in 2024 and is expected to record a notable growth from 2025 to 2030. - Range Insights: The visual line of sight (VLOS) segment accounted for the largest revenue share of over 69% in 2024 and the beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) segment is expected to grow at the fastest CAGR of over 11.2% over the forecast period. - Operating Mode Insights: The remotely piloted segment accounted for the largest revenue share of over 59% in 2024 and the fully autonomous segment is expected to grow at the fastest CAGR of 12.4% over the forecast period. The electric propulsion type segment accounted for the largest revenue share of over 72% in 2024. The segment dominance is attributed to the popularity of electric drones using rechargeable batteries. These drones have gained widespread adoption due to numerous advantages such as quiet operations, flight efficiency, longer flight times, and easy maintenance, among others. This, in turn, is expected further to drive the segment demand over the forecast period.”

ZenaTech Inc.’s (NASDAQ:ZENA) ZenaDrone Team Begins US Flight Testing of ZenaDrone 1000 Drone in the Arizona Desert - ZenaTech, Inc. ("ZenaTech"), a technology company specializing in AI (Artificial Intelligence) drone solutions and enterprise SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) solutions, announced today that its subsidiary, ZenaDrone, has begun the first US flight testing of the ZenaDrone 1000 drone, including new hardware and software configurations, in the desert near Phoenix, Arizona. The company has also been concurrently working towards setting up offices, operations and partnerships in the state.

“After years of development work and recently achieving US FAA approval, it is gratifying to be able to conduct live test flights and further build our company base in Arizona. This is the first of many test flights and demonstrations that will help us refine and build the reliability of the ZenaDrone 1000 solutions for agriculture, defense, security, land surveying and other applications where we see demand,” said CEO Shaun Passley, Ph.D. One of the company’s longstanding collaboration partners is the Arizona Commerce Authority (ACA), the State of Arizona’s economic development organization.

“We are thrilled that ZenaDrone has further grown and strengthened its Arizona presence by choosing Arizona as its base of U.S. operations. And we are now delighted that they have chosen Arizona’s skies to begin live testing of the ZenaDrone 1000 product. We look forward to continued work with ZenaDrone to grow their business in Arizona and throughout the world, including via participation at international trade shows and on international trade missions,” said Kevin O’Shea, Senior Vice President of International Trade for the ACA. Read the full press release and more for ZenaTech at:  https://www.financialnewsmedia.com/news-zena/

Additional Groundbreaking ZenaTech Inc. Developments include:

ZenaTech recently announced that its subsidiary, ZenaDrone, has begun the first US trial of the IQ Nano product solution for inventory management, beginning with a multinational auto part and components customer. The drone will be reading the bar codes and collecting inventory information as part of a paid trial. The IQ Nano indoor drone is designed for customers with warehouse, logistics and distribution operations to help them save costs and improve productivity by managing various tasks such as taking inventory, turning a weeklong activity into one day.

“After two years of product development work, the initiation of the first IQ Nano drone trial inside a customer’s warehouse is an important milestone. We believe the technology will help innovate and improve their inventory management process. Further, receiving feedback from our first paying customer will be extremely valuable as we continue to fine tune our IQ series solutions, enabling us to expand our offerings with this and additional new customers,” said CEO Shaun Passley, Ph.D.

ZenaTech also recently announced that its subsidiary, ZenaDrone, is launching its IQ Nano product, part of the IQ series of indoor/outdoor drones. The IQ Nano is designed for customers in sectors such as warehousing and logistics to save costs and improve productivity while performing indoor inspection, monitoring and tracking processes including inventory management.

The ZenaDrone IQ Nano is a 10x10-inch drone designed to perform regular and frequent inspections for applications such as bar code or RFID scanning, facility maintenance inspections, security monitoring, and 3D mapping specific to the needs of companies with warehouse, distribution, plants and industrial facilities. It is designed for autonomous use featuring integrated sensors, high-quality cameras and data collection. Weighing 1.5kg and with a flight time of up to 20 minutes before utilizing the automatic battery charging station, it is designed for hovering stability and for safety with obstacle avoidance capabilities.

And finally, ZenaTech recently announced that its subsidiary, ZenaDrone, has commenced aerial operations to launch commercial drone services in the US. This was made possible due to recently achieving Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) exemption approval.

Other recent developments in the Drone and/or Technology industry include:

Red Cat Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: RCAT) recently announced it secured a $1 million contract for its Edge 130 Blue drones from the United States Army Communications-Electronics Command (CECOM). The contract was secured through Noble, a leading provider of global sustainment and operations support for the U.S. Military and civilian government agencies, and was coordinated for procurement by the U.S. Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) on behalf of CECOM.

FlightWave, an industry-leading provider of VTOL drone, sensor and software solutions was acquired by Red Cat in September 2024. The acquisition brings FlightWave’s flagship drone, the Edge 130 Blue into its family of low-cost, portable unmanned reconnaissance and precision lethal strike systems. FlightWave’s size, weight and vertical take off capabilities makes it ideal for maritime operations and littoral environments. FlightWave’s recent TACFI award will accelerate advanced enhancements to the Edge 130 Blue.

Toyota Motor Corporation (TM) and Joby Aviation, Inc. (NYSE: JOBY), a company developing electric air taxis for commercial passenger service, recently announced that Toyota will invest an additional $500 million to support the certification and commercial production of Joby's electric air taxi, with the aim of realizing the two companies' shared vision of air mobility.

The investment, which will be made in two equal tranches, is subject to standard regulatory approvals and certain other conditions, finalization of collaborative and commercial agreements and, with respect to the second tranche, the finalization of terms related to a strategic alliance focused on commercial manufacturing and certain other conditions. The investment, which will bring Toyota Motor Corporation's total investment in Joby to $894 million, will be made in the form of cash for common stock, with the first tranche targeted to close later this year and the second in 2025. Further details of the investment are available via the companies' regulatory filings with the SEC.

EHang Holdings Limited (NASDAQ: EH), the world’s leading Urban Air Mobility (“UAM”) technology platform company, recently announced a major milestone with the successful completion of the first flight of its EH216-S pilotless eVTOL in Brazil.

EHang's first trial flight in Brazil took place in Quadra, located in the São Paulo region, in partnership with its local operator, Gohobby Future Technologies (“Gohobby). This achievement holds significant importance for the future development of UAM solutions in Brazil, a country known as the birthplace of Latin American aviation, home of one of the world's leading aeronautical industries, and one of the world’s largest eVTOL markets. As for now, EHang and its local partners have carried out over 50,000 safe flights in 17 countries across Asia, Europe, North America, and Latin America.

AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVAV) recently showcased the maritime prowess of its combat-proven JUMP^® 20 uncrewed aircraft system (UAS) during the NATO REPMUS 2024 (Robotic Experimentation and Prototyping using Maritime Uncrewed Systems) exercise off the coast of Portugal. This dynamic demonstration reinforced JUMP 20’s advanced Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities, autonomously launching and landing on a moving vessel in rough seas, with conditions reaching sea state level 5 and winds over 20 kts.

The JUMP 20 also highlighted its multi-sensor mission versatility, seamlessly executing wide-area search and detection tasks. Its advanced Electro Optical and Mid-Wave Infrared (MWIR) turret automatically slewed to investigate identified targets without repositioning the platform, ensuring constant operational focus. Full-motion video was captured and later analyzed using AV’s cutting-edge computer vision technology, SPOTR-Edge™, enabling perception analysis using its robust library of object classifications, including persons, vehicles, and maritime vessels. Additionally, video from this event will further enhance the solution, making the JUMP 20 even more capable for future deployments by refining its object recognition and situational response capabilities.

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