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Drone Integration

Drones are starting to make more positive appearances in the news and this is a great start.

In 2017 the FAA rolled out the Integration Pilot Program (IPP). This program brings together governments (state, local, tribal) together with private entities (drone operators or manufacturers) to successfully and safely integrate drones. ‘The program has created a meaningful dialogue on the balance between local and national interests related to drone integration, and provide actionable information to the USDOT on expanded and universal integration of drones into the National Airspace System.’ – FAA website (author unknown)

The 9 IPP Lead Participants are evaluating a host of potential operational concepts like:

  • Fying at night operations
  • Flying over people
  • Beyond the pilot’s line of sight (BVLOS)
  • Delivering packages
  • Obstacle avoidance technology
  • Reliable & secure data links between pilot & aircraft

There are some fields that could see immediate opportunities from this program, such as:

  • Commerce
  • Photography/Videography
  • Emergency management
  • Agricultural support
  • Infrastructure inspections

There are so many practical and useful applications for drones and that’s one thing we love to do is help industries figure out how to create safer & ore efficient workflows. Have questions? Reach out! We would love to problem solve with you!

Interested in reading more about this program? Click here . (All this information was provided by the FAA website.)

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Favorite Apps

Happy Wednesday!  Today’s post we are going to highlight some of our favorite apps.

Editing:

  • Snapseed is one of the best photo editing apps out there.  It has so much to offer packed into a little tiny app!
  • Instagram is great to edit images/videos and also add text & gifs.  Once you edit a picture or video in Instagram stories there is a down facing arrow that if you click it saves the video to your camera roll! Easy as pie.  Once you save it you don’t have to post it – you can delete it and utilize the saved image/video in your camera roll for whatever you like.

Weather:

  • UAV forecast is our first app we open.  It gives us the KP index (an external force that can possibly reduce your satellite signals, it also measures geomagnetic storms caused by solar activity) which is super important to check before you fly every time.  Even a hobbyist should be checking KP index for the day to avoid a flyaway or possible crash.  (To read more about KP index click here for a great website called Space Weather Live.  They dive deeper into the science behind KP index and they also go through what the numbers mean.)
  • Second weather app is Dark Sky, this one seems to be super accurate and very up to the minute in terms of their information.  NOAA Weather app is also ok but if you don’t pay for their PRO I don’t think the free is updated as much and it does crash a lot.
  • The last weather app is Carrot – and we just like it because she delivers sarcastic funny weather. Sometimes you just need a laugh, especially when dealing with unpredictable weather!

Office:

  • CamScanner is a great app for on the fly if you need to create a PDF of something.  You can take a picture of a document and then email it as a PDF (or several other types of files).
  • MileBug is a great app for keeping track of mileage
  • Evernote is an alternative note taking app where you can add pictures, links etc.  It is a great way to digitally organize your thoughts, ideas or lists

3D Models:

  • Sketchfab! We love using Sketchfab to house our 3D models.  You can follow other people and get some great ideas for models as well as look at some awesome work people are putting out there.

Thanks for reading through some of our favorites and we would love to hear some of yours!  Comment below and let us know which apps you can’t live without!

 

*We are in no way associated with any of these apps/websites or paid to talk about, review etc.*

 

 

 

 

 

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Winter Tips for Tech Devices

Happy Wednesday! Today we have some tips for those of you who live in a colder climate.  When the temp starts to drop we need to be aware of how cold our technology is becoming!  If you let your devices get too cold they can malfunction or worse yet – break!

Laptops:

  • Don’t keep laptops in the car when it’s not running – if you must keep it in the car wrap it in a blanket or sweater.  Or, you can invest in a laptop warmer (which do exist!)
  • Bring your charger because cold air sucks battery life like nobody’s business!
  • Turn it off! I know what you’re thinking ‘but isn’t it working and staying warmer if it’s on??’ short answer yes – long answer – if you are moving around and active you *could damage the computer’s data.
  • Don’t turn your computer on the second you walk in the door – let it warm up a bit as to not encourage condensation 

Phones:

  • Like laptops, phone batteries can drain easily in the winter so have a charger on hand
  • Keep your phone warm by keeping it in your pocket, purse or backpack.  You may even put it in a wool sock for added warmth!

Drones:

  • Fully charge your batteries
  • Hover 30-60 sec before you fly
  • Keep batteries warm!  When on location, we keep our heat on in the car and throw the batteries up on the dashboard

Hope these tips were helpful!  We love our winter weather up here in New England and we also love our technology! Stay safe and warm and keep your gear in check!

 

 

(some laptop tips taken from Popsugar)

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Google Gravity Games 2018

We just got home from North Carolina where we had the pleasure of filming the 2018 Google Gravity Games!  You’re probably asking yourself, ‘What are the Gravity Games’?  Well, it’s an educational competition to get younger generations excited about Science, sponsored by Google.

The Gravity Games are especially relevant because kids these days need more Science, Art and Music in their lives.  Funding for lots of these programs has unfortunately been cut so this kind of event is awesome at sparking creativity and helping those students achieve more than they could ever dream!  With a variety of hands on activities, science tents, music etc this event is an all day town takeover in North Carolina and we feel so blessed to be part of it again!

Below is last year’s 2017 Gravity Games video so take a peek and get excited for the 2018 video! Also, know someone who would like to enter? Check out their official NC Gravity Games website below and good luck!

NC Gravity Games

2017 Gravity Games :

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0wziv5fL9c[/embedyt]