Podcast
Commercial Drones FM
Hosted by Ian Smith · EN
The commercial drone industry is projected to be worth more than $20 billion in the next 10 years. Commercial Drones FM is the podcast for the drone industry. Your host, Ian Smith—a helicopter pilot and international drone operator—guides you in discovering the people who power the drone industry, the concepts that drive it, and the global industries who already use drones in their businesses today.
10episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
#099 - Skydio 2
Apr 6, 202000:51:22Tap to summarizeSkydio CEO, Adam Bry, joins the podcast to discuss the company's newest product, Skydio 2—the world's smartest drone. Bry explains the big differences between R1 and Skydio 2, the underlying technology, and commercial applications from partners like Ware, who build on top of Skydio 2 to automate warehouse inventory tracking. In the second half of the episode, Host Ian Smith is joined by Guillaume Delépine, Skydio's Public Safety Lead, to discuss the company's focus on public safety and first response.
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#098 - DroneInsurance.com with Dr. Ernest Earon
Feb 22, 202000:28:08Tap to summarizeDr. Ernest Earon is EVP of Artificial Intelligence at REIN, AKA DroneInsurance.com.
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#097 - Impossible Aerospace
Jan 6, 202000:32:25Tap to summarizeImpossible Aerospace is a US startup that manufactures an all-electric, high-endurance multirotor drone called US-1. The drone platform is marketed mainly towards first responders—law enforcement, firefighters, and more. US-1 boasts a flight time of 78 minutes on a total vehicle weight of 17 pounds. Keenan Johnson, one of Impossible Aerospace's co-founders, joined me on this podcast that was recorded at AUVSI's 2019 XPONENTIAL Conference in Chicago, IL. If you lose your pet, definitely go check out Puppy Platoon for help in finding it at puppyplatoon.com
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#096 - PrecisionHawk with CEO, Michael Chasen
Nov 14, 201900:27:54Tap to summarizeIan Smith is joined by Michael Chasen, CEO of PrecisionHawk. The two discuss the latest from PrecisionHawk and the drone industry as a whole.
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#095 - Heavy Lift Drones with Parallel Flight Technologies
Oct 24, 201900:36:07Tap to summarizeJoshua Resnick is CEO of Parallel Flight Technologies. Parallel Flight Technologies make hybrid powertrain, heavy-lift drones for commercial applications. Joshua is an ex-Tesla engineer who worked on their semi-truck. He created an incredibly novel powertrain for drones that gives hours of endurance.
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#094 - Multispectral Drone Cameras For Agriculture with MicaSense
Sep 15, 201900:28:23Tap to summarizeDrew Baustian, Business Development Manager at MicaSense, joins Ian to explain the finer points of multispectral drone cameras and imagery for precision agriculture. The pair discuss data capture, the science behind the tech, and use cases where multispectral imagery has been a difference-maker for agriculture end users. MicaSense recently released their Altum multispectral sensor.
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#093 - How LAFD Uses Drones
Aug 15, 201900:28:36Tap to summarizeLAFD is one of the largest fire departments in the world. Derrick Ward, a firefighter with 30 years of experience, is spearheading the use of drones as Lead UAS Pilot at LAFD. As Derrick reveals, there are many ways to use drones in fighting fires and on search and rescue missions. But the way to truly supercharge them is by sticking thermal cameras on them. Enter FLIR: the world leader in thermal imaging technology. Ian Smith, along with Randall Warnas, Global sUAS Segment Leader at FLIR, travel to LAFD Station 80s at LAX to discover how Derrick Ward and his team are using drones and thermal cameras to help save lives.
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#092 - Fly Your Drone Over People (Legally) with ParaZero
Jul 26, 201900:25:27Tap to summarizeHear from Avi Lozowick, VP Policy & Strategy at ParaZero, on how to conduct drone operations over people, legally, with ParaZero's drone parachute systems.
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#091 - Airbus Urban Air Mobility
Jul 4, 201900:26:00Tap to summarizeTravis Mason is VP and Head of Certification & Regulation, Urban Air Mobility at Airbus. Travis most recently was MC at AUVSI's XPONENTIAL Conference 2019—the largest global gathering of unmanned systems technology in the world. Travis previously was Chief of Staff at Google X and worked with the Wing team on delivery drones. He's passionate about policy—and that's key—as he is charged with helping Airbus' Urban Air Mobility (UAM) technology launch globally. You may know UAM from other popular terminologies, such as but not limited to: flying cars, eVTOL, air taxis, passenger drones, and many more. The UAM challenge touches nearly all facets of policy, technology, society, and even ethics issues (what happens if a passenger-carrying eVTOL aircraft has to choose between saving the souls onboard or bystanders that might be on the ground?) Travis and Ian discuss a variety of issues and challenges around drones, on-demand urban aerial transport, and even the omnipresent urban scooters.
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#090 - AirMap with David Hose, CEO
Jun 9, 201900:32:23Tap to summarizeAirMap is a California-based startup that has raised $43.6M to help companies coordinate and scale drone operations in ever-changing airspace conditions. David Hose is AirMap's current CEO. Ian and David discuss: AirMap's history and current offerings LAANC, BVLOS, Remote ID, UTM DJI replacing AirMap with PrecisionHawk's airspace product AirMap's stance on Federal vs. municipal/local regulation and much more
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