This week’s “Around the Commercial Drone Industry” news round-up looks at a partnership between Draganfly and Autonome Labs to neutralize land mines, the use of Verity Studios drones at Eurovision 2025, and how DJI drones helped with disaster relief efforts following last year’s Hurricane Helene in North Carolina.

Draganfly and Autonome Labs Partner to Neutralize Landmines

An announcement from drone industry leader Draganfly details how the company is teaming up with Autonome Labs “to develop an integrated aerial deployment solution for M.A.G.I.C, (Mine and Ground Inert Clearance) Autonome’s groundbreaking mesh-based demining system.” According to Draganfly’s statement, the collaboration “will pair Draganfly’s Heavy Lift drone platform with Autonome’s M.A.G.I.C. system to safely and efficiently deploy demining mesh designed to detonate and neutralize landmines across hazardous terrain.” The effort is aimed at enabling “rapid clearance of explosive threats, significantly reducing risk to human demining teams and accelerating the restoration of safe, usable land.”

DJI Drones and Disaster Relief in North Carolina

DJI’s blog, Viewpoints, details how that company’s vehicles and systems helped police in Asheville, North Carolina during and after last year’s devasting Hurricane Helene. The blog explains how the Asheville Police Department, “deployed 13 DJI Docks (a mix of DJI Dock, DJI Dock 2, and DJI Dock 3) across the city, creating a network that transformed their ability to assess, respond, and recover.” DJI drone-in-a-box systems, the blog reports, enabled “automatic, repeatable drone workflows – even in remote or challenging environments - empowering responders to reach impacted areas faster, safer, and more effectively than ever before.” After the storm, DJI systems helped local authorities “map thousands of acres of flood-damaged areas, pinpoint vulnerabilities in critical infrastructure, and deliver vital intelligence to state and local agencies.”

Eurovision Enlists Verity Studios for Drone Support

Eurovision Song Contest has enlisted Verity Studios to provide technical support to its 2025 event. According to Verity, the company will use its Lucie micro drones with its new the Mini Beam payload to “support the visual experience of the event.” Verity states that “The new Mini Beam payload introduces a moving beam light that operates without fixed mounting points.” This approach, the company says, “enables lighting designers to position and move beams in the air with more flexibility than conventional setups allow.” The Lucie drones, which “weigh56 grams (2 ounces), fly for up to five minutes, and are designed for consistent use in live, safety-critical environments,” will be deployed during Eurovision 2025, to be held in Basel, Switzerland, from May 13 to May 17.