This week’s news round up looks at ZenaTech’s new surveying drone, how drones are transforming archaeological research, and drone delivery expansion by Zipline.

New Surveying and Mapping Drone from ZenaTech

ZenaTech has launched a new drone, the ZenaDrone IQ Quad, the latest addition to their product offerings. This drone is designed for surveying, construction, urban planning, real estate development, and public works. The drone will run through the company’s service platformand is currently in a testing phase, but plans are in place for a bigger rollout soon.

“This launch represents a meaningful step forward in our strategy to deliver purpose-built autonomous AI solutions for high-value, data-intensive industries,” stated Shaun Passley, Ph.D., CEO of ZenaTech.“Land surveying is a large, growing and underserved market, where speed, accuracy, and repeatability are critical, and the IQ Quad was engineered by ZenaDrone from the ground up to meet those exact requirements.”

Drones Transform Work in Archaeology

Researchers at the State University of New York at Binghamton have been using drones as new tool in archaeological research. They note the significant benefits, such as being able to map inaccessible volcano craters or get up close and personal with statues on Easter Island. Most of all, drones can capture a significant amount of data without disrupting the artifact.

“With a drone, we were able to systematically map this at 30-meter increments to create a centimeter-level, precise three-dimensional model. There are 22,000 photos stitched together with software,” Carl Lipo, an anthropologist at the school, explains. “In some ways, it’s actually better than being there.”

The university has been using drones since they were available in 2005 and has been grateful for the advances in technology over the last two decades. “Now, you press a button and it goes up; the drone flies back and forth and lands itself. You download the data into the computer, which builds you a three-dimensional map.”

Zipline’s Drone Delivery Program Expands

More drone delivery news has hit the press as Zipline announced an expansion to its drone delivery program. Zipline plans to add territories in Houston and Phoenix early this year, in addition to the current delivery locations in Dallas-Fort Worth and Arkansas. This expansion is a result of new funding of $600 million, which will also be used to launch in four new states later. Zipline started out with medical supply deliveries in remote parts of Africa but has now expanded to the U.S. market, delivering food and retail items in addition to medical supplies.

This decision was also backed by consumer data that showed how well the first location’s services were performing. “We have certain cities where more than 50 percent of homes are engaged Zipline customers. The service has been growing about 15 percent week over week over the last year,” stated Keller Clifton, CEO of Zipline.