On this episode of the Engineering Update:
The first commercial drone
Recently, the Federal Aviation Administration approved the first commercial drone, AeroVironment's RQ-20A Puma AE, a small hand-launched UAS with endurance of 3.5 hours and the capability to extend its range with solar or fuel cell options. It also includes electro-optical and infrared cameras. The Puma is already popular with the US Marine Corps, the Air Force, and Special Operations Command, but this time, it'll be flying in domestic airspace, by BP no less.