Knysna drone manufacturer SteadiDrone will represent South Africa at the first International Drone Day on Saturday March 14.
More than 100 teams from 50 countries around world will participate in the event which was established to educate the public about the positive ways in which drones can be used to better society and also to end the stigma that they are used for harming or spying on people.
While the event headquarters will be in Las Vegas – where 60 North American teams from 35 states will showcase the uses of drones – SteadiDrone and the other international teams will be participating on home soil.
SteadiDrone does not support, endorse or believe that drones should be used for military purposes or to harm a person or to violate a person's privacy.
“Instead, we aim to inspire film makers and media companies to create beautiful and never before seen footage on our television and movie screens and to even map out regions for agricultural purposes. The positive possibilities are endless,” SteadiDrone media manager Ricardo van Lingen said.
Other uses include search and rescue, law enforcement, firefighting, environmental research, conservation and preservation and sports.
“This industry and market is growing very fast, but is also new. Laws are busy being put in place right now and if we can't show that they can mainly be used for good, then this new industry will not be able to practice this new method of creating material or doing great things.”
On Saturday the SteadiDrone team will gather at the Old Drift next to the Knysna River to demonstrate a few of their drones’ flying capabilities and uses.
They will be there from 8am to 11am and encourage residents and visitors to bring a breakfast picnic basket for the show.
In America there will also be world record attempt for the most drones to be airborne at one time – this will be a new Guinness World Record category.
SteadiDrone has established itself as a force to be reckoned with in the drone industry and recently founder Duran de Villiers was made the 2015 Forbes 30 Under 30: Africa’s Best Young Entrepreneurs list which recognises the continent’s top young businessmen and –women who are set to become future business leaders. And this just more than two years after establishing the company.
The company’s products can fly various cameras and payloads ranging from 200g up to 8kg and the systems full GPS flight controllers, autonomous flight and missions, stabilized camera gimbals and advanced multi-rotor drones.
Yolande Stander
Garden Route Media
Picture: Wikipedia
