If you just bought your first drone and you are planning to fly it for fun in the United States, the FAA requires you to pass the TRUST test before you take off. TRUST stands for The Recreational UAS Safety Test, and it is the single certification every hobbyist drone pilot needs to legally fly … Read more
If you just unboxed a DJI Mini, a HoverAir, or another sub-250g drone, the first question most pilots ask is simple: do I need to register a drone under 250 grams with the FAA before I fly? The short answer is: not for purely recreational flights in the United States, as long as the aircraft … Read more
If you have flown a drone in the last few years, you have probably heard the term “Remote ID” come up over and over. Pilots ask us every week what it is, whether their aircraft qualifies, and what happens if they ignore it. So in this guide, our team breaks down what drone Remote ID … Read more
FAA Part 107 is the Federal Aviation Administration’s Small UAS Rule, the regulation that governs commercial drone operations in the United States. If you want to fly a drone for any business purpose, you must pass the Part 107 test and earn a Remote Pilot Certificate from the FAA. I wrote this guide after going … Read more
Drones fly by balancing four forces using spinning propellers and an onboard flight controller. The propellers push air down, which creates an upward force called lift. Sensors and a tiny computer adjust the rotor speeds thousands of times per second to keep the drone level or steer it in any direction. This guide breaks down … Read more
Agricultural robots are reshaping how we grow food, and I have spent the last several months studying how they actually work in the field. From autonomous tractors that till 24 hours a day to strawberry-picking arms that see ripeness through machine vision, these machines are no longer science projects. They are working tools addressing a … Read more
If you’ve spotted a six-wheeled cooler rolling down a sidewalk near you, you’ve probably wondered how delivery robots actually work. I started paying attention to them on my college campus a few years ago, and after watching dozens of trips, I dug into the technology. This guide pulls together everything I learned. Delivery robots are … Read more
If you’ve been told you need surgery and someone mentioned the Da Vinci Surgical System, you’re probably wondering whether a robot is actually going to operate on you. I get that question a lot from readers, and the short answer is no. A highly trained surgeon performs every single move. The robot is the tool, … Read more
When I first watched a surgeon control a robotic arm to remove a prostate through five small incisions, I had the same question most people ask: is the robot doing the surgery? The honest answer is no. The surgeon is doing every meaningful part of the operation. The surgical robot is an extraordinarily precise tool … Read more
Medical exoskeletons are wearable robotic devices that help patients stand, walk, and move again after injury, illness, or surgery. When I first started following this field a decade ago, the technology lived almost entirely in research labs. Today, FDA-cleared exoskeletons are used every day in hospitals, rehab centers, and even living rooms around the world. … Read more