Page 30 - GCN, March and April 2017

DRONES
Drones are moving beyond their well-established role in infrastructure inspections. For instance, Otherlab is developing a drone from biodegradable materials that could be used for disaster relief efforts, with funding from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
Some people have been critical of parts of the new regulations, includ- ing the rule that pilots must keep their drones within line of sight, but the FAA hinted in its forecast that this will likely change.
“The overall demand for commercial UAS will soar once regulations more easily enable beyond visual line of sight operations and operations of multiple [drones] by a single pilot,” the forecast states. “Once a framework is enabled for BVLOS operations, the projected market sizes could be higher than the forecast.”
Governments in several states are al- ready working on infrastructure to han- dle drone flight beyond line of sight. Ohio and North Dakota have invested in sense-and-avoid systems, and North
Dakota has also provided grant funding for a company to develop a re- gional aviation-grade network service specifically for UAS operations that can
scale to the entire state.
So pipeline inspections and aerial
photography are only the beginning. Other innovative uses of drones in- clude Virginia Tech’s experiments with deploying unmanned systems for food delivery in a partnership with Chipo- tle. Viewers saw the bleeding edge of drone technology during this year’s Su- per Bowl halftime show when an Intel- coordinated swarm of 300 drones put on a light show.
In addition, Otherlab used funding from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to create a disposable cardboard drone that could one day be used in disaster-relief efforts (the final design will be made of biodegradable
material). And of course there is Ama- zon’s plan to deliver goods by drone.
Similarly, government use cases are quickly expanding beyond military- oriented and intelligence-gathering missions, so that area seems primed for growth as well. Furthermore, government officials and researchers are already looking into using drones to inspect infrastructure, track animals or even catch runaway criminals.
‘THIS TECHNOLOGY IS CRAZY’
Jason Wayne Huddleston, a wanted felon, fled into a cornfield last August when authorities were looking for him in Florence Township, Mich.
Michigan State Police Sgt. Matt Rog- ers said such a situation would normal- ly be handled with a K9 unit. A couple of them were on the scene already, he recalled — but the police also had a drone.
In February 2015, the police depart-
30 GCN MARCH/APRIL 2017 • GCN.COM
MNDOT, OTHERLAB