Page 32 - GCN, March and April 2017

DRONES
pole, Shafer said. The drone will allow them to rise above obstructions and find the ani- mals they seek far more quickly and inexpensively than they would by flying over the area in a plane, which is what many researchers do.
Early tests of the technol-
ogy, which have involved flying
grid patterns over an area with stationary transmitters, have
proved its value, Shafer said. The cur- rent setup uses a receiver and a small computer that captures the VHF data locally on the drone then sends it via a Wi-Fi link to researchers on the ground.
“These are kind of the baseline func- tionalities that we’re looking at devel- oping,” he said, “basically doing things very similar to what a wildlife biologist would already do but allowing them to do it in three-dimensional space much more quickly and efficiently.”
Carol Chambers, a forestry profes- sor and wildlife biologist at Northern Arizona University who is working with Shafer on the project, described the impact the technology could have on field research. “It could make our work more efficient because people won’t have to drive around for days search- ing for transmitters, often hiking long distances and up to the tops of hills and mountains,” she said in a university an- nouncement about the project.
Shafer said he and his colleagues plan to eventually add more capabili- ties, such a software-defined radio that could automate the process of search- ing the radio spectrum and even pick up multiple signals at once.
When the designs for the drone and the onboard tracking system are final- ized, the plans will be released in open- source format so that other researchers can easily use the technology.
The team is also talking with re- searchers at the Grand Canyon and other sites where aircraft are now used to capture VHF signals about the poten- tial of doing collaborative work with the new drone receivers.
INFRASTRUCTURE INSPECTION
The usual method of checking the condition of bridges involves snooper trucks, which use a large hydraulic arm to place inspectors over the side of a bridge. They also require blocking off a lane of traffic. But officials at the Min- nesota Department of Transportation believe a drone can make that process easier — if not replace it entirely.
MnDot’s early efforts in this area made it a finalist for last year’s GCN dig IT Awards, and the agency is currently working with a consultant to study the effectiveness of relying on drones for inspections, said Rick Braunig, manag- er of aviation safety and enforcement at MnDOT.
The drone’s camera can provide valu- able information on the condition of a bridge, he added. “We don’t get every- thing,” he said. “There are some parts of the inspection [when] you really want to be able to tap on the bridge or do a little scraping and see what’s un- der the surface. But the drone gives us enough information to know where we might want to go back and do that.”
The department has not bought any drones yet because officials must first update operational procedures to in- clude information on drone safety and maintenance and the process for certi- fying drone operators. But the plan has broad support.
Braunig said MnDOT is also consid- ering using drones to inspect communi- cations towers and for photogrammetry (using photos to measure distances be- tween objects).
He said that although officials are
still limited by the FAA’s Part 107, which says drones can’t fly over traffic, they might pursue a certificate of autho- rization, which would give them more leeway.
Drone manufacturer DJI recently acknowledged the rising trend of using drones for infrastructure inspection with the release of its Ma- trice 200 Series. The compa-
ny said the new upward-facing gimbal mount is ideal for looking at the “un- dersides of bridges, towers and other structures.”
“Drones have quickly become a stan- dard part of the enterprise toolkit, and industrial users have come to rely on DJI technology to efficiently collect aer- ial data,” said Paul Guo, the company’s director of enterprise solutions.
OVER THE DRONE HORIZON
Dan Gettinger, co-director of the Cen- ter for the Study of the Drone at Bard College, said Part 107 has encouraged users to try out drones in creative ways.
“Now that [regulations] are in place, it could become easier for government agencies to use drones,” he added.
The enthusiasm for drone-driven missions is likely to continue, Gettinger said. And as for the next round of in- novations, he suggested two places to look: swarms and automation.
The military has been doing a great deal of research with drone swarms, and Intel’s Super Bowl display dem- onstrated their potential for high-tech fireworks, but the technology has yet to make it into the mainstream. “It’s a bit beyond the horizon at the moment,” he said.
Then there is the move toward auto- mation, or self-flying drones. Consumer drones can already track their users without the operator touching the con- trols, but full automation is still finding its way into the market. Gettinger said it’s just a matter of time.
“I think autonomy is the golden egg in many respects,” he said.” •
32 GCN MARCH/APRIL 2017 • GCN.COM
Intel demonstrated one of the latest innovations in unmanned aerial systems by using a drone swarm to put on a light show at this year’s Super Bowl.
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