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Drones
Worker drones
Safety first
Drones, or unmanned aerial vehicles
(UAVs), continue to make the news
for all the wrong reasons. Back in April
a British Airways plane approaching
Heathrow Airport was thought, wrongly
as it turns out, to have been hit by a
drone. In the same month, drones were
banned from flying over a large part of
London during the visit of US President
Barack Obama.
Despite security concerns, calls for
tighter rules on drone use and regulatory
uncertainty, the drone industry continues
to flourish.
Juniper Research expects annual
revenues from commercial drone sales
to reach $481 million this year, a rise
of 84% on last year’s figure of $261
million
1
. Growth will be strongest in the
agricultural sector, which is predicted to
account for 48% of all commercial drone
sales this year.
In the Queen’s Speech in May the
government announced it will introduce
a Modern Transport Bill to ensure the UK
is at the forefront of technology for new
forms of transport, including drones.
Drones are already used for a wide
range of applications (some of which
we explored in issue 124) and with
advancements in technology, such as
more compact sensors and cameras,
they will continue to be adopted across
many industries. Here are a few recent
examples:
Following the recent ‘drone’ incident
at Heathrow Airport,
Business Info
asked experts what they would do
to stop drones becoming a public
nuisance?
James Marchant, Director at Eye Sky Group:
“I think the best solution is a mandatory serial
number registration system. Simply make it illegal
to sell a drone in the UK without linking the
owner’s details to the aircraft’s serial number. This
is what they do for airguns, which are legal for
anyone to buy yet can cause harm. Follow this up
by making it illegal to fly a drone without having
registered its serial number. It would not require a
huge investment to put such an infrastructure in
place.”
Michael Bugden, Director at The Drone
Company:
“More education needs to be given
at the point of sale, specifically relating to
restrictions when operating a drone.Without
the correct knowledge hobbyists pose a genuine
danger to members of the public by not adhering
to CAA guidelines.”
Justin Pringle, CTO at Drone Operations:
“Like
dogs, there is no such thing as a bad drone, just
bad owners.” He recommends education at point
of sale and the fitting of propeller guards by
manufacturers.
Crowd friendly technology
Drones are great for capturing footage
at events but their propellers make
them a hazard to people. AEROTAIN has
now developed a crowd-friendly drone,
Skye, that combines aerial imagery,
advertising and entertainment. Lifted
by helium and powered by electrical
motors, Skye can perform a variety
of movements, including rolling like a
football; can be customised to depict a
product or brand name; and can carry
broadcasting equipment to take aerial
footage. Unique safety features mean it
is safe to touch in flight so can fly over
crowded places and closely approach
people, offering brands a unique
opportunity to interact with audiences.
Safer inspections
Drones are widely used for aerial
inspections of everything from oil rigs
to buildings and bridges. Justin Pringle,
CTO at Drone Ops, which specialises
in the commercial application of Small
Unmanned Aerial Systems (SUAS), says
drones are often the safest option as
they remove humans from hazardous
situations. “We have developed a drone
that can detect air pollution using
sensors and a drone that can locate land
Tayla Ansell looks at recent applications of drone technology
mines from a safe distance,” he said. In
another example, a drone was used to
check radiation levels at Chernobyl.
Animal observation and conservation
Animal charity International Animal
Rescue rescues, rehabilitates and releases
orangutans in Borneo, placing small
radio transmitters under their skin so
that they can be located in the wild. It
recently trialled the use of drones as a
cheaper and more efficient alternative
to human trackers. CEO Alan Knight said:
“Our idea is to use a drone to search for
orangutans at night when they climb
to the tops of trees to make nests. The
interference is less and the manpower
is vastly reduced. Our software picks
up transmissions and produces a heat
map showing hotspots where the
transmissions are strongest. The trackers
can then enter the forest and go to
within 10m of where the orangutan is
sleeping, saving huge amounts of search
time.”
Amphibious drone
Addressing potential military
applications, researchers at the Johns
Hopkins University Applied Physics
Laboratory in Maryland, US have
developed a submersible UAV that
can be launched from a fixed position
underwater. The Corrosion Resistant
Aerial Covert Unmanned Nautical
System (CRACUNS) can remain
underwater for months without
corroding and can withstand the pressure
of being submerged at a depth of several
hundred feet.
The increasing popularity of drones
will no doubt continue to spark safety
and privacy fears. However, it is
important to acknowledge the benefits
they bring to a variety of applications,
including greater efficiency, lower costs
and safer data collection.
1 Juniper Research:
Drones: Consumer &
Commercial Applications, Regulations &
Opportunities 2015-2020
The Corrosion
Resistant Aerial
Covert Unmanned
Nautical System
The all seeing Skye
We have
developed a
drone that can
locate land
mines from a
safe distance
