The Flying Autonomous Fleet of the Future

The development of autonomous aircraft vehicles has come a long way, from being the mere imaginings of The Jetsons, ChittiChitti BangBang, Blade Runner, and The Fifth Element, to becoming actual flying vehicles with a nearly billion-dollar investment in 2020 alone. And the market for flying cars worldwide is projected to pass $1.2 trillion by 2040. Suppose you’re curious about how those cartoon/cinematic suggestions are coming along. In that case, the most promising are not precisely what we’ve seen in the movies, but in many ways will be even better by what they can do for us as a society. 

For safety and efficiency’s sake, the lion’s share of flying vehicles will be more like “drones” in autonomous fleets using driverless technology. A 2019 survey of 10,000 people worldwide found 80% are concerned they won’t be safe. By far, the most interest and investment has gone to the development of unmanned aircraft systems operations. There is almost four times the number of unmanned as manned aircrafts registered worldwide. Increased safety due to reduction in human error figures into this trend. 

“The steady development and expansion of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) have created a dynamic change in aviation that we have not seen since the dawn of the jet age...” —Jay Merkle, Director of the FAA Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration Office.

Autonomous taxi and delivery services continue to be the most promising developments. On December 8th, Uber sold off its Advanced Technologies Group (ATG), the self-driving unit, to Aurora, to the surprise of many. However, this deal could indicate a stronger position for the soon-to-be lucrative air taxi industry, which has enjoyed significant investment -- especially over the last nine months of lockdowns, as buying by delivery has become the preferred way to shop and dine for most. 

Here in Los Angeles, we might get our Postmates orders via drone by 2023, under a new initiative by Mayor Eric Garcetti. The Los Angeles initiative, backed by Hyundai Urban Air Mobility, Urban Movement Labs, and Estolano Advisors, aims to develop regulation policies for delivery drones. 

Of course, Amazon has been working for years on methods to deliver goods via drone. This year, the Federal Aviation Administration designated Amazon Prime Air an “air carrier,” allowing them to start testing commercial deliveries in the U.S.

More outstanding issues to address include: how do we ensure all of these wondrous flying machines stay on course without smashing into each other? How do they connect securely with charge up and maintenance stations in a timely fashion? 

The answer may be a decentralized, autonomous ecosystem whereby vehicles communicate with each other in an IoT fashion, and instructions/transactions are recorded and verified reliably on an immutable blockchain. The transportation trends of Autonomous, Connected, Electric, and Shared (ACES) can merge and come to full fruition through the use of decentralized, multi-layered platforms.

Berlin hosted Skysense to demonstrate how blockchain data enables autonomous vehicles to make informed decisions on maintenance issues like recharging. A drone charging infrastructure provider worked on a proof case to show how blockchain and an infrastructure provider can work together for an efficient stream of recharging visits. For the demonstration, Skysense made one of its ultra-fast drone-charging pads available on the DAV blockchain network. The drone searched for a station that autonomously bid to provide service. The drone and charging station used the same communication protocols, serving as a point of interoperability, finding the charging station, delivering the service, and even paying the bill.

A decentralized blockchain Network may also, in time, connect customers for payment of tolls and insurance premiums. As an incentive for nodes on such a blockchain, the reputation of each on a given transportation web might be publicly rated like Yelp reviews according to their reliability. 

There will be legislative issues, liability/insurance issues, and possibly cyber-security concerns along the way to our space-age autonomous fleet of flying machines. These will be addressed and resolved in time as the technology of our flying fleets progresses. 

Follow with us at Beyond Enterprizes as we navigate this new terrain for blockchain as it reaches skyward.