Two Drone Technologies You Should Be Getting Excited About

I think it is a safe assumption to make, that drones are here to stay. Everyday I am reading new press releases and watching videos on new applications for sUAS, such as research into how climate change is affecting our planet, to mapping mines to calculating volumes of aggregate. It never ceases to amaze me just how many different applications people and companies come up with for incredibly niche uses of drones - my favourite one yet is a Chinese drone manufacturer who have produced a UAV with a flamethrower attached, for removing debris caught in power lines. With the uptake of drones, new companies are emerging that are developing sophisticated products that will ultimate shape the way we use these unmanned systems in the future. Whilst there are many exciting products I could talk about, I’m just going to be focusing on a couple in this article, which, depending on feedback, I will be adding to and updating hopefully on a regular basis.

Augmented Reality (AR)

A popular application of drones is currently Search And Rescue (SAR) and first response, with major drone manufacturers, such as DJI, dedicating a lot of their focus on promoting their equipment for these uses. With a combination of high optical zoom and thermal imaging cameras, it makes it an ideal solution for searching for missing persons, monitoring buildings on fire or surveying RTC scenes. With that said, there are still several issues with using drones with cameras in the air - how do you know exactly what is going on? How do you know where the search and rescue team is so you can easily navigate them towards the persons in need of assistance? One company’s answer to this is augmented reality.

Edgybees, a US based augmented reality company with roots in Israel and a background in video gaming, have created a fully-fledged AR application for DJI systems, providing Open Street Map overlay (or custom map integration), so road names and buildings are now easily identifiable from the UAV’s video feed, on top of user generated points of interest or obstacles.

A companion beacon app is available in conjunction with the aircraft’s, so any team members on the ground can broadcast their position with a call-sign on the main aircraft’s video allowing the operators to easily guide them to their target.

Recently they have launched a First Response Command & Control application for Windows PCs, that enables operators to live stream footage from the aircraft back to the command centre, enabling commanders to see the live operations below the drone and help coordinate the response.

Currently only a number of aircraft are supported, with the most important being the M210 via CrystalSky app. Z30 and X4S support has just been released, with XT2 support just around the corner, which will make the M210 even more of a formidable SAR platform.

With all of the features combined, Edgybees are set to dominate the emergency services sector and with support from DJI, it is only a matter of time before this becomes mainstream.

To find out more information about Edgybee’s Augmented Reality applications and for pricing, contact us.

Drone Swarming

You’ve probably already heard of artificial intelligence (AI), no doubt from various movies like Terminator or the Matrix, but probably more recently in the news or on technology blogs with companies like Google and Apple implementing some form of AI in their smartphones or search algorithm software. By implementing AI, processes can be drastically shortened, man power reduced and in most cases, less costs. It was only a matter of time before this technology was implemented into drones - we all knew it was the next logical step within the unmanned aviation sector.

Accelerated Dynamics, a start-up based in London, is one of the first companies to produce a commercially-viable drone swarming platform, using artificial intelligence to control up to six drones from one laptop bearing the mission control software.

Having recently experienced a demo of this in action, it was incredible to see the Command & Conquer style interface, displaying each of the drones as a symbol on the screen with a health bar that represents the battery status. By dragging the mouse you can select multiple drones, then a few clicks later you can tell them to fly a particular flight plan - whether a patrol route or search pattern. The drones will then automatically take off and by using the AI it will work out the most efficient route and spacing for the drones. When the battery runs low in one of the drones, it will automatically return to base with a reserve unit taking its place seamlessly. They even have the ability to stream the video feed to one screen simultaneously - ideal for op commanders on the ground to monitor.

Currently, hardware and manufacturer limitations have capped the maximum number of controllable drones to 6, with Accelerated Dynamics focusing mainly on DJI products. PixHawk/Cube support is planned (and possible), but with DJI having the largest market share and available SDKs, it makes sense to focus on their drones.

I can see the huge potential for drone swarming technology - particularly within the security or search and rescue sectors, allowing response teams to deploy small swarms of cheap drones to cover large areas at a press of a button, without having the need for one pilot per drone. There are still uncertainties around permissions for controlling multiple platforms by one operator, but with direct talks with the CAA, this should be resolved soon.

Final Thoughts

So these are just two examples of some up-and-coming technologies, that could drastically change some verticals within the drone industries - even whilst I typed this, a news article flashed up talking about wireless charging for drones, enabling long distance BVLOS missions. There is so much going on within the industry - it’s incredibly fast paced! Certainly makes my job interesting trying to keep up with it all!

That’s it for now, but if any of the solutions above are of interest to you, we’ll be running some demos later this year - get in touch and I’ll drop you some details.