I am the eye in the sky looking at you
— Alan Parsons Project Drones are a great energy saver in the right hands, a menace in the wrong hands, and so, they are wrapped in a big layer of regulations. The question is: Are they a solution or a problem? Probably one of the greatest pathways to saving energy is exploring the diversity of applications, that is to accomplish the same task by different means. Such as trains vs. trucks, buses vs. passenger vehicles. Now there are drones. Drones can hop across a city in minutes; they can deliver medicine when it would be untimely to use a common courier; they can deliver car parts, sign documents and deliver pizza. If used en masse they could alleviate traffic congestion. Drones also can go places that are otherwise prohibitive in cost and safety, such as in some military operations or exploring underwater. Using drones saves a lot of energy as well. Just how reliable are they and what if they are in the wrong hands? The FAA is working on an extensive plan to cover this technology but I believe it will require a great deal of very complicated regulation. There are now over 1 million registered drone users. The sky has been filling up already with commercial uses and they are increasing rapidly. A recent Time story cited that over 100 too-close-for-comfort drone incidents are reported by commercial flight pilots a month. Anyone who flies regularly notices that just about every airport is in a major state of flux. Now these airports have drones to contend with as well, something that can take off from anywhere at any time and be controlled by virtually anybody. Drone technology is limited only by the size and battery weight. In order to use this energy saving device as a commercial autonomous device, it will require three additional technologies that are controversial today: AI (or artificial intelligence), autonomous motion and big data. This drone not only can watch you but will need information about you to do so. In order to navigate safely it will have to make decisions based upon its destination. It has to factor distance, routing, weather, battery run-time and air traffic. It will have to navigate unforeseen problems as well. There may be an advertising banner that was just installed or construction equipment that was repositioned like perhaps a crane. It will have to communicate with its host and perhaps its recipient. This means that it has to rely on big data that is up to the minute. There also is the issue of security. I believe that in the future, drones will all have to be registered, simply because they will have to broadcast an identification signal every time they are in the air just to avoid a collision. Also there is the issue of public safety. For example, what if one were to malfunction and crash, how do you minimize the collateral damage? On the good side, there are companies such as Zipline, an American startup currently operating out of Rwanda. Its primary goal is to provide blood to surrounding medical facilities. It is the fastest service currently available. What takes hours by courier under the most favorable conditions there, takes the Zipline craft a few minutes. Zipline uses a catapult to launch drones to their destinations. This ancient method is effective because it saves energy — takeoffs use the most energy — but also because the short time to get going assists in the services this drone provides. Liftoff also is the most time consuming phase for any airborne device. I have to believe that FedEx and Amazon are watching this one, as they have been very active in drone use. Visit Zipline’s website. One drone style that doesn’t get as much coverage is the underwater variety. I have always wanted to go on an underwater excavation. I like to think of it as history frozen in time. Underwater drones have many of the features of airborne drones, however they are watertight — and pricey. Underwater communication and long-term operation requires tethering, which greatly adds to the costs. They already retrieve ancient artifacts and document ocean critical activity such as underwater volcanic activity and environmental changes in aquatic life, an automated Jacques Cousteau, if you will! The Autonomous Future When I hear the term Autonomous Future, I think of the duo Zager and Evans and their song “In the year 2525” and Sting’s “If I Ever lose My Faith in You,” which compete for space in my head. Zager and Evans’ prediction will happen much sooner I’m afraid, and Sting’s prognosis that he didn’t see any miracle of science go from a blessing to a curse may be applicable here. I think that with drones there is a need to pause and to consider our general rapid assumption of technologies without first considering the consequences. Drones are a force to be reckoned with. I say that because it is an affordable technology that can be used by anyone of virtually any age over say 5 or 6, difficult to regulate and could cause a great deal of damage from a simple innocent mistake. In addition to the obvious dangers of terrorism, there is corporate spying, intelligence gathering of individuals, giving escape tools to incarcerated criminals, obstruction of personal privacy, illicit drug delivery, etc. All this going on right now at the infancy of its debut. It is worrisome what the idle minds of the future sociopath will come up with. Right now there are many companies that are making anti-drone catching and disabling devices. Let’s hope we give this device some serious consideration.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorJames Bobreski is a process control engineer who has been in the field of electric power production for 43 years. His “Alternate Energy” column runs monthly. Archives
June 2020
Categories |