BSNF, A 167-Year-Old Railway, Begins Using Drones (Article by Thomas Black; 8.29.16)
Drones aren’t just for modern, high-tech companies anymore. The BSNF Railway Company, which has been around since 1849 – or in the article’s words, “when Abe Lincoln was in Congress” – recently began using drones to inspect tracks in New Mexico. The company is working directly with the FAA in this effort, and it is hoped that this program will help the FAA to develop rules for using drones beyond a pilot’s line of sight. BSNF was a good match for the FAA’s plans because the railroad operates tens of thousands of miles of railroad track in sparsely populated areas, meaning that the drones can be tested there with little risk to civilians. The company hopes to use the drones to more quickly and easily detect anomalies in their railroad track that could lead to derailments. Currently, the FAA’s general rules and guidelines require a pilot to have line-of-sight on a drone at all times, but these steps towards non-line-of-sight FAA-approved flight could open up many opportunities for using unmanned aerial vehicles when constant line-of-sight is impractical or impossible, such as long-distance aerial surveys such as BSNF’s, and even FPV flying. Many risks and obstacles still exist, however, such as developing the capability for these drones to detect other aircraft and airborne objects in their route when a pilot is not present.
— Peter Davidson
FAA Expects 600,000 Commercial Drones in the Air Within a Year (Article by Alina Selyukh; 8.29.16)
The Federal Aviation Administration expects that there could be as many as 600,000 drones (for commercial use) in the air within the next year. Currently, that number sits at around 20,000 drones. That’s a thirty-fold increase. The reason for this estimated increase? A new rule that went into effect on August 29, 2016, which makes it easier to become a commercial drone operator. More than 3,000 people pre-registered to take the certification test on the first day of the new regime. The current safety regulations regarding drones will still remain the same for now. However, businesses may now get special waivers to skip some of these restrictions if the business can prove it operates in a safe manner. According to FAA Administrator Michael Huerta, the FAA has thus far approved almost 80 waiver applications. The majority requested permission to fly at night. The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International expects that the drone industry will create 100,000+ jobs and generate more than $82 billion for the economy within ten years of being integrated into the national airspace. The FAA is currently working on new rules that will allow drone flights over crowds of people and beyond the line of sight of the pilot.
— Corey Schulz
New System Sends Drones Back From Where They Came From (Article by Hillary Gregonis; 9.1.16)
As the commercialization of UAVs, more commonly called drones, has developed, many issues have arisen with the privacy and safety of the remote craft. Many individuals feel as if drones are being used to spy and/or invade one’s privacy. Now, there is a solution to this issue. A company by the name of AirFence, Inc. has developed what some may call a “futuristic” force field that defers drones from the path they were flying and sends them back to where they came from. The product is called the ApolloShield and all the user has to do is plug the system into the wall and the hacking of unwanted drones can begin. “The unique thing about ApolloShield is that it is plug and play and intercepts drones in a safe way — no crashing and no radio jamming,” says the CEO of the business. Users may also choose to put the device on a manual mode so the shield will only send the “Return Home” command if the user deems it necessary to have the drone removed from the area. The ApolloShield will serve as a valuable replacement/solution to the issues of the common man. Rather than having to shoot down and destroyed by an angered civilian or member of law enforcement, the drone can be returned back to its owner safely. ApolloShield will serve as a viable solution to the objections of drone use in many settings by removing any chance of a disturbance occurring. Although a price has not been publicly stated, ApolloShield has contacts listed on their website, www.apolloshield.com, if one would like to find more information about these devices.
— Cameron Shonnard
Drone Piloting Now Open to Enlisted Airmen From All Career Fields (Article by Jennifer Svan; 8.30.16)
On Monday, August 29th, the Air Force announced that “enlisted airmen from all career fields may now apply to fly the RQ-4 Global Hawk”, an unarmed drone used primarily for surveillance. This move opens the possibility of drone piloting to thousands more airmen than before. In recent months, demand for both armed and unarmed drones has been increasing around the globe, and the Air Force has been struggling to keep up with his demand. In December, the Air Force announced that it would make an attempt to integrate their enlisted force into remotely-piloted drone operations, and this new guideline is possible evidence of their efforts to open up drone piloting to more of the force in order to attract more pilots. The requirements of eligibility for remote piloting are still high, however: applicants under the new policy still must hold a rank between staff sergeant and senior sergeant, and must demonstrate knowledge in math, aviation, and other areas, as well as passing a flight physical. Global Hawk drones have been used frequently by the Air Force in the past: the force has logged over 175,000 flight hours with Global Hawks in total. These drones are very useful for surveillance, and can survey thousands of square miles in a single flight.
— Peter Davidson
Allstate Just Used Drones to Inspect Homes in Texas (Article by Jonathan Vanian; 9.2.16)
Recently Allstate has been testing drones for inspecting roof damages as a means of efficiently handling customer insurance claims. With new FAA rules in place as to how businesses can operate drones, the insurance giant plans to expand its testing with drones said Glenn Shapiro, Allstate’s executive VP of claims. On August 30th, Allstate used drones to inspect over 20 home roofs in an area near San Antonio hit by hail storms from April to June. At first, Allstate sent human inspectors to take photographs of the damages. The company decided to fly drones over the already-inspected areas to compare the two methods. Previously, Allstate had tried to use drones to inspect homes in Colorado but old FAA rules were in place making it inefficient for the company to use drones in its day-to-day operations. Allstate used two drone companies, EagleView Technology Corporation and Kespry to aid the tests. The flights were 10-15 minutes in length and were fully autonomous. Shapiro seems confident that the results will be promising enough to continue testing the technology. Shapiro also says that drones will let inspectors spend more time in the office, examining the imagery. Faster response times will be possible with the use of drones and, ultimately, Allstate will save money. The insurance company is also looking into using fixed-wing UAVs (think: planes) to take pictures even faster, but the camera technology on these vehicles is not yet improved enough and FAA rules won’t currently allow it. The future of drones in the insurance industry is looking bright.
— Corey Schulz
AT&T Turns to Drones to Help Keep Cell Towers Running (Article by Matt Day 8.31.16)
As many companies have begun to accept the benefits that drones may have on their business, a wide range of applications of drones have been discovered. Starting in September, AT&T, a so called “telecommunications giant”, will hop on the bandwagon of drone users. After many months of trials, AT&T plans to use drones to maintain and inspect towers, and test the wireless capabilities of their network. Although the FAA has recently released new commercial drone rules, AT&T says that these rules will not affect their ability to continue their program. One of AT&T’s applications for their drones is to use them to test cell reception in football stadiums. They used to the drones to monitor the service provided as 70,000 plus individuals tried to gain access to their services. The drones were able to see the strength and weaknesses of the signals in the various locations of the stadium and provide that feedback to the operators. AT&T is also thrilled with the ability to use drones because they eliminate many on-the-job dangers. The inspecting cell towers if often dangerous because of climb that comes with inspecting them. Drone use will eliminate any unnecessary climbs on the towers and therefore make the technicians jobs safer. AT&T also stated that they hope to further develop their drone applications down the road. The company stated that they would like to deploy drones during natural disasters to restore service and allow individuals to contact emergency services, family, etc.
— Cameron Shonnard
How Drones Are Turning Everyday Citizens into Superheroes (Article by Danielle Muoio; 8.30.16)
The FAA’s new rules for non-hobbyist drone use make it considerably easier to use drones for search-and-rescue missions – this is a very good thing, as drones have played a significant part in search-and-rescue efforts in recent years. Garret Bryl, a software engineer, contributed to rescue efforts in Fort Worth Texas last May by using a DJI Inspire 1 to locate a truck that had been washed off the road by flooding. Traditional search-and-rescue teams had been looking for the truck for one hour with no luck – Bryl and his drone found the ruck in only 45 seconds. He also used his drone to deliver a safety line to a mobile home that was completely surrounded by water. Jessica Farrar, a network administrator for a drone volunteer organization called SWARM, said that the number of people who volunteer to help with drone search-and-rescue efforts has risen from a few hundred to one thousand. Using drones for search-and-rescue is easier now with the new regulations than it used to be: at one point, officials at a national park refused to let a volunteer fly a drone to assist with a rescue effort there. Although some restrictions still currently apply that make it difficult for search-and-rescue operators – such as a blanket ban on flights at night or above 400 feet – those involved say that FAA regulations are moving in the right direction.
— Peter Davidson
The Amazon Drone Forest (Article by Anthony Joseph; 9.2.16)
Amazon’s multimillion dollar drone testing program is currently taking place behind a large wall of hay bales in the middle of the Cambridge countryside. There is also a blue control tower in the remote field, which is reportedly constantly patrolled by security and vans. Recently, engineers have been putting landing mats in the bounds of the test site to test the landing procedures for the autonomous drones. It is possible that anti-collision systems are currently being tested as well, if recent patent applications by Amazon are anything to go by. Currently, Amazon believes drones to be an efficient, eco-friendly way to deliver packages to homes. The company wants to deliver packages to consumer homes within 30 minutes. In the United Kingdom in July, the Civil Aviation Authority (UK government) lifted strict drone restrictions in certain parts of the UK to allow for Amazon’s testing of drones. The drone prototype that Amazon revealed last year, and is currently being tested and refined, can fly for 10 miles at 400 ft. and carry packages of up to 5 lbs.
— Corey Schulz
NASA Drones Fly into Hurricane Hermine to Improve Forecast (Article by Michael Page; 9.1.16)
As tropical storm Hermine bears down the east coast of the United States, a new form or weather detection technology is in use. On Thursday, September 1st, 2016, scientists piloted an unmanned drone through hurricane Hermine to sample and take measurements of the storms data. The drone was able to capture various measurements including the wind speed and air pressure at various locations. While flying at an altitude of about 60,000 feet (far out of reach of the storm), the onboard cameras looked into the storm and took images just like a doctor would take an x-ray of a patient. These images provide key information to the scientists so they can make their forecasts more enhanced than before. Drones also serve and a good replacement for manned aircraft because they can remain in the air for 4-8 hours longer than a manned aircraft could. The drones have also been able to drop over 90 instruments directly into the storm to gain readings from inside the eye of the storm. These instruments helped scientists to detect hurricane force-winds that would have otherwise been undetectable. These drones have proven to be extremely beneficial to the communities affected and scientists are still seeking new ways to make them even more advanced.
— Cameron Shonnard