Thursday, 9 August 2018

CONGRATS - AND A CHALLENGE


Dear Harshwardhan,


Just viewed a video about your drones and got , both impressed and proud

I have no doubt, one of these days , you will come up with the innovation that I have described in my following blog

If you pull this off , India can leapfrog the rest of the world in “ drone delivery “ of everything ( - an essential condition for E Commerce to flourish )

It may even get adopted as THE STANDARD for the entire Drone Manufacturing Industry , world-wide


With regards,

Hemen Parekh / Mumbai / hcp@RecruitGuru.com / (M) 98,67,55,08,08


A Swarm-O-Drone is born




[  Swarm-O-Drone  =  A Drone with built –in “ Swarm Algorithm “ for collision avoidance  ]



Look out for this headline in Media within 2 / 3 years , by which time , millions of drones would be flying overhead . Drones made by start-ups / cottage industries / you-name-it



Even from self-assembled ( DIY ) drone components, ordered over Amazon / Flipcart / Alibaba !



Drones selling for a few thousand rupees and used for unthought-of uses and especially for delivering anything ordered online – even from your next door chemist ( backbone of E Commerce ]



Even drones capable of carrying one person from point A to point B , like an Uber  /  Ola



Drones flying over city buildings and over distant deserts / jungles / rivers / mountains / in-accessible places



How can we ensure that , in such a “ free for all “ scenario, drones do not keep colliding with each other ?



Of course, modern aircrafts have radar-based “ Collision Avoidance Systems “ , which alert the pilots of approaching aircrafts to take evasive action ( normally , rules re : turning to right / dipping or climbing )



EU and India have recently come out with “ Drone Flight Regulations “ , which envisage arrangements similar to ATC  ( Air Traffic Control ) towers , to direct “ drone traffic 



That works fine when only few thousand manned Airplanes are flying over any country at any given time and along rigidly pre-defined Air-Corridors and at predetermined heights and which are constantly in radio contact with, at least one ATC tower at all times ( - which , using GPS , accurately plots the position of all the aircrafts in its vicinity and their directions and destinations )



But that won’t work when a MILLION unmanned drones are flying in all directions , and at different heights and at different speeds and at any time !  Quite like a huge Swarm / Flock of tiny birds



But how come , birds never ( or rarely ) collide , without communicating with each other ?



Apparently , each bird has embedded / hardcoded into its brain , some AI software that senses the distance from surrounding birds , the direction of travel and speed , not only of self but also of the surrounding birds !



A software which enables birds to “ communicate their intentions “ to each other , without internet





This software must be ensuring that there is no collision despite the entire swarm rapidly changing the “ flying parameters “ in unison



Call it “ Swarm Algorithm “



Moral of the story :


·         Historical method of external control ( through ATC ) just won’t work when millions of unmanned drones are flying all over , in a totally random and unpredictable fashion



·         Only thing that can work is to ban any drone that does not have embedded into it , the Swarm Algorithm ( copy the nature ) , described above



·         Just like Industry Standards for many industries , International Civil Aviation Organization [ ICAO ] , must lay down “ Swarm-O-Drone “ standards for Drone Manufacturing Industry




It is always advisable to anticipate / envisage the “ Direction of Technology “ and come up with solutions which nullify its potential ill-effects/ misuse



Swarm-O-Drone is a case in point

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17  Nov  2017



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