Drones Need Mid-Air Re-fueling
Currently
most drones manage to fly for 15-30 minutes , before their onboard batteries
run down
But
there are many uses where drones need to keep flying for hours , eg :
· Monitoring
highways / pipelines
· Rescuing
persons lost at sea
A
more glamorous application could be, drones “ following / chasing “ our
MPs / MLAs [ or film stars ? ] , as suggested in my following blog :
# CCTV grabs (
through Skydio R1 drones ? )
/ Skype Video Calls
{ Source : https://myblogepage.blogspot.com/2018/02/artificial-intelligence-to-fix-mp-mla.html
/ 22 Feb
2018 }
Just learned that Skydio R1 is about to be commercially launched in
a few weeks. Read :
Highlights :
Skydio’s basic
goal was a drone that requires no pilot.
When you launch the R1 using a
smartphone app, you have your subject stand in front of the drone, then tap
that person on the screen — now it’s locked on.
You can also select one of several
“cinematic modes,” which specify the direction from which the drone will try to
record its subject. ( It can even predict your path and stay ahead of you to
shoot a selfie from the front.)
the R1 gets 16
minutes per flight, compared with around 20 for competing drones (but it
will ship with two batteries, allowing for another flight after a quick swap
out).
What happens when dozens or hundreds of
runners and bikers and skiers and hikers and tourists begin setting out their
own self-flying GoPros to record themselves ?
Colin Snow, a drone industry analyst,
pointed out to me that federal regulations require users
to keep drones in their line of sight — and
a drone that follows you is technically not in your line of sight.
My
Take :
Obviously,
Skydio R1 is ideal for “ autonomous flying “ ( uncontrolled by an operator )
But
how to overcome its limitation of battery lasting only 16
minutes ?
Answer
:
Mid-air
“ re-charging “ of batteries, much the same way, fighter jets get mid-air
refueling !
We
already have mobile phones getting recharged “ wirelessly “ , using charging
pads ( some , not even needing contact ! )
I
have no doubt that the Chinese drone ( manufacturing ) giant , DJI will someday soon, come up
with this technology
{
Indian Drone Manufacturers take note of the potential of such an innovation
! }
And
as far as the “ regulation “ ( India Drone Policy ),
I
have suggested a solution at :
07
Sept 2018
www.hemenparekh.in / blogs
From: Hemen Parekh
[mailto:hcp@recruitguru.com]
Sent: Wednesday, September 5, 2018 12:03 PM
To: 'atul@omuavsystems.com'; 'dipankar.chowdhury@kadet-uav.com'; 'contact@wedosky.com'; 'info@asteria.co.in'; 'info@quidich.com'; 'vignesh@quidich.com'; 'info@ideaforge.co.in'; 'info@aus.co.in'; 'admin@edallsystems.com'; 'edallsystems@gmail.com'; 'contact@johnnette.in'; 'rm@johnnette.in'; 'contact@aurora-is.com'; 'info@indrones.com'; 'info@skylarkdrones.com'; 'rajat@aerialphoto.in'; 'siddharth@aerialphoto.in'; 'santhosh@aero360.co.in'; 'sales@detecttechnologies.com'; 'support@dronaaviation.com'; 'reach@gravodrone.com'; 'contact@pigeonis.in'
Cc: 'contact@pranjalsharma.com'; 'info@dronefederation.in'; 'Jayant.sinha19@sansad.nic.in'
Subject: DRONE POLICY MUST KEEP PACE WITH TECHNOLOGU
Sent: Wednesday, September 5, 2018 12:03 PM
To: 'atul@omuavsystems.com'; 'dipankar.chowdhury@kadet-uav.com'; 'contact@wedosky.com'; 'info@asteria.co.in'; 'info@quidich.com'; 'vignesh@quidich.com'; 'info@ideaforge.co.in'; 'info@aus.co.in'; 'admin@edallsystems.com'; 'edallsystems@gmail.com'; 'contact@johnnette.in'; 'rm@johnnette.in'; 'contact@aurora-is.com'; 'info@indrones.com'; 'info@skylarkdrones.com'; 'rajat@aerialphoto.in'; 'siddharth@aerialphoto.in'; 'santhosh@aero360.co.in'; 'sales@detecttechnologies.com'; 'support@dronaaviation.com'; 'reach@gravodrone.com'; 'contact@pigeonis.in'
Cc: 'contact@pranjalsharma.com'; 'info@dronefederation.in'; 'Jayant.sinha19@sansad.nic.in'
Subject: DRONE POLICY MUST KEEP PACE WITH TECHNOLOGU
Flock Dynamics
----------------------
Following news appeared
recently :
https://www.kaist.ac.kr/_prog/_board/?
mode=V&no=84601&code=ed_news&site_dvs_cd=en&menu_dvs_cd=060101
mode=V&no=84601&code=ed_news&site_dvs_cd=en&menu_dvs_cd=060101
https://www.imperial.ac.uk/people/a.paranjape
======================================================================
======================================================================
Now, researchers have equipped drones with an algorithm
that lets them herd away flocks of birds without human input.
========================================================================
Highlights
:
Scientists have developed an algorithm that enables a
flying drone to herd a
flock of birds away from a designated air-space , without breaking their
formation
The
team developed the herding algorithm on the basis of macroscopic
properties of the flocking model and the response of the flock
“We
made careful observations of flock dynamics and interactions
between flocks and the pursuer.
This
allowed us to create a new herding algorithm for ideal
flight paths for incoming drones to move the flock away from a protected
airspace,” said Shim.
“This algorithm will help
improve safety for the aviation industry. In addition, this will also help
control avian influenza that plagues farms nationwide every year,” said Shim.
==========================================================
==========================================================
Question :
If this algorithm works so
well on birds , can it work even better on humans, considering that humans
have, not only far advanced brains but also because all humans carry an
internet-connected mobile phone in pocket or wear some IoT connected device (
even clothes ), which before long , will become a “ Brain Computer Interface “
?
==========================================================
==========================================================
Answer :
It is
not a question of “ If “ but a question of “ When “ [ Privacy
advocates , make a note ]
You will have to be naïve ,
if you think that this “ Herd Algorithm “
will not spawn following applications :
==========================================================
==========================================================
DRONES HERDING OTHER
NON-HUMAN SPECIES
This
could comprise herding of :
* Locusts /
Insects / Hornets / Wasps / Mosquitos etc chased / led by a drone , to self-
destruct
by flying into electrified fences
* Rats
to follow a drone to drown in rivers / ponds ( Pied Piper of Hamlin ? )
* Sharks
made to stay away from beaches where humans swim
* Schools
of fishes lured to swim into the fishing nets of trawlers
* Migrating
herds of animals to reach water-holes , following a low flying drone
List
goes on
===========================================================
===========================================================
DRONES HERDING HUMANS
· Drones
ensuring human pedestrian traffic in sharply defined “ lanes “
Very
useful when millions of pilgrims gather at religious places such as HAJ / KUMBH
Mela / Ganapati Visarjan / Dahi Handi etc or at Sports Events
· Drones
ensuring people walking on Railway Stations / Rail Over Bridges
· Diverting
riot-prone violent crowds / processions, away from a specific place
[
eg : 50,000 farmers marching to Mumbai , being diverted to Pune / Kolhapur ! ]
· Drones
diverting voters from Congress rally in Dadar to BJP rally in Kurla !
· Diverting
from Italy to Spain, boat-loads of migrants crossing Mediterranean Sea
=======================================================
=======================================================
DRONES HERDING MACHINES
· If
drones can direct / regulate “ bird traffic “ in the sky, there is no reason to
think that they cannot direct ground-based traffic of vehicles
Drones
are already being employed to catch the drivers whose cars over-speed on
Mumbai-Pune Expressway .
It is
only a matter of 2 / 3 years before all vehicles are pre-installed with
numerous sensors , which enable these vehicles to remain constantly “ connected
“ with :
# Other
vehicles on the road
# Vehicle
Manufacturers / Insurance Companies
# Control
Rooms of Traffic Police/NDRF/Urban Transport Authority etc
In
this scenario, low flying drones above the roads / highways , will play the
role of
VEHICLE TRAFFIC CONTROL NODES
In
turn , these NODES will stay connected with our NaVIC satellite system
For
details , read :
I have no doubt readers will
think up of many other situations for application of “ Herd Algorithm “
And
do not worry about, millions of drones flying all over the skies and in all
directions ,crashing into one another !
That
problem will get solved as soon as those researchers get to read :
https://myblogepage.blogspot.com/2017/11/a-swarm-o-drone-is-born.html
===============================================================
===============================================================
05 Sept 2018
From: Hemen Parekh [mailto:hcp@recruitguru.com]
Sent: Tuesday, September 4, 2018 9:21 AM
To: atul@omuavsystems.com; dipankar.chowdhury@kadet-uav.com; contact@wedosky.com; info@asteria.co.in; info@quidich.com; vignesh@quidich.com; info@ideaforge.co.in; info@aus.co.in; admin@edallsystems.com; edallsystems@gmail.com; contact@johnnette.in; rm@johnnette.in; contact@aurora-is.com; info@indrones.com; info@skylarkdrones.com; rajat@aerialphoto.in; siddharth@aerialphoto.in; santhosh@aero360.co.in; sales@detecttechnologies.com; support@dronaaviation.com; reach@gravodrone.com; contact@pigeonis.in
Subject: FW: DRONE POLICY MUST COVER THIS
Dear Friends,
Thought following might interest you
With regards,
Hemen Parekh / Mumbai / hcp@RecruitGuru.com
/ www.hemenparekh.in
Sent: Monday, September 3, 2018 12:32 PM
To: 'Cabinet Ministers'; 'assocham@nic.in'; 'ficci@ficci.com'; 'BJP National Executive'; 'dgoffice@dgca.nic.in'; 'Jayant.sinha19@sansad.nic.in'; 'info@dronefederation.in'
Cc: 'ssbhalla@gmail.com'; 'bibek.debroy@gov.in'; 'ashima@igidr.ac.in'; 'rr1@nipfp.org.in'; 'ratanp.watal@gov.in'; 'ceo-niti@nic.in'; 'Indian Think Tanks'; 'Gurudatt Kundapurkar'; 'Haridas Shenoy'; 'Pradeep Talpade'; 'amit.doshi@dbcorp.in'; 'amitabh.kant@nic.in'; 'admin@narendramodi.in'; 'BJP-Dept-Heads'; 'Indrajit Sethi'; 'vch-niti@gov.in'; 'dgcalko@nic.in'; 'daskol.dgca@nic.in'; 'daskol.dgca@nic.in'; 'daw-wb@nic.in'; 'cawbbsr@gmail.com'; 'caw-bih@nic.in'; 'caw-guw@nic.in'; 'airsafetymaa.dgca@nic.in'; 'hnmishra.dgca@yahoo.in'; 'dawmaa@nic.in'; 'dgcahyd@ap.nic.in'; 'daswrdgca@gmail.com'; 'daw.mum@nic.in'; ''cvo.dgca@nic.in'
Subject: DRONE POLICY MUST COVER THIS
-------------------------------------------------------
Drone – a – Charya
--------------------
Economic
Times write about the INDIA DRONE POLICY
, at :
Highlights
:
Drones must
only be flown during daylight and maintain full visual line of sight at all
times
Drones must not drop / discharge material without
explicit clearance . Drones must not be operated from mobile platforms like
moving vehicles
Digital Sky is built around the principle
of ‘No Permission-No Takeoff.’ Only if a drone is compliant with this principle,
can it even be registered.
Digital Sky will be in charge of handling
flight permissions
A preflight
permission request will contain the geo-fence and timespan outside of which a drone cannot fly.
The drone will not turn on if it does not have a
valid permission from Digital Sky
In probably a global first, India’s drone policy
has introduced a ‘ No Permission- No Takeoff ’ (NPNT) clause.
It means drone hardware
have to be configured in such a way that unless regulatory permission is given,
the drone cannot take off.
Digital Sky has demarcated the Indian airspace into three distinct
categories: Red (no-fly zones), Yellow (restricted permissions), and Green (all
access).
MY TAKE :
I
urge ,
·
proposed Drone Regulator
to invite comments from all the
stakeholders on my following suggestions by publishing on their respective web
sites :
# Just like today car manufacturers
stamp , CAR ENGINE NUMBER and CAR CHASIS
NUMBER , each drone (
coming out from the manufacturer’s factory ) , will have a
UNIQUE , “ Drone Number
“ ( which , manufacturer would obtain online from the
web site of the Drone Regulator by registering each “ Model “being shipped out )
# Each drone would be embedded with
GPS and Internet Connection ( Internet of
Things ) and will
confirm to the ( planned ) protocol of the ( proposed ) National
Trusts Centre for “ Machine-to-Machine “ communication /
certification , in respect
of “ Security by Design “
[
Source : Telecom
Commission to set up apex body for M2M devices/applications ]
This will ensure that no drone
can take to sky unless the owner logs into the web
site of the Drone Regulator ( using a Mobile App ), and
files its FLIGHT PLAN /
LOCATION / DURATION / HEIGHT /
DRONE CATEGORY / PURPOSE etc and the
Regulator Web site grants
clearance for take off
# Web site of the Drone Regulator will continuously track /
monitor the flight of
each and
every drone ( all over India ) on a monitor screen ( similar to tracking
of Airplanes in an
Air Traffic Control ( ATC ) room . Constant contact is the key !
Call this
: Drone – A – Charya [ Drone Traffic Controller -
DTC ]
Controllers (
sitting in DTC ) will have facility to immediately “ Ground /
Immobilize “
any drone at any time , if security is about to be compromised or if
any drone is flying
outside of its “ Geo Fence “
Context :
# One real serious concern is
with regard to thousands of drones flying all over the
sky of a
metropolis and colliding with one another
I urge the (
proposed ) National Trust Centre , to develop a
software and make it
mandatory for all
drone manufacturers to pre-install this software
into the drones
, before shipping
out . This is described at :
This condition will
require all drone manufacturers ( local and foreign ) , to give an
appropriate “
Undertaking “ to the Drone Regulator . Failure to give such an
undertaking will
ensure that such drones are grounded / confiscated !
Permission will not be
granted to manufacturers of drones meant for war-like
activities ( dropping of
bombs etc )
# Frequent violation of the Flight Rules , should lead to “ Black-listing “ of any
particular drone
and it should be “ immobilized “ ( for varying periods , depending
upon the frequency
/ severity of violation )
Context :
After all , many elements of “
Traffic Control “ on the roads , are also relevant to
traffic control in the Sky (
especially when , say , 10 milion drones are flying )
# Drone Regulator should
announce clear rules in respect of :
Insurance
[ crashing / hurting / damaging ]
Scraping
/ re-selling / transfer / gifting of drones
Registration
by new buyer
#
Registration Form ( filled online through mobile app ) should require following
data :
Buyer
category ( Individual / Commercial Company / Organizations etc )
Aadhar
No / PAN No / Mobile No
#
Since most drones would be deployed by E Commerce companies for delivering of
goods, govt may consider “ pre-installing “ ( in the mobile app ), an ADDRESS
enable better traffic control based on TRAFFIC
DENSITY on different locations ,
apart
from ensuring precise delivery to 3 meter x 3 meter squares of India’s land
# There will be many applications in which drone-mounted SENSORS (
including
cameras / mikes etc ) will be collecting / compiling , “ Personal / Private “ data of
persons or things ( eg : Photos / Videos / Images etc )
Strict law must be enacted that the owners of the drones cannot sell / share /
transfer such data to any third party other than a party which has “ contracted
“ for
such data collection / compilation
A very important “ Security Feature “ must ensure that the device ( drone ) by
itself
on its own , does not transmit any data to the drone manufacturer nor to any
owner
/ licensee of an Operating System ( eg : Google’s Android / Apple’s iOS etc )
All Mobile Apps which interact with a drone hardware or its embedded software (
including
Drone Operating System ), will need to be approved by Drone regulator
All such “ Data Collection Contracts “
would require prior registration with the Drone
Regulator , providing full details of the contract ( especially the nature of
the data )
# Drone Policy must take into account that within the next 5 years ,
there will be in
our skies , “ Person Carrying Vehicles “ which may fall short of being
classified as “
Aircraft “ . Such vehicles must be classified as “ Drones “ and be subject to
Drone
Policy ( eg : Uber Lite aerial taxies )
=====================================================
03 Sept 2018
www.hemenparekh.in / blogs
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