To geo-fence or geo-tunnel for drones
As drones become more common place, the FAA and other regulatory bodies around the world are trying to catch up with putting common place regulations in place to allow for safe drone flight, whether it be purely for pleasure or commercial purposes
Geo-fencing is something that commonly comes up when drone regulation is discussed. Essentially, geo-fencing helps define invisible walls that prevent a drone from crossing over into a designated area. It is a great start and helps avoid some mistakes like the one where a drone landed on the lawn of the White House
Geo-Fencing will eventually have to evolve to include variable altitude into the equation along with latitude and longitude, that it currently uses. For example, the FAA regulates drone flight in the US National Airspace System (NAS) to be under 400 feet. However, there are states that are trying to enact laws to enforce a certain minimum height when flying over residential areas. So a drone from say Amazon.com fulfilling a delivery in a residential area will have to "see" these virtual boundaries (boundaries that exist above, below, right, left, forward) and determine the best path to get to it's desired destination. This may lead to the need for virtual highways for these delivery drones (could even be underground tunnels in places like Manhattan). Another reason for altitude to be a consideration in geo-fencing is that currently FAA expects the pilot to inform the local airport or ATC if the pilot is taking off a drone above 0.55 lbs within 5 miles of an airport. Since Heliports also get included in this definition of airport, in places like Central Jersey and toward Manhattan, there are hardly any places to have a recreational drone flight. Some kid flying his RC Copter/Drone to a height of say 10 feet in a park should not have to call up the local airport/heliport to inform them. A virtual low ceiling over such areas would be good to have
Time of day is another smart dimension that could get included in geo-fencing. Current FAA rules prevent drone flight over stadiums that have a seating capacity of 30,000 when a game is going on. The time and tickets sold for the game is information that is already digitized and could be used to dynamically update the geo-fence so that drones don't fly over stadiums when a game is going on. This may gain importance once commercial delivery drones come into widespread use and need a "holding area" to park themselves in between deliveries. A stadium, when not populated, provides for ample and safe overhead space for drones to hover without causing any privacy issues
Drone industry leaders like DJI already have drones which understand geo-fencing. It will be imperative that all stakeholders; drone manufacturers, regulatory bodies, local government, privacy advocacy groups, retailers like Amazon, drone pilot associations, hobbyists together define the future of drone geo-fencing so that it is smart, adaptable and helps unlock the full potential of commercial uses of drones
Data Science Enthusiast | Mil Vet| Enabler| AI and Robotics Industry| IIM A
5yA very nice paper. Sangram Birje we can even plan to restrict UAVs to certain reporting points as they fly. Consider mapping (and selling routes) where drone applications are viable. These may even consider BVLOS operations. These routes would be commercial and hence primarily along surface transportation routes (Roads and where developed railway lines). Drones can be tunnelled to fly along these with drone pads at designated locations. The route will have markers over which the drones will have to report to get auto clearance to proceed to the next reporting point and failure to do so would result in return to the nearest safe zone for orbiting till manually intervened or it crashes due to exhausted fuel/ electrical supply. Only those who have purchased these routes (I am guessing e commerce platforms would be the prime audience) will be able to operate on these routes. Data generated from this controlled usage can be used for subsequent growth.
Forensic Psychologist
9yI certainly hope the beautiful lion is not dead! Did you know they will all be extinct in our lifetime! How terribly sad. 🐘🐢🐯🦁🐳🐬👀😩