Whats Next for the Commercial Drone Market?

State vs. state: FAA breaks down winners, losers in growing drone market

A new state-by-state analysis of the first 1,000 commercial drone permits shows a small, but growing nationwide industry.

As of September 1, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had issued 1,407 so-called Section 333 exemptions to U.S. companies, clearing them to operate drones for commercial purposes. Presently the aviation authority issues about 50 Section 333 exemptions per week in an attempt to stay ahead of the thousands of applications it’s received since last year.

In a report issued this week, the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) breaks down data surrounding the first 1,000 drone permits by state, offering a far more granular view of the U.S. commercial drone industry than we’ve seen to date.

Their report found that commercial operators now fly in 49 states, using vehicles manufactured in 22 states. An overwhelming 85% of companies holding Section 333 exemptions are small businesses. Applications span a variety of industries, but are largely tied to aerial data gathering. However the states with the most companies operating commercial drones aren’t just the biggest states, but territories with major aerospace and aviation industry hubs, like California, Texas, and Florida.

“It’s encouraging to see the UAS industry benefiting from every corner of the country, with manufacturers located in almost half of the states,” Brian Wynne, AUVSI’s president and CEO, says. “These figures will likely become even more apparent when the FAA finalizes its small UAS rules, which will allow companies to fly without having to go through the exemption process.”

The UAS rules are a set of new FAA commercial drone regulations expected sometime in the first half of next year, which will replace the current case-by-case approval process now under Section 333. While the current Section 333 process may be onerous for the industry, it offers a unique opportunity for the FAA and groups like AUVSI to gather data on how and where commercial drones are being deployed, as well as what kinds of companies are using them.

The big winner in AUVSI’s breakdown of the data is unsurprisingly California, home to 114 approved commercial drone operators. The first six Section 333 exemptions granted last year went to companies in the film and television industry, an industry that accounts for roughly 9% of the first 1,000 exemptions granted nationwide. The Bay Area is home to several of the U.S. drone industry’s most visible players, including Skycatch, DroneDeploy, and 3D Robotics. The state’s vast agriculture industry has also provided a fertile testing ground for many new drone technologies as everyone from almond growers to vineyard owners looks to new means of minimizing water usage while maximizing quality and yield. Agricultural applications account for 164 of the first 1,000 commercial drone permits, and AUVSI expects data-driven farming to be a leading growth driver for the drone industry.

Florida and Texas follow California in number of commercial drone operators, with 97 and 82 Section 333 permits respectively. Like California, Texas is also a big state with lots of real estate to survey, lots of agricultural data to mine and lots of golf courses to advertise. The real estate industry accounts for roughly 35% of the first 1,000 commercial drone permits, followed by “general aerial surveying,” a kind of catch-all category for non-specific aerial inspection of land or property, at 30%.

But more telling than the data surrounding these top three drone states is the relatively wide, relatively even distribution of Section 333 permits across the other 47. Every state in the U.S., with the exception of Delaware, now boasts at least three commercial drone operators, and most are home to a dozen or more. While a dozen operators here and there doesn’t necessarily spell boom times for the commercial drone industry, it’s worth noting that the FAA has more than 1,000 applications it hasn’t even reviewed yet, with more piling up every day.

The most interesting data in AUVSI’s analysis has nothing to do with the state-by-state breakdown and everything to do with the kind of companies applying for commercial drone permits nationwide. “At least 84% and as many as 94.5% of all approved companies are small businesses,” the report says. This is partially a reflection that the majority of businesses in the U.S. are small businesses, Wynne says. But there’s more to it than that.

“Many of the low-risk operational profiles permitted by the exemptions, such as aerial photography, apply well to small businesses, such as real estate and photography,” Wynne says. “In many cases, large companies are testing UAS in countries with more established risk-based, technology-neutral regulations, such as Canada and Australia. Larger businesses are mainly focused on more complex operations than are currently allowed by the exemption process.”

This news is both good for small business operators and a sign of what’s to come for the larger commercial drone industry. AUVSI has previously predicted that drones will generate $82 billion in economic impacts (and 100,000 jobs) in the decade following the implementation of comprehensive commercial drone rules. However, as long as U.S. commercial drone regulations remain in limbo, Wynne says, larger companies like Google  GOOGL 0.45%  and Amazon  AMZN -2.46%  will continue to develop their drone technology elsewhere. 

“In order to continue reaping the economic benefits that [unmanned aerial systems] offer, we need to do all we can to support the growth and development of this industry by providing clear rules for those who want to use UAS,” Wynne says. “But the longer we take, the more our nation risks losing its innovation edge along with the billions of dollars of economic impact.”

• by Clay Dillow

NOAA UAS Capture Video of Rare Whale Behaviour

http://www.uasvision.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/humpback-whale-sailing-1080p.mp4

Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary has released rare video showing a humpback whale with its tail out of the water, seemingly catching the wind like a sail. The video was filmed during recent field operations conducted by the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries’ Collaborative Center for Unmanned Technologies. 

In the video, a humpback mother and calf are observed swimming and diving in the sanctuary off Maui’s leeward coast. At one point, the mother appears to be doing a headstand and drifting with her tail out of the water. According to scientists, tail-sailing is fairly common among southern right whales but has rarely been observed or documented among humpbacks.

“We’re not entirely sure why the whales do this,” said Ed Lyman, resource protection specialist for Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary. “But we think this could be another way for them to rest, nurse, or just try to stay cool. More observations will be needed to confirm this theory.”

The video was captured last month by a team of whale scientists and marine mammal response managers organized by the Collaborative Center for Unmanned Technologies. The scientists were trying to determine if small, remotely piloted aircraft can be used for whale research and disentanglement efforts in the sanctuary.

Mid-February is the peak of whale season in Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary, where more than half of the humpback whales in the North Pacific come each year to give birth, breed and nurse their young.

Testing Unmanned Aircraft Systems for humpback whale research and protection

According to scientists, the potential advantages of consumer-grade Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) technology for marine mammal work are numerous. Equipped with tiny but powerful cameras, small, quiet, electric quadcopters can provide a safe, cost-effective, low-impact way to assess, document, and even collect biological samples such as whale blow.

Quadcopters can also assist in disentanglement activities led by the sanctuary, by hovering above animals in distress to allow photographic and visual evaluation of their entanglement and condition.

During the two-week study, the research team observed more than 15 humpback whales, including mothers and calves and competitive groups of males chasing after individual females. All the animals assessed during the testing appeared to be in excellent health, but that is not always the case. The sanctuary’s boat-based research has shown that approximately one-third of humpback whales in Hawaii have scars indicating they were recently entangled.

Three different UAS platforms were used during testing, all consumer-grade products. More than a dozen flights were logged with the hand-launched systems. Flight operations were conducted off a private vessel in support of the sanctuary’s 38-foot research vessel Koholā, which was conducting its usual boat-based monitoring nearby. Noise-level measurements of the UAS were taken at takeoff and various altitudes to assess potential incidental noise disturbance of the aircraft flying overhead the whales.

A successful study

Researchers deemed the study a success, with information gained about the systems’ usefulness in on-the-water research and rescue operations.

Lyman said the use of small UAS platforms likely provide a safe and productive means to obtain general health and risk assessment on the animals without a human physically approaching the animal.

“The typical boat-based close approaches needed to assess an entangled whale can be very challenging and dangerous,” he said “Animals may become more evasive or aggressive.”

Safety considerations

The team cautioned that the use of “flying cameras” raises other considerations.

“As safe and productive UAS use for whale research and rescue might seem, the technology currently still pose some regulatory challenges, public-use considerations and incidental harassment potential to these animals,” said Jamison Smith, NOAA Fisheries Office of Protected Resources national entanglement response coordinator.

There are strict regulations for the approach of whales and untrained public use of unmanned aerial equipment near wildlife. The UAS equipment in the Hawaii test was operated by trained professionals under approved NOAA and FAA permits, and the staging vessel was kept 100 yards away from the whales at all times.

A way forward for humpback whale protection

Dr. Michael Moore, a scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and leading proponent for the use of UAS platforms for whale research and response, called for continued cooperative use of the technology.

“Everyone from state and federal managers and regulators to the end users will need to continue working together to evaluate the efficacy and pursue the appropriate use of UAS platforms as extremely valuable tools,” he said.

Support for the project was provided by Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary, the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries Collaborative Center for Unmanned Technologies, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and The Sterling Group. NOAA Fisheries Office of Protected Resources’ Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program, the Federal Aviation Administration and the state of Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources oversaw the effort.

Source: NOAA

Smart Grid-Independent Drone Battery Charging System

H3 Dynamics has unveiled DRONEBOX, developed by one of the three H3 Dynamics Group entities (HUS Unmanned Systems), a revolutionary system that converges professional drone-enabled service activities with the Industrial Internet of Things. 

DRONEBOX is an all-inclusive, self-powered system that can be deployed anywhere, including in remote areas where industrial assets, borders, or sensitive installations require constant monitoring. Designed as an evolution over today’s many unattended sensors and CCTV cameras installed in cities, borders, or large industrial estates, DRONEBOX innovates by giving sensors freedom of movement using drones as their vehicles. End-users can now deploy flying sensor systems at different locations, and measure just about anything, anywhere, anytime. They offer 24/7 reactivity, providing critical information to operators – even to those located thousands of miles away.

Besides innovating in the world of unattended sensors, DRONEBOX eases the scalability challenges for drone service operators. Such service providers use professional drones to provide their customers with detailed aerial land surveys in mining or agriculture, perform infrastructure inspections, or monitor the progress of construction sites. However, some remote locations need regular or prolonged visits, which increase travel costs and risks to drone service providers. From an end-user perspective, despite providing powerful new insights within an industrial context, the mass-adoption of professional UAVs is slowed by the special skills required to operate them. Conversely, by pre-deploying DRONEBOX systems at the right locations, travel to remote areas is no longer required, charging or handling drone batteries is eliminated, and sensor data is simply sent through a network for easy access and processing.

DRONEBOXES can be installed anywhere so that drones can perform pre-programmed scheduled routines, deploy on demand, or be woken up by other drones or sensors as part of a much wider network of “things”. As a network, DRONEBOXES can increase their effectiveness and mission times using collaborative technologies. Such deployments could offer first responder support in crisis events before sending humans into dangerous environments, such as nuclear power plant meltdowns, chemical spills, or natural disasters.

DRONEBOX can charge drone batteries automatically within its shelter system. Off-grid power is provided primarily by a solar-battery installation. For more advanced requirements, system capabilities can be extended using REMOBOX, an accessory that provides more advanced communications and hosts a small back-up fuel cell system for year long availability in mission critical locations.

The use of mobile sensors hosted in networked DRONEBOXES could revolutionize precision agriculture, border and perimeter security, wildlife protection, critical infrastructure maintenance, telecom tower and wind turbine maintenance, oil & gas asset inspection, building and facilities management, just to name a few.

H3 Dynamics is a complementary eco-system of hardware and software companies with locations in Singapore, Texas, France and South Africa. The Singapore headquartered group includes a high performance fuel cell energy storage systems entity, an integrated robotics systems entity, as well as an entity dedicated to advanced field communications, precision tracking and real-time analytics software.

Insurance Drone Use to Rapidly Proliferate

While Erie made significant progress in using drones this year, there’s still a lot of untapped potential, says Gary Sullivan, VP of subrogation claims. That’s because not only are insurers looking for a good solution to the problem of adjudicating unsafe or otherwise difficult claims, but the underlying technology is firmly in place to make the transition quick.

“It’s a tool in the toolbox that has a lot of promise,” Sullivan says. “There are engineering firms that help serve the property claims industry that have received approval. There are carriers waiting for the FAA to come out with new regulations so they can frame a program on their own. And there are companies out that are developing applications for drone operators that are so advanced, in my humble opinion, we haven’t had the need to go outside of what’s provided by them.”

The company received approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to test drones for claims use in April. By September, it was using one to look at the roof of a house that had filed a claim. The commitment is intense. Regulation continues to evolve around the commercial use of drones, which can’t be used within five miles of an airport and require public permission to use other airspace at times. Drones have to be registered with the FAA like any other aircraft. Also, at least one member of the team has to be a certified pilot.

And though the drone program resides mostly on the claims side right now, Erie’s team is cross-functional, representing the fact that the technology will feed data into several different areas of the business, including loss control, which is a focus area for the business.

“We have a district sales manager, someone from IT, someone from the sales side who will definitely help us understand the loss control side,” Sullivan says. “It’s truly a collaborative effort for everyone.”

The effort is worth it, though, Sullivan says, simply because of the maturation of the imaging technology. In fact, he says, the biggest challenge Erie and other carriers face is simply housing all the high-quality digital images that will come in from increasing drone flights, and figuring out how to make that data actionable. That means that even traditional insurance technology vendors have a vested interest in seeing how drone use evolves and must be cognizant of how it fits into their systems.

“We have an operating platform with [claims technology vendor] Symbility, and I brought this to their attention,” Sullivan says. But for the time being, he says, there’s lots to gain from the built-in technologies that come with the craft. “The drones that we fly are the DJI Phantom 2 and 3, and the 3 has more capability added to its iPhone application – you can set up a geofence to track the flight and stay within height restrictions,” he says. “What I see as a challenge for the insurance industry is getting the imagery and storing it.”

By: Nathan Golia