Q&A talks about the growth and business prospects of drone technology with Alfred Gates, an engineering professor at Central Connecticut State University (CCSU) and a drone expert.
Q: You recently gave a presentation, along with your students at CCSU, on the basics of drones. How has drone technology advanced over the years and how widespread are drones going to become?
A: We are at the beginning of a big technology revolution. Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) will have a similar impact on society that the cell phone and personal computer have had.
This technology has caught the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) off guard because it has changed rapidly since 2006. The major reason for the rapid change in this technology is the Internet. In the 1980s, PC hobbyists worked on their computer in a vacuum not knowing what the community was up to due to the lack of communication. Now hobbyists utilize the Internet on forums, blogs and Youtube, providing ideas and assistance to advance drone technology. For example, drone sensors and electronics were costly and large in the late 1990s; recent advances now allow some of the electronics to reside on the same circuit board at a much lower cost.
Q: What are some of the possible drone use applications?
A: The applications of drone technology are numerous. For example, drones are used for environmental study. They can take water and air samples rapidly. They can be used to identify sources of water and air pollution.
Drones can be used for rapid search and rescue. They can fly a grid-like pattern more accurately than a piloted aircraft and at a much lower cost. In fact, the cost of a drone is equivalent to three or four hours of flight in a Bell Jet Ranger helicopter. Also, drones can be used for structural inspection, crop management, security, and inspection of damage due to natural disasters.
Q: Could you envision Connecticut industry becoming a driver of drone technology? Does our strong background in aeronautic engineering point to opportunity in our state?
A: The state needs to encourage new company startups and retraining in the UAS field by providing grant funding and/or tax credits. Connecticut is an excellent candidate for growth in the drone industry and manufacturing. Our strong background in manufacturing of aerospace components and aerospace engineering is an excellent foundation. There will also be opportunity in insuring drones.
There is a big market for military drone applications; however, there will be an even bigger market for commercial drone applications. I predict that small startup companies will take a large percentage of the commercial drone market. The innovation in new startups will outperform the big aerospace companies at a fraction of the cost. The hobbyist with innovative ideas will be behind the commercial growth similar to the development of the PC market. This will include small, medium, and large unmanned aircraft systems.
Q: You have been funded by the Air Force to research multi-copter collision avoidance and grenade launch unmanned aircraft systems for the U.S. Army. What is the goal of the former and will the latter become more prevalent? Are militarized drones the future?
A: A current problem with drones is collision avoidance. Drones currently cannot detect obstacles fast enough and take corrective action. The Air Force project involves developing software that can detect if drones are on a collision course and predict where the drones need to go to prevent a collision. We successfully demonstrated collision avoidance using multicopters at CCSU. The grenade launch unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) project involves the development of a small UAV launched from a grenade launcher that is capable of flying at high speeds autonomously, or hovering in the air for over 10 minutes to provide real-time video to the drone operator.
On both projects we have been working with the Army, Air Force, Barron Associates and Pinnacl X, a new Small Unmanned Aircraft System (SUAS) startup in Connecticut. Militarized drones will be the future. Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems will be used for a variety of missions from surveillance to defense. This will be possible due to the rapid development of sensor and computer technology.
