DRONE EVOLUTION: THE BEST IS STILL TO COME Gary Mortimer, Editor of sUAS News, shares his views on ‘rescue robotics’ in hard-to-reach areas of the world and what the Lake Kivu Challenge means for unmanned aviation.
Gary Mortimer (centre) at the Lake Victoria Challenge in 2018.
Lives are being saved, difficult distances are diminished, and delivery drones are no longer fiction. One has only to look at the activities of Zipline in Rwanda, Ghana, and India, Swoop Aero in Vanuatu, and DHL with Wingcopter in Tanzania - they are the undisputed leaders, beating Amazon and Google to delivering difference.
Perhaps it is because of the locations in which they operate, and what they deliver, that their business models make so much sense. Delivering coffee and crêpes does not alter lives. It smacks of frivolity and waste, with people unable to plan to buy household items from locations that they could easily walk to and purchase.
It’s time to view this cohort of unmanned aviation for what it has become in Africa - tiny flying ambulances. Regardless of where you are in the world, getting urgent medical supplies through fast is a winner. Africa is especially challenged, with a smaller road network joining mainly principal towns.
East Africa is at the forefront of rescue robotics. Born of the Lake Victoria Challenge, the African Drone Forum is ideally placed to prove technology demonstration challenges and provide a forum to talk through realities right where it’s needed the most.
When Zipline was started, I was not an advocate - it seemed doomed to failure. I foolishly thought they would take or create very simple airframes and do very little to them. Instead, they started with a useful airframe and have improved it, in light of what they have learnt. I thought parachutes and one-way trips were madness, but now I see the genius in ‘less is more’. Their end-to-end approach is faultless. There are many examples of delivery drones being touted that are just bodged boxes and attachments that were never part of the original designer's vision. They just don’t fly well.
Here’s a little context - British car manufacturing started in 1897 and by 1913 there were 200 manufacturers. This was the year Henry Ford opened shop in England. World War I improved car production techniques but caused a slump. By 1929, only 58 companies survived. Delivery drones are at perhaps at year 1900 in their development process. Hundreds are popping up but few will survive. The flying competitions on Lake Kivu give potential purchasers of platforms the ability to see them proved. Glossy brochures are great, but to see a machine working is an entirely different prospect. Flying many kilometres over water will mean manufacturers will need to be certain of their platform’s abilities. It is not just flying that comes into focus.
Avoiding conflict with manned aircraft is vital. This is an area in which East Africa has another advantage. Manned traffic numbers are low, simply asking manned traffic to operate above 1 000 feet unless taking off or landing solves most issues.
Operations at night in rural locations to unlit dirt airstrips would face little to no manned aviation conflict. There are Unified Traffic Management (UTM) systems already rolling out in Europe that pull in data from manned aircraft and drones and push it back at Air Traffic Management (ATM) services in a language they speak. UTMs also allow operators to file plans and advise air traffic control of their movements in a silent electronic manner. Choosing one that is powerful enough and cost-effective will be a challenge in itself.
Another African elephant in the room (pun intended) is what delivery areas or drone ports should look like. The drone port will have to receive and despatch drones in a safe manner. This is an opportunity to provide not only employment but extra services to a village, solar power, internet communications, and 4IR skills Drone ports will become central to the acceptance of delivery drones within communities. They are the customer-facing part. To truly succeed, drone deliveries not only need visionary platform creators but aviation regulators and medical staff that also see the big picture. The African Drone Forum is the continent’s leading drone innovation event that brings cutting-edge technology to the heart of Africa. africanDRONE member Gary Mortimer is the editor of sUAS News, the industry’s leading news and information source for unmanned aviation. Click here to follow Gary on Twitter.