Business of Automated Mobility Forum: Day One

June 23, 2021 | AUVSI News

Today, AUVSI and SAE International co-hosted the first Business of Automated Mobility Forum. Designed to help companies create an actionable roadmap to success, the event brought together participants and speakers from across the automated mobility industry, as well as experts in navigating standards and regulations.

Below are top takeaways from discussions about technology, regulatory, and social acceptance issues that must be addressed as we progress along the continuum toward automated mobility. 

Technology

During his keynote remarks, Skydio CEO Adam Bry discussed the importance of combining software advancements, cloud connectivity, and scalability to enable the drone industry to reach its fullest potential, remarking that, “We’re still relatively nascent compared to what we could be doing.”

Bry shared one use case of drones to underscore the importance of scalability. Drones are increasingly being used to conduct infrastructure inspections, creating cost savings and improving safety – but with over 614,000 bridges in the United States, there simply are not enough Part 107-certified drone pilots to inspect them one by one. Cleary, advancements in autonomous operations will be critical to achieving mainstream adoption of drones. Bry stated that, “There is an opportunity for a new paradigm where the drone itself becomes more of a flying computer than a manual device.” 

Policy and Regulatory

AUVSI President and CEO Brian Wynne highlighted the importance of building strong relationships with regulators during his opening remarks, saying: “To successfully integrate unmanned systems at scale in our society, we must secure the trust of regulatory authorities as well as the general public… As our community fosters the growth and opportunity in coming years, system safety, public and regulator trust, and industry collaboration combine to form a framework that will guide our efforts.”

During a panel exploring the latest investment trends, Jeff Fuchsberg, Director, GeniusNY at The Tech Garden shared how New York state’s investments in the autonomous technology sector will help drive adoption of these systems in the state. The state is already benefitting from expanded drone use, with a 50-mile drone corridor in upstate NY, and the state’s investments in UAS jobs will continue to reap rewards as commercial uses for drones grow. 

Social Acceptance

During a panel discussion on the evolving challenges of funding and changing customer needs, Jonathan Fentzke, Managing Director Techstars Space Accelerator at Techstars suggested that the automated mobility industry work together to educate the public about safety standards associated with each level of autonomy. Other panelists agreed that demonstrating transparency during system the testing and rollout phases are critical to building trust with consumers and understanding what levels of risk and benefit they are willing to accept.

In another panel discussion on the user experience and privacy considerations, Claudia Rast, Shareholder at Butzel Long and Keri Grieman, Doctoral Candidate at The Alan Turing Institute, echoed each other’s comments on the need to incorporate privacy and trust considerations into all discussions about drones and autonomous vehicles. Such discussions will lead to consensus among the industry that will normalize best practices and pave the way to consensus-based standards setting.