Xponential's final keynote highlights drones for good, counter rogue drone efforts, urban air mobility

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Unmanned systems can be used for good, for environmental protection, humanitarian relief and other positive uses, but the good they do can be undone by nefarious operators, an issue that must be dealt with as the technology progresses.
 
Those were among the themes of the final keynote address of Xponential on Thursday, as AUVSI and DJI presented Humanitarian Awards to five organizations.
 
The winners are the North Carolina Department of Transportation for its use of UAS in the wake of Hurricane Florence; Swoop Aero, for flying vaccines and other medical equipment in Vanuatu; NASA and MIT for Search and Rescue under the Canopy, which locates humans and materials lost in cluttered forest areas; Project Lifesaver International, which uses UAS to locate “at risk” people who are prone to the life-threatening behavior of wandering; and Zipline International, for medical drone delivery operations in Rwanda and Ghana.
 
“Our judges had quite a challenge this year,” said Mario Rebello, Country Manager for North America and Vice President of the Americas at DJI, which sponsored the awards. “We are thrilled to see the increasing rate of UAS tech being embraced around the world.”
 
The winners took home a combined $25,000 to help them continue their work.
 
As much as such work can win public support, the unauthorized use of drones can threaten it. A panel discussion held after the awards discussed how airports can guard against rogue drones that can shut down airports, such as happened at London’s Gatwick.
 
“Airports are important economic drivers,” said Michael Huerta, the former FAA administrator, who was among the panel members. 
 
There are 50,000 flights a day in the United States, so “it’s a tremendous economic engine,” he says. “Any level of disruption of that has ripple effects throughout the entire economy.”
 
Huerta is the co-chair of a new Blue Ribbon Task Force announced Monday, formed by AUVSI and Airports Council International-North America (ACI-NA), which will create a policy framework to address the issue.
 
That is sorely needed, said panel member Matt Cornelius, EVP of ACI-NA. 
 
“From an airport perspective, all the stakeholders have to come together for smooth operation … they are really looking for guidance in a way to deal with these. There are technologies out there that can help give data to airports and the stakeholders at airports, but there’s not action once there’s an identified threat or vehicles in the area.”
 
Huerta cautioned that problems will remain even after the task force finishes its work. 
 
“Even when that is done, and all standards defined, “that doesn’t mean the problem’s gone away, because we live in very dynamic world.”
 
Boeing and urban mobility
 
Boeing President and CEO Dennis Muilenburg pointed to an even more dynamic world as his company and others work to integrate unmanned systems technology to create new industries, such as for urban air mobility.
 
Autonomy and artificial intelligence are “revolutionizing how we design and build” systems, he said, and pointed out the market opportunity created by increasing urban congestion.
 
In metro areas in the United States, the average commute is 30 to 40 minutes or more, he said. Around the world, that number rises to more than 90 minutes.
 
“Market forces will move us to three-dimensional highways, flying taxis, and that future is not far away,” he said. 
 
As did the creation of the Boeing 707, the new urban air mobility will create a new, connected infrastructure and economic ecosystem.
 
Boeing subsidiary is testing the Passenger Air Vehicle, a two-person taxi vehicle, and Boeing also is working on a heavy-lift cargo delivery drone.
 
“We expect to begin to see revenue opportunities from these types of vehicles in the early 2020s,” he said.
 
Changing of the guard
 
Also on Thursday, outgoing AUVSI Board Chairman Dallas Brooks handed the gavel to new Chairman Mark Gordon, founder of Stratom Inc., a ground robotics company.

Below: The winners of the 2019 Xcellence Humanitarian Awards. Photo: Becphotography

The winners of the 2019 Excellence Humanitarian Awards. Photo: Becphotography