The Commercial Use of Drones in Modern Society

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Disclaimer—This paper partially fulfills a writing requirement for first year (freshman) engineering students at The University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering. This paper is a student, not a professional, paper. This paper is based on publicly available information and may not provide complete analyses of all relevant data. If this paper is used for any purpose other than these authors’ partial fulfillment of a writing requirement for first year (freshman) engineering students at the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering, the user does so at his or her own risk.

THE COMMERCIAL USE OF DRONES IN MODERN SOCIETY

Gabrielle Moore ()

Budny 1:00

R-11

Gabrielle Moore

THE EXPANDED USE OF DRONES

According to Dictionary.com, a drone is “an unmanned aircraft or ship that can navigate autonomously, without human control or beyond line of sight” or “any unmanned aircraft or ship that is guided remotely” [1]. Typically, drones are associated with military and governmental use for warfare or spying, but they have the potential to be used for so much more. Drones are slowly being introduced into the civilian world, where they are being found useful in a variety of sectors from public safety to food delivery. These devices fill a void by doing jobs that humans are unable or even unwilling to do. This paper will discuss ways in which drone usage has expanded into various industries. It will also describe many of the technologies used to create drones with a wide range of functions. This research is significant to engineering, because drones require engineers from multiple disciplines to construct a working product. Drones can also be the answer to numerous engineering problems; including minute every-day challenges.

There is an incredible amount of research and testing currently being done on commercial drone use. Some examples of businesses that can profit from commercial drone use according to an article on the Business News Daily website include: agriculture, architecture and construction, engineering, as well as environmental monitoring and conservation [2]. In agriculture, drones can assist farmers by identifying unhealthy crops early on, taking inventory of these crops, as well as spraying them with water, fertilizer, and pesticides. Drones can also aid in mapping out farmland and irrigation systems. Both architects and construction contractors can use images and footage of property from drones in order to create 3D models of what they want to build. Engineering firms utilize drones for oil pipelines, transmission cables and maintenance inspections. They can also be used to monitor the environment by collecting data on animal populations in addition to things such as flood assessments [2].

Drones are also becoming an important tool in public safety because they can withstand conditions too dangerous for humans. Drones have the power to save many lives because of their ability to detect things that rescue teams might not be able to notice without the drone’s assistance [3]. A group of engineers at South Korea’s Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology are currently creating a rescue drone named FAROS (Fireproof Aerial Robot System), with the purpose of assisting firefighters who respond to emergencies in high rise buildings [3]. This device is fireproof, sticks to walls, and sees in the dark. Its thermal imaging camera can allow the drone to find people that need to be rescued, locate the fire’s origin, inspect the building for structural damage, and report back to the firefighters with real-time data [3].

Not only are drones used to complete tasks that are extremely difficult or dangerous for humans, but they are invested in by companies to perform more basic tasks as well. As mentioned before, drones are useful for not only large scale projects, but also for everyday tasks. Currently, there is a large amount of research being done on the use of drones as a method of delivery for various industries. Domino’s Pizza is a company at the forefront of technology when it comes to seeking drones in order to deliver merchandise to their hungry consumers.

DOMINO’S DELIVERY DRONES IN NEW ZEALAND

Research on commercial drone use is booming in New Zealand. According to a CNN article, Domino’s demonstrated its ability to make food deliveries via drone this summer, and started actual test deliveries to customers shortly thereafter [4]. The popular pizza company named their flying delivery drone the “Domicopter”. An article in the Academic Search Premier outlines the delivery process: “Customers can order their pizza and select the drone delivery method. When the food arrives, the customer will receive a notification on their smart phone. Then they can go outside and hit the “accept” button in the Domino’s app which will trigger the drone to lower the pizza via a tether before flying back to the Domino’s store.” If this prototype is successful in New Zealand, Domino’s plans to extend this method of delivery to Australia, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Japan, and Germany [5]. According to the “5 New Applications for Drones” article on American Society of Mechanical Engineers website, Domino’s has been known for testing high-tech delivery systems for many years [3]. It will probably take quite some time before they can bring this technology to the United States because of the country’s strict policies on drone usage.

OTHER DRONE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

In addition to Domino’s, there are many other companies experimenting with commercial drone use. For example: Flirtey, the first approved delivery drone company, is working with other companies testing drones in New Zealand. Flirtey works with companies that need to make time-sensitive deliveries such as online retail, fast food, letters and parcels, and urgent medical delivery, to name a few. Amazon is also looking into using drones to deliver orders to their customers. This delivery system would be called Amazon Prime Air, and would safely transport packages to customers in 30 mins or less [6].

Drones are marketed for commercial use through companies such as Skyfund, Commercial Drone Fund, and DroneBase. Skyfund invests in drone startup companies and Commercial Drone Fund invests in companies that want financing to help advance their drone technology [6]. DroneBase, is a service that allows you to hire a drone pilot for a specific project, or become a freelance pilot for their company.

To accommodate this quickly growing industry, many universities have set up departments or labs with the purpose of training students in the design and development of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). Some of these schools include: The University of Minnesota’s Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Laboratories, which focuses on researching and developing low-cost, open source UAS systems; Kansas State Polytechnic University, which was one of the nation’s first programs to get Federal Aviation Administration approval for UAS flight training through its Applied Aviation Research Center [7]; Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, which started offering a UAS degree in 2011 at its Daytona Beach Florida Campus [7].

STRICT REGULATIONS ON CIVILIAN DRONE USE

While drones are quite useful for completing an array of functions, there are some roadblocks keeping this industry from fully flourishing. One major issue is the strict set of regulations placed on commercial drone use, especially in the U.S. These rules make it exceedingly inconvenient to carry out effective drone testing. This is why most American companies, such as Dominos and Amazon, that are interested in experimenting with drone technology do so in other countries (for example: Britain and Japan) with more relaxed policies.

On August 29, 2016, The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration made effective a new set of regulations regarding the commercial use of drones called Part 107. There is no longer the need for a pilot’s license to operate drones, but there are still numerous restrictions placed on drone operation. Tech Crunch’s article about these drone regulations outlines the numerous rules laid out by Part 107 [8]. Drones can only weigh up to 55 pounds and be used only for business purposes. They can only be flown during daylight hours and not during the night or when visibility is limited. They are also not allowed to fly higher than 400 feet above the ground or faster than 100 mph. Drones must yield to other aircraft as well. Furthermore, the drone must be within the visual line of sight (VLOS) of whoever is controlling the drone. This makes it exceptionally difficult for companies to make deliveries with drones while following these guidelines [8]. The U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx and FAA Administrator Michael Huerta said that there needs to be more data collected on privacy and safety issues posed by drones before more regulations can be relaxed [8].

Even with firm restrictions on drone usage, this industry is continuing to blossom and grow. The FAA is estimating that 600,000 aircrafts will be used this year now that Part 107 has been implemented [8]. The drone industry is projected to create more than 100,000 jobs and generate at least $82 billion in revenue within the first decade of introducing drones to domestic airspace [8].

THE FUTURE OF DRONE RESEARCH AND HOW IT RELATES TO ME

Commercial drones are a quickly growing industry around the world. Many companies, schools, and government agencies are mobilizing to support drone research. Experimenting with drones is important because they can be used by all types of industries to increase productivity. This field will require extensive research in order to evaluate safety concerns and update various drone regulations. Because of the world’s current interest in this field, I expect that the drone industry will take off at an impressive pace.

I find this topic interesting to explore because of my attraction to new and innovative technology and how it affects society. I am excited to see the implementation of drones around the world and how they will contribute to our daily lives. As a budding mechanical engineer, the research I have done for this paper has sparked even more ideas about a possible career paths for my future. I think it would be exciting to travel to other countries to design and test drones for different companies. To gain experience in this field, I would attend a university with UAS programs such as the institutions mentioned earlier. There, I would be able to gain whatever necessary certificate or degree for this field. I am pleased to discover yet another fascinating and innovative field involving engineering.

SOURCES

[1] drone. (n.d.). The Dictionary of American Slang. Accessed 10.28.16 from Dictionary.com website

[2] Adam C. Uzialko.“7 Cool Commercial Drone Uses Coming to a Sky Near You”. 7.27.16. Accessed 10.28.16

[3]Michael MacRae “5 New Applications for

Drones” 05.16. Accessed 10.28.16

[4] Matt McFarland. “Domino's delivers pizza by drone in New Zealand” 08.26.16. Accessed 10.28.16

[5] de Rugy, Veronique. 2016. "New Zealand Has Pizza Delivery Drones." Reason 48, no. 7: 16-17. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost Accessed 10.28.26.

[6] Adam Perlman. “70 Drone Companies to Watch in 2016” 12.14.15 Accessed 10.28.16

[7] Timothy M. Chester “Early Days for Drone Use in Higher Education” 07.11.16. Accessed 10.28.16

[8] Lora Kolodny. “New rules for commercial drone use take effect today in the U.S.” 08.29.16. Accessed 10.28.16

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would especially like to thank writing instructor Mr. Michael Cornelius as well as peer editor Rikki Li for helping me with the organization, content, and editing of my paper. I could not have successfully completed this assignment without their support.

Gabrielle Moore