Building the Drone Highways of the Sky
Date Posted: December 29, 2020
Posted In: Ideas,
From Smart Cities Dive: The sky is ripe for innovation as industries and governments look to support growing drone operations with dedicated flight corridors.
Such unmanned aircraft system (UAS) corridors — think of them as sky lanes — can facilitate transformational opportunities for cities. Yet the road to integrated drone operation poses a host of security, regulatory and public acceptance challenges.
The build-out of aerial transportation networks will require a host of partnerships extending from local and state governments to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), NASA, private enterprise and others operating within the drone ecosystem.
According to Michael Blades, vice president of aerospace, defense and security at Frost & Sullivan, these partnerships face two types of challenges: technological and regulatory.
Establishing standards and building the network
Manned aircrafts have always operated under the principle of “seeing and avoiding” other aircraft, which unmanned aircraft can’t do – yet. The FAA is currently working with industry stakeholders to research reliable detect-and-avoid (DAA) technology, which will facilitate more complex unmanned operations that can be integrated with manned operations.
“There are logistical challenges, especially with the infrastructure that will be necessary to support an aerial fleet of autonomous cargo and passenger carrying drones, after the industry is able to scale production, and gain regulatory approvals, to meet market demand,” Blades explained.
He noted there are several regulatory challenges, both for operations and for certifying an UAS as airworthy. Blades said the development of rules will need to be — or should be — developed internationally, so all approved aircraft can operate around the globe, like how the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) rules global air traffic now.
Among the most important of these actors will be UAS Traffic Management (UTM) service providers, which develop APIs to connect drones and drone pilots with digital airspace maps and live navigation services.