Mission Critical, February 2015 by Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems Intl

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Inside This Issue: UAS Aid African Journalism

MOTION PICTURE

Drones Go Hollywood

Robots Aid Inspection Industry Canadian Realtors Advance Drones

RPAS: TAKING OFF IN EUROPE Enjoy enlightening opening and closing keynote addresses each day Gain information on developing your commercial RPAS business Get the latest insights from civil and commercial end users Participate in discussions with European and international regulators Benefit from presentations on Europeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s key RPAS pathfinder projects Stay ahead of the curve with the latest market trends and opportunities

auvsi.org/use

EDITOR’S MESSAGE

Adding Your Input to Create a Commercial Market

Danielle Lucey Editor

‘

Once the rule is released, everyone will have a chance to comment and add his or her input. It is imperative these comments come from you — a knowledgeable user of this technology.

’

Now is the time to dream bit and imagine how you want the small unmanned aircraft market to look. Though, as of press time, the Federal Aviation Administration’s small unmanned aircraft rule — which is supposed to govern who can fly small UAS and where — is still sitting on the Office of Management and Budget’s desk, it’s not too early to formulate your ideal vision of the requirements to use these systems. These rules will shape how small unmanned aircraft can be used by both industry and hobbyists. Will you have to have a pilot’s license? How high to fly is too high? What kind of area is considered too populated to fly over? These questions will ultimately affect how this industry can finally earn money legally using these systems. Once the rule is released, everyone will have a chance to comment and add his or her input. It is imperative these comments come from you — a knowledgeable user of this technology. Speaking up now could ensure that we can all share the airspace in a way that is both safe and profitable. I am certainly excited to see how it will shape this magazine’s content in the years to come. This issue of Mission Critical magazine looks at the first industry to receive the green light from the FAA for widespread commercial use, as contributor Lee Ewing shines a light on the film industry. Seven companies currently have legal limited use flying permission through an FAA exemption sought by the Motion Picture Association of America. That story is on Page 10. In this issue, we also have a Q&A with Dickens Olewe. The creator of AfricanSkyCAM, Olewe uses drones as a reporting tool in Africa, shedding light on stories like environmental disasters and poaching. In the future, he hopes to develop a newsgathering association for the continent through Stanford University. That story is on Page 8. For our final department, AUVSI’s Brett Davis talks to Jordan Macnab, who runs a real estate company with his brother. Macnab discusses that market for unmanned aircraft, where in Canada they are able to offer drone photos as a part of their overall package. Though they might not prove useful for every single job, Macnab believes they are here to stay for Realtors.

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CONTENTS FEATURES

Motion Picture Hollywood Gets the Drone Green Light

22 Inspector Gadgets

Air and Ground Systems Give Energy Companies a Jolt

DEPARTMENTS

4 Essential Components

  

iRobot Releases STEM Bot Company Creates Robot App Store App Shows Maps of Where to Fly

Timeline

Robot Toys Throughout the Ages

10 CONTRIBUTING AUTHORS

Lee Ewing is the former editor of Aerospace Daily & Defense Report and Homeland Security magazines and is a frequent contributor to AUVSI’s magazines.

Karen Aho, a freelance writer in western Massachusetts, reports and writes on science, business and housing. She can be reached at k.aho@msn.com.

Q&A Dickens Olewe, AfricanSkyCAM, Uses UAS for Journalism

Uncanny Valley UAS Restrictions Affecting Sports Photos

Technology Gap The Hunt for a Better Battery

State of the Art A Map of Public Safety’s Permission to Fly

MISSION CRITICAL CONTACTS

Cover Photo: Aerial Mob LLC.

Brett Davis Vice President of Communications and Publications bdavis@auvsi.org Danielle Lucey Editor dlucey@auvsi.org

Ken Burris Sales Manager kburris@auvsi.org Dave Donahoe Sales Manager ddonahoe@auvsi.org

18 Spotlight

Driverless Tech Revs at CES

20 Testing, Testing

A Teleprescence Robot for Aging Relatives

26 End Users

Canadian Realtors Get Ahead of the Curve MISSION CRITICAL

Where Can I Fly? There’s an App for That.

iRobot Releases Programmable STEM Outreach Robot IRobot Corp. announced updates to its science, technology, engineering and math outreach program, including releasing its Create 2 programmable robot for educators, students and developers to program behaviors, sounds, movements and add additional electronics. The Create 2, based off of the Roomba 600 series robotic vacuum, comes with online resources, including basic programming examples and starter projects, 3-D printable files for new parts, and a faceplate drilling template. A USB cable is also included to send commands from a computer. Available sample projects provide instructions for a roaming robotic DJ with Bluetooth music control and a light painting tutorial that forms LED images. “As a global leader in robotics technology, iRobot believes its greatest social responsibility is to ignite students’ passion for STEM-related careers through the excitement of robots,” says Colin Angle, chairman and CEO of Robot. “Robots have a cool factor unlike any other learning tool. Create 2, with its online resources, reliable hardware born of the award-winning Roomba, and ease of customization simply delivers more robot than anything available to students and educators at or near its price.” The robot became available in the U.S. on 10 Dec. for $199.99. The Create 2 STEM robot with drilling template for parts customization.

RCFlyMaps shows no-fly zones and acceptable flying sites around users from their mobile device.

Dale Jones and Elias Nichols, two RC aircraft enthusiasts, saw a problem where many hobbyists did not realize where they could and could not fly their aircraft, so they created RCFlyMaps, a website and mobile app that tells users where and where not to fly. The app is programmed with realtime data. It marks every active airport with a red circle radius to designate a no-fly zone. Orange locations recommend other areas, such as national parks and populated areas, that are not recommended for flying. User-recommended sites are marked in green while Academy of Model Aeronautics-approved RC flying sites are marked with blue circles. The app will give users a running list of places that they have flown and allow them to mark favorite sites. The app is currently only available on the iPhone app store. It costs $1.99.

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Universal Robots Create Robot App Store Denmark-based Universal Robots has opened a robotic app store called URCaps. The online store contains accessories, hardware and software for the company’s robot arms. This follows a trend in the robotics world away from expensive customized and comprehensive systems designed on a per client basis to more open-source DIY robotics where users can manage customization themselves. “As a frontrunner in collaborative, user-friendly robots, we’re seeing a wave of demand in smaller companies that never before used robots,” says Ebsen Oestergaard, chief technology officer for Universal Robots. “We want to make it easier to go from idea to finished installation by providing a shortcut to proven combinations of robots and accessories based on the good experiences of other users.” The platform opened in December with an initial 43 caps, or capabilities. These include workbenches, vision solutions, cables, jaws and a variety of grippers. Each cap can be implemented on either the UR5 or UR10 robotic arm. The UR5 can support payloads up to over

11 pounds while the UR10 doubles that figure. Both arms contain six axes and can accomplish high precision on repeatable tasks. Many of the parts on URCaps are made by third parties such as the Empire Robotics Versaball gripper, a versatile yet delicate multiuse ball gripper. This allows users to get more complete customization solutions for their robotics needs, according to a Universal Robots press release. A double setup of the UR5 robot arm with adaptable interfacing for each.

ESSENTIAL COMPONENTS Myo Arms Users With Gesture Super Powers

Myo can control media players with simple gestures like this hans wave to fast forward.

Thymio II glows in the dark in different modes indicated by LED color. This feature can create complex light paintings.

Photos: RCFlyMaps, iRobot, Universal Robots, Thymio, Thalmic Labs.

Swiss Educational Robot Packed With Sensors Researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne have created a low-cost programmable robot that is aimed for use as a learning tool for robotic technology and other sciences. Thymio II, a small, wheeled robot, contains five proximity sensors in the front and two in the back, which allow it to detect close objects. It has two ground sensors that can detect the edge of a table or enable the robot to follow lines. Thymio has a three-axis accelerometer to detect acceleration, impacts and gravity. It also has a microphone with recording capabilities and speaker for audio interaction, an electronic thermometer to measure temperature and an infrared remote control receiver, in addition to five touch buttons on top for display interaction or on/off control. Each sensor is associated with a colored LED, of which Thymio II has 39. In friendly mode, the robot emits green light and follows an object in front of it. It emits a yellow light when in explorer mode and avoids obstacles. Red color designates fearful mode if the robot detects shocks or edges and it shows the direction of

gravity. Purple signals obedient mode in which Thymio II can be controlled with a remote control. Finally cyan indicates investigator mode where it will follow a trail of black on the ground. These modes allows students to visualize the activation of each sensor and engage in creative projects such as creating light paintings by programming the LEDs to respond to different lines that the ground sensor can detect. The robot is powered by a rechargeable lithium-polymer battery and includes a battery power meter. It can be recharged and programmed through a USB connection. A memory card slot allows the robot to store data onboard. The robot also includes a pencil support and a trailer hook for added functionality and the capability to build onto the unit. Programming is done with Aseba, a simple open-source language that combines graphical and text-based programming. Thymio is available through the French distributor Mobsya or U.S. retailer Techykids for between $150 and $225 with bulk discounts available.

Thalmic Labs, headquartered in Waterloo, Canada, and founded by three University of Waterloo engineering students, has developed the Myo armband for gesture control of computers and mobile devices. The device contains nine inertial measurement unit sensors, which detect general movement, and eight electromyography sensors that detect muscle responses from hand motions. The Myo uses Bluetooth to communicate with a computer or mobile device for simple gesture control. The company has demonstrated uses in controlling presentation software like PowerPoint and Keynote, where a flick of the wrist will bring up the next slide. According to the company, Myo can control media players such as iTunes, Spotify and Netflix. To pause or play a song or video, a user can spread their fingers. A wave to the right or left will fast forward or rewind, respectively. Users can control volume by making a fist and turning up or down. At any time, to lock the gesture control and prevent accidental commands, users can touch their thumb to their pinky. Myo can be used to control unmanned vehicles. It works with the Parrot AR 2.0 unmanned hobby aircraft and Sphero mobile controlled ground vehicles. The armband will enable changes in direction, acceleration, and control of flips and tricks. The band can also interface with smart home appliances, including Philips Hue lights. Gestures can turn on and dim connected light bulbs. Future applications include gaming and expanded use of Myo in the home. The design will enable aiming and reloading with simple gestures for video games and transition into controlling a Nest thermostat. Myo is currently available for preorder on Thalamic Labâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s website for $199. It comes in black and white. MISSION CRITICAL

ROBOT TOYS Drones might have been the hot stocking stuffer of the holiday season, but robots have been on toy store shelves for decades. Here’s a look at the history of the toys and how they’ve grown in sophistication.

CIRCA 1963 This rarest member of the “gang of five,” Machine Man turned up at auction for the first time in 1996 and sold for over $40,000. It is a tin battery-operated model with bump-and-go action and its eyes, ears, and mouth light up.

CIRCA 1941 By some reports the first robot toy ever made, Lilliput was a wind-up robot with pin feet that allowed it to waddle forward.

CIRCA 1958 The 15-inch tall tin Radicon Robot was the first of the “gang of five” toy robots made by Masudaya, from Japan. The radio-controlled toy sold for a pricey $10 when it was released and recently went for $33,000 at auction.

CIRCA 1955 Believed to be one of the few older female robot toys, she was accompanied by her son in diapers. The large, plastic-skirted robot has a buzzer and alphabet sheet for Morse code, light-up eyes, a directional knob and a drawer with tiny plastic tools.

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TIMELINE

1998 A soft, cuddly robot aimed for widespread domestic use with over 40 million sold in the first three years of production, Furby began speaking its own language and could converse with other Furbies via infrared sensors in its eyes, but was able to learn English and other languages over time.

2006 1972 The battery-powered tin and plastic New Space Explorer has a TV screen behind his chest plate. He features stop-and-go movement and realistic noises.

Lego Mindstorms NXT was one of the first consumer programmable robotics kits, which included four sensors, proprietary programing and autonomous capability through the NXT Intelligent Brick.

1985 2014

Photos: Justin Pinchot, Amelia Guimarin / www.femhack.com, Geoffrey Peeters, Oliverlyc, Evan-Amos, Wowwee, Eirik Refsdal.

R.O.B., an acronym for Robotic Operating Buddy, was released for a short time as an accessory for the Nintendo NES and was used to help market the system. It received commands from optical flashes from cathode ray tube televisions.

RoboSapien X is an update of the original Robosapien that includes mobile app control and programming through an infrared dongle.

1999 AIBO, the domestic entertainment robot, was originally modeled after a dog. It had autonomous capabilities, various sensors and operated for an hour and a half on a single charge.

DICKENS OLEWE AFRICAN S K YCAM

How did you originally get interested in using UAS? What prompted you to develop AfricanSkyCAM?

Dickens Olewe is the creator of AfricanSkyCAM, a project working to use UAS in newsrooms in Africa. He has worked on data journalism projects, including a health portal to allow users to access information about health facilities in their countries. Olewe is also a fellow at Stanford University, where he is working on africanDRONE, which works to coordinate efforts of UAS users across the continent.

I had observed how Kenyan media was covering flood stories. It was template journalism. Journalists would hire a boat and row about, getting closer to submerged houses, risking life and equipment. The footage would also not tell the scale of the disaster. For a bird’seye view, journalists would get a ride in police helicopters, which in my view, compromised editorial independence. So I submitted a proposal to the Africa News Innovation Challenge arguing for a low-cost technology, instead of expensive choppers, that would enhance frontline reporting and uphold editorial independence. My project made it to the finals, and I got funding to start Africa’s first UAS journalism team. You have quite a bit of experience promoting the use of UAS in journalism and news gathering. What do you see as the primary value of UAS for journalism?

As I said above, the cost of civilian UAS has made it possible for media houses to acquire a tool that can capture a bird’s-eye perspective of a story, which enhances storytelling. A UAS is a perfect alternative to using helicopters. You have stated that the goal of AfricanSkyCAM is to revolutionize frontline reporting. How do you think AfricanSkyCAM’s services will change journalism in Africa?

Importantly, we want to set professional standards in UAS journalism. We aim to train journalists, advise on the use of the technology and kick8

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start content sharing among African media. We are also exploring the use of camera-equipped balloons and other uses of UAS, including deploying them to gather data. Our work is deliberately meant to carve operation areas and increase awareness of professional UAS use. This is critical. At the moment, most countries in Africa have no guidelines for civilian UAS use, and the absence of such laws creates an environment where anyone can operate a UAS. This means that those of us who have professional interest in using UAS risk being shut down following an incident. We want to lead by providing best practice guides and working on a training and licensing regime that will ensure safe and professional operation. We are also reaching out to farmers, conservationists and emergency services industries that have professional interests in using UAS, so that we can lobby together for a favorable operating environment. The blanket ban of civilian UAS use by the South African government should serve as a wake-up call to the drone community that there’s a need to work together. I believe such proactive engagements will help us create a space for what’s a nascent industry and help protect its future. What are the challenges you have faced in communicating the value of UAS journalism, and how do you hope to address them?

The one big problem we face constantly is perception. The problem is that civilian UAS have been conflated with military UAS, so that when you talk of UAS, people immediately think of bombing and

Q&A

spying. These are perceptions that ironically have been propagated by the media. So the media needs to be educated on how to report and package UAS stories, especially in using accompanying images of what a civilian UAS looks like. I also decided that the best way to fight the negative perception is to do feel-good stories to show the possibilities of the equipment. We did a tourism promotional video for the Kenya Tourism Board after a media tour, which went well. We used the pictures in a newspaper feature. I think these efforts will help in winning public confidence and affirming a UAS as a journalism tool. AfricanSkyCAM has partnered with CCTV Africa to give audiences a view of Kenyan wildlife. What has been your biggest success story to date?

Photos: Dickens Olewe.

The partnership with CCTV Africa at Ol Pejeta Conservancy was a big outing. The story was featured on several outlets including Yahoo News, NPR and the Daily Mail online. We did the story at a time when Kenya was losing elephants and rhinos to poaching. Also, at the time the conservancy was getting ready to launch a fixed-wing UAS to help with monitoring the endangered animals. (The Kenyan government stopped the project in June.) It was interesting flying so close to the animals and observing their interaction with the UAS. This story, inasmuch as it’s not a big journalism story, helped us showcase the possibilities of using UAS. We have since partnered again with CCTV Africa to report on a conservation project of the African Wildlife Foundation at Manyara Ranch in Tanzania, where poaching

Ben Kreimer, AfricanSkyCAM lead adviser, on assignment at the Dandora dump site in Nairobi, Kenya.

has been stopped almost entirely, compared to the situation in Kenya where the poaching rate is alarming. We are still in discussions with CCTV Africa for other ambitious projects in the continent.

advise on professional rollout of UAS journalism, and agree on a training, licensing and certification regime which ensures professional operation and a platform to lobby for friendly operation guidelines.

AfricanSkyCAM also recently joined a tourism campaign promoting travel to Kenya. Do you plan to apply your services to more fields outside of journalism?

What are your plans for the future of AfricanSkyCAM and africanDRONE? Do you have any other projects planned?

#KeepCalmAndVisitKenya was a popular hashtag. What we did was to put together a video clips from a number of footage we took in different assignments. I just thought it was a feel-good thing to do, but importantly it was about putting our work and name out there. I would strongly consider any invitation, because for us at this experimental/ expansion phase, the more we are out there, the more operation areas we are winning.

AfricanSkyCAM remains a live lab during my time at Stanford. I have a team of four in Kenya, and I am also working closely with Ben Kreimer. Ben is the project’s trainer and adviser and will be going back to Kenya soon for more outings. I am also reaching out to the Civic Drone Center for collaboration. We are also planning to offer our services to Kenyan journalists so that we can complement their reporting. During my time at Stanford, I’ll study and reach out to journalists in a select number of African countries to invite them to be part of the africanDRONE community and agree on starting drone journalism teams in their countries. I’ll be getting help from the African Media Initiative.

You have announced plans to begin a fellowship at Stanford to develop an association called africanDRONE. What is the goal of this project?

The goal is to inspire UAS journalism in Africa, build connections with newsrooms in the continent,

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UNCANNY VALLEY

Flights, Camera, Action? What Restrictions Mean for Unmanned Aerial Sports Photography

The restrictions classify the airspace near large stadiums as national defense airspace, which goes up to 3,000 feet above ground level and notes that violators may be subject to criminal penalties.

discussed at the national level,” says Mark Dreibelbis, associate commissioner of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association. “The NFHS [National Federation of State High School Associations] is going to wait for the FAA recommendation coming from President Obama.” Many schools are operating on a case-by-case basis until clearer rules come out. Green Hope High School, in Cary, North Carolina,

CLICK HERE TO WATCH VIDEO

The NOTAM comes in response to increased interest and use of unmanned aircraft to film professional and collegiate sporting events. The Washington Nationals baseball team and Seattle Sounders soccer team have used UAS to film practices, and the University of Miami Hurricanes football team even touts its use of UAS during practices in pitches to potential players. Many high schools teams also have had aerial footage of games from unmanned aircraft. Professional teams have faced backlash from the FAA for their use of unmanned aircraft due to commercial restrictions, but aerial sports photography at high school events is still a grey area. “This is an ongoing issue being 10

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grounded its drones after school officials received a letter from the FAA, citing regulations for unmanned aircraft that disallow use over large crowds. However, many high schools continue to film sports from football to tennis and even marching bands from the air. “As a former associate athletics director at the NCAA Division I level, I would not allow [UAS] in my venue due to liability issues, … but since that is a former profession, I will deal with game rules,” says Dreibelbis. “Many states have used the plane of the restricted zone around football fields as an area that drones cannot access. We have not done that to date in [North Carolina].” Despite the current confusion, those in the industry are optimistic about the benefits that UAS of-

fer. The NFL’s media conglomerate has plans to produce this season’s “Inside Training Camp” TV show using UAS as a cheaper and easier alternative to the CableCam zip line system that is currently used in the NFL. Leagues will have to work with the FAA to determine what are acceptable risks before implementing unmanned aerial videography. Risks are an inherent part of any overhead filming, not just limited to UAS. A camera from the cable system ended up on the playing field, delaying a Sunday night game in 2007. UAS can actually weigh less than the CableCam apparatus and have the potential to be a suitable alternative for filming many sports. In other parts of the world, sailing organizations are adopting UAS to film races in place of boats and manned aircraft. The UAS are cheaper, safer and allow for shots that are impossible with previous filming methods. Ben Remocker, CEO of 9er Inc. and manager of the 49er and 49erFX Olympic sailboat classes, has made a proposal to the International Sailing Federation for a new theaterstyle, made-for-TV production concept for races to keep the sport fresh and relevant. This concept hinges on UAS and shorter races that can be filmed from new perspectives. However, it is not all good news outside the U.S. A European Championship Qualifier match between the Albanian and Serbian soccer teams came to a halt and a riot ensued when a consumer UAS flew onto the pitch carrying a proAlbanian banner in October 2014.

Video: PigeonVision

In late October, the Federal Aviation Administration released a notice to airmen, or NOTAM, updating flight restrictions around live sporting events to include unmanned aircraft systems.

TECHNOLOGY GAP

The Hunt to Overtake the Li-Ion UAS Await Energy Innovation Unmanned aerial vehicles are quickly becoming eyes in the sky for everything from land surveys, inspections, and promotional images to wildlife monitoring and environmental research. They can do anything and go more places than traditional aerial methods without the cost and dangers of manned flight. However, especially with the vast majority of affordable, commercially available systems, the severe limiting factor on keeping electric UAS in the air is battery life.

Photo: Cella Engery.

UAS made by DJI Innovations, Parrot and 3D Robotics all have under 30 minutes of flight time per charge, with many models closer to 10 using lithium-polymer batteries. Flight times stretch a little higher for more specialized UAS marketed for business applications. For upwards of $10,000, the Ag Eagle for precision agriculture applications will run for 30 to 40 minutes before its two lithium-ion four-cell batteries need recharging. Lithiumion batteries are cheaper to produce and wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t last as long as lithium polymer batteries, but they do have a higher energy density. Yet lithium batteries, in any form, are still limited, and in order to achieve enough flight time, the size and weight of the aircraft needed to support the extra batteries increases rapidly. High-capacity batteries take a long time to recharge. Solar power has been proposed to help sustain UAS, like satellites, space probes and some unmanned surface vessels. Many high-altitude pseudo-satellites, including those being developed under Google and Facebook for Internet delivery, use solar power to stay aloft for very long periods of time. If you are flying above the clouds, solar power is reliable, but for lower altitude operations, weather antagonizes the technology. Several companies are experi-

menting with very unique concepts for increasing flight endurance. Lockheed Martin was able to modify its electric Stalker UAS to allow remote charging by laser, increasing flight time from two hours to two days. However, the concept has only been proven indoors so far. Los Angeles-based Somatis Technologies is creating aircraft with piezoelectric components than can convert the kinetic energy of wind pressure and vibrations during flight into electrical energy to power and even charge small handheld units. This inventive concept cannot match the endurance of other solutions and requires a completely custom aircraft instead of specialized parts that can be adapted to any model. One more concept replaces the limitations of batteries and fossil fuels with an environmentally friendly energy source â&#x20AC;&#x201D; hydrogen. Cella Energy has created a solid hydrogen storage pellet that makes transport and storage of the element far safer and easier than in the past. The pellets are safe to handle, getting more cost effective to produce and require only a small percentage of the energy output from the fuel cell to heat the pellets and maintain the reaction. After successfully testing on the AeroVironment Raven RQ-11 with a cartridge built onto the wing, the company received funding to make a larger, 150- to 200-watt system at one-half to onethird the weight of the lithium-ion battery in the Raven. The commercial prototype is expected for July.

A handful of hydrogen fuel pellets are safe to handle and can power a small UAS.

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BELLEVUE FIRE DEPARTMENT

GRAND FORKS COUNTY SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT

Safety

CANYON COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE

in Numbers The use of unmanned aircraft for public safety has exploded since five years ago, when local police departments in places like Miami and Houston were just starting to kick around the idea. Here’s the lay of the land according to a Freedom of Information Act request released in 2014. Each number represents the number of certificates that agency has.

5 1 VENTURA COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE

ARLINGTON POLICE DEPARTMENT MONTGOMERY COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE 12

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STATE OF THE ART

MICHIGAN STATE POLICE OAKLAND COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE

2 1 1

WAYNE COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE MEDINA COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE LORAIN COUNTY DHERIFF’S OFFICE

MESA COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE

DAYTONA BEACH POLICE DEPARTMENT

2 CITY OF MOBILE POLICE DEPARTMENT

POLK COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE

The Aerial Mob Heavy Lifter is among the UAS that can now film, due to an FAA exemption.

MOTION PICTURE Hollywood Says the Sky’s the Limit for Unmanned Aerial Cinematography By Lee Ewing

Dig in to your overpriced popcorn, silence your cell phone, and get set to watch movies featuring more creative visuals.

LLC dba Vortex Aerial and Snaproll Media. A seventh exemption was issued in October to FlyingCam Unmanned Aerial Systems.

In September, the Federal Aviation Administration approved applications from six aerial cinematography companies for exemptions to the ban on commercial use of UAS in the United States: Astraeus Aerial Cinema Systems, Aerial Mob LLC, HeliVideo Productions LLC, Pictorvision Inc., RC Pro Productions Consulting

A key question now is what does FAA approval mean to the movie industry, including companies specializing in aerial cinematography?

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COMING ATTRACTIONS “First and foremost, the FAA approval is a victory for audiences,” says Lauren Reamy, director of government affairs for the Motion

Picture Association of America, in response to emailed questions. “The approval allows aerial cinematography companies to work on productions in the U.S., giving filmmakers another creative tool to engage movie watchers in new and innovative ways. This also encourages productions to film in the U.S. — meaning more jobs and revenue here at home.” MPAA was asked about the advantages of using drones rather than manned airplanes or helicopters for aerial shoots. “Small unmanned aircraft systems are a safer, more efficient and a more flexible alternative in many cases,” Reamy says. “For example, SUAS run on electricity, while manned helicopters require thousands of gallons of gasoline. Of course, they are not a complete substitute for manned helicopters. The final decision is up to filmmakers, and we are glad they now have that choice. … For all filmmakers, the approval gives productions another creative option that will ultimately benefit consumers.”

A pulse-quickening sequence in a 2012 James Bond movie, “Skyfall,” which was shot in Istanbul, Turkey, is one often-cited example of effective aerial cinematography using a small UAS. Daniel Craig as 007 is shown from above and many other angles as he rides a motorcycle in a wild chase on the roofs of buildings, battles with a bad guy atop a speeding train, plunges off a cliff and is swept over a roaring waterfall. “While we have already seen movies filmed with SUAS from overseas productions — take for example the roof sequence of ‘Skyfall’ — the sky is literally the limit in imagining what new angles and views filmmakers will thrill us with next,” Reamy says. “Every day, moviemakers are increasingly leveraging the latest technologies to advance their craft. Using SUAS is an example of that, one in which audiences will continue to see scenes and shots we could only have imagined a few years ago.”

“I suppose it will make certain kinds of shots that were inaccessible to lower-budgeted productions more common,” he says. “[Drones] could allow you to do certain things a little bit more creatively. You know, get the camera into spaces where you couldn’t ordinarily get a helicopter. That would be the chief creative advantage.” Independent filmmakers and other producers whose budgets don’t allow for manned helicopters could save money and broaden their creative possibilities by using drones, Crudo says. “The independents will embrace the cheapness of it, and the studios will embrace the trendiness of it.” For ASC cinematographers, the prospect of shooting with drones “is not that big a deal to us,” Crudo says. “It’s just another tool. … It’s a ripple, not a tidal wave.” Movie audiences “wouldn’t know the difference it you [shot a scene] from a helicopter or a Saturn V rocket, honestly,” he says.

“General audiences have no idea what they’re looking at, nor should they. They shouldn’t be sitting there saying, ‘Oh, that was done by a drone.’ ‘No, that was done by a helicopter.’ As a filmmaker, that’s the last thing in the universe you want an audience thinking about. It’s absolutely immaterial to an audience how these things are done.” SHOT SELECTION One condition for drone cinematography is that the aircraft may fly no higher than 400 feet, but that might not be a serious problem. “I find, as a cinematographer, where the shots are most interesting and most dynamic is down low,” says David Wagreich, CEO and pilot for Astraeus Aerial Cinema Systems. “Typically, with full-scale helicopters, you’re always asking to go lower. To be high and wide and looking down on something isn’t as exciting as being down in the action. Typically, our best shots are at 50, 30 feet or below.”

Photos: Aerial Mob LLC, Flying-Cam.

MOVIE CRITICS One prominent cinematographer has a positive but less exuberant reaction to the prospect of using drones for filmmaking. The drone is welcome, he says, but it’s just another tool. “I think it’s going to open up some more sophisticated opportunities,” says Richard Crudo, president of the American Society of Cinematographers. “I wouldn’t say necessarily that that means we’re going to get better movies at any level, but we may see some flashier, more self-conscious shots.

Flying-Cam’s Emmanuel Previnaire, Jan Sperling, Etienne Brandt and Tony Postiau accept a Scientific and Engineering Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in February 2014. MISSION CRITICAL

A Flying-Cam UAS was used to capture images from the dragon’s point of view for the movie Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Wagreich says drones with high-resolution, gimbal-stabilized cameras will complement but not fully replace established imagecapturing systems such as full-scale manned helicopters and groundbased systems like the cablemounted cameras used for overhead views of football games and cameras mounted on cranes or remote arms of customized ground chase vehicles like the Porsche Cayenne and the Mini Cooper. Previously, he says, for movies like “Spiderman,” crews had to spend days — and tens of thousands of dollars — rigging cable cameras and programing their movements. “There are a lot of production economies,” Wagreich notes. “In comparison with full-scale helicopters, which can cost upwards of $30,000 a day to operate … you can fly a UAS for [about] half the price.” Treggon Owens, a cofounder of Aerial Mob, says the FAA’s approval of the limited use of UAS in aerial cinematography is a “good 16

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first step into mass use in the cinematography world.

electric-motor-driven rotor to four, six or eight rotors.

“Right now, the FAA has been very good in granting this exemption, but I would say we’re definitely still in the guinea pig stage, where some of the processes between an operator and the FAA are still being worked out. Once those are all worked out and it becomes a very smooth and integrated process, that would be the next step.”

“It’s kind of a new tool for cinematographers to do dynamic motion,” Owens says, which complements but does not supplant other camera platforms like dollies and cranes.

The demand for unmanned aerial cinematography has been “very strong,” Owens says, but the time needed to gain clearance makes it a challenge to meet the demand. “The demand for the use of it is definitely outstripping our ability to get through the regulatory hurdles, but [FAA officials] are working on that very hard.” Unmanned aerial cinematography companies typically buy a base UAS and customize it to meet the customer’s needs or build their own, Owens says. Rotary-wing UAS are widely used in filmmaking in configurations ranging from a single

“What I really like about the drone is that it frees up your creativity,” he says. “You are providing the filmmaker a whole new way to tell a story.” Advantages of UAS over manned helicopters for moviemaking include greater safety. Most fatalities of film crew members have involved manned helicopter accidents. While movie drones are not immune to accidents, their limited size, weight and strict restrictions on their use should improve safety substantially. “The biggest disadvantage we have come against is the noise factor. It sounds like a swarm of bees that are traveling by you, and that can disrupt dialogue. … Outside of that noise factor, it’s pretty much the sky’s

“The technology, from our perspective, is game changing,” Astraeus Aerial’s Wagreich says. “You can create shots that you could never achieve before.” With drones, he says, “you can show up and fly it in real time,” saving time and money and allowing greater creativity. “I think what’s going to happen now is directors of photography are going to start conceiving shots around UAS.” Already, filmmakers who use drones have their own film festival and a “world tour” to show off that creativity. The New York City Drone Film Festival is set for 21 Feb., and an 18-month Aerial Drone Cinematography World Tour of 48 universities is scheduled for 2015 and 2016.

Photo: Flying-Cam.

The advent of unmanned aerial cinematography offers exciting new capabilities to the movie industry, but its significance could extend far beyond Hollywood. FAA officials and other observers are likely to closely scrutinize movie drone use as a bellwether that could influence how and how fast the agency eventually will allow broader commercial use of unmanned aerial systems for agriculture, real estate, oil and gas exploration, and a host of other applications. Meanwhile, sit back and enjoy scenes with a little more artistic flair as a growing number of movies are enhanced by unmanned aerial cinematography. 

RULES OF ENGAGEMENT

the limit as long as we are following the safety rules and avoiding public airspace. It’s just a very useful tool for the filmmaker to get a dynamic motion in a shot,” Owens adds.

For years, drones have been used to shoot feature films overseas. Now, filmmakers with FAA exemptions may use them within the United States under certain conditions. 55-pound maximum weight, with payload Set closed to everyone but the production crew Daytime flight only 400-foot maximum altitude Visual line of sight Ground speed of less than 50 knots 30-minute flight time or with 25 percent battery power remaining FAA must be notified three days in advance Production company must obtain a certificate of waiver or authorization Crew must include a certified visual observer and a licensed pilot Pilot in command must have at least a private pilot’s certificate and a valid third-class medical certificate, have accumulated and logged a minimum of 200 flight cycles and 25 hours of total time as a UAS rotorcraft pilot and at least 10 hours logged as a UAS pilot with a similar UAS type (single blade or multirotor) Pilot in command must have accumulated and logged a minimum of five hours as UAS pilot with the make and model of UAS to be used for operations under the exemption and three takeoffs and landings in the preceding 90 days Pilot in command must have successfully completed a qualification process, to include a knowledge and skill test

An artist’s rendering of Mercedes-Benz’s F 015 Luxury in Motion, an optionally autonomous vehicle.

REVVED AND READY Self-Driving Technologies Shine at CES 2015 After decades of telling consumers their cars are fun to drive, automakers are now packing those cars with new technology and showing consumers how much more fun it is to relax and let the car handle the driving. This year’s Consumer Electronics Show included something of a miniature car show, as 10 automakers displayed their wares and other companies showed off automotive technology that would enable cars to talk to other cars and to infrastructure, as well as drive themselves. 18

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Mercedes exhibited its F 015 Luxury in Motion, a concept vehicle that could drive itself or be driven manually. The interior featured swivel chairs so passengers could face each other if they desired as the car handled the task of driving. According to the company, “With this self-driving luxury sedan, Mercedes-Benz illustrates how the car is growing beyond its role as a mere means of transport and will ultimately become a private retreating space. This new way of traveling gives passengers the freedom to use

their valuable time on the road in manifold ways.” The vehicle can communicate with the outside world via its large LED light modules located front and rear. If the vehicle is driving autonomously, the lights are blue, and if it’s being controlled manually, they are white. The vehicle is a concept for technologies Mercedes expects to be on the road by 2030, part of what it calls “City of the Future 2030+.” Mercedes speculates that by then, cities would have set up “safety zones” in urban centers that are only accessible to autonomous vehicles, similar to today’s low-emission zones in city centers. F 015 hasn’t been road tested yet, but many of the underlying technologies, including the company’s Stop&Go Pilot traffic jam vehicle following software, have been tested on S-class vehicles on public roads.

SPOTLIGHT

The vehicle was displayed on CES 2015’s opening days but was gone midway through, on its way to the 2015 Detroit Auto Show. Fellow German automaker Audi also demonstrated its selfdriving technology, showcasing Jack, a vehicle that drove itself to the show from Stanford University, a distance of 560 miles.

IAV’s Lars Eggenstein goes hands-off while driving a Volkswagen equipped with Valeo’s Cruise4U system.

Jack carried four people on the trip, two Audi officials and two journalists at a time, who live streamed the trip along the way. There were also several other vehicles accompanying the trip, enough so that Audi of America’s Arne Bartels said it was the only automated driving experience “you could see from space.”

Image: Mercedes-Benz. Photos: AUVSI.

Scott Keogh, president of Audi of America, said in a press conference, “This was no highly manipulated showcase around the block. In true Audi fashion, this test drive proved what is tantalizingly close to being ready for customers. This epic drive showed that piloted driving can safely and capably handle the challenges of the road each of us face every day — from big rig convoys to precisely overtaking slower moving cars and then moving back out of the passing lane when it is safe.” INTERACTIVE DISPLAYS Some of the equipment at CES 2015 was interactive. Two companies offered rides in self-driving cars, taking journalists out into busy Las Vegas traffic. One was AUVSI member Valeo, which demonstrated a variety of automated driving technolo-

Audi’s self-driving car display, including Jack, which drove itself to the show.

gies, including Cruise4U, which combines the company’s SCALA laser scanner along with cameras and radar systems on the body of a modified Volkswagen. Lars Eggenstein, project manager for vehicle systems at Valeo’s partner IAV, took reporters on a spin along Sahara Boulevard, letting the Volkswagen drive itself from time to time in busy traffic. Activating the system is similar to activating cruise control, and Eggenstein could disengage it at any time by

grabbing the steering wheel. The system can detect other vehicles as well as lanes, although the washed-out lane markings in some places in Las Vegas made that difficult. The Cruise4U builds on Valeo’s Park4U, an automated parking system that was unveiled at last year’s CES. Delphi showed a similar system along with its partner Ottomatika, a spin-off from Carnegie Mellon University, and also took journalists for rides. MISSION CRITICAL

A GiraffPlus user in Italy interacts with a family member via the telepresence robot.

MOM, ARE YOU OK? GiraffPlus Tests Telepresence Robots in the Home European researchers are putting the finishing touches on a threeyear program called GiraffPlus, which studied the use of telepresence robots in the homes of elderly residents across the continent. GiraffPlus, based around the Giraff telepresence robot, included sensors and robots placed in the homes of 15 residents of Sweden, Italy and Spain. The sensors could measure blood pressure and detect if a person fell down, and family members, physicians and therapists could check in on patients via the 20

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robot’s Skype-like interface. In one example, an elderly man in Spain named Adolfo didn’t eat lunch one day. The GiraffPlus system notified his daughter, who used the telepresence robot to talk to her father and learn that he wasn’t feeling well and didn’t want to eat. So, she brought some food and spent the afternoon with him. Adolfo fit the profile of the types of people the system is suited for, says Amy Loutfi, project coordinator for the effort, which was

funded by the European Community’s Framework Programme Seven. “They were mostly private homes and mostly flats, so people who were living in apartments on their own. They were single inhabitants. We had chosen the test site people because we wanted to try and systematize this process as much as possible, so we chose people who required some assistance to be at home, what we considered to be rather frail, elderly, but nobody who had major cognitive impairments,” she said in a Skype interview with Mission Critical. There also needed to be family members who were interested in using the system as well as medical professionals who could work with it. TWO PHASES GiraffPlus was conducted in two phases. The first group of residents had a robotic system for a total of a year and a half, and the second group had one for six months. The

TESTING, TESTING A GiraffPlus user in Sweden interacts with the robot.

first batch of users tried out the system and gave feedback to the researchers, who then updated the system for the second batch and retrofitted the older systems as well. “Hardware wise, yes, it was the same, but functionality wise we had some improvements that we could deploy. But of course the improvements were also deployed to all the test sites. It’s just that the first batch had the previous version and the new version,” Loutfi says. “Some of the improvements were, for example, that we built a map of their home with the robot, so then the robot can navigate just by clicking on a position in the map. And we also built collaborative control so that you couldn’t drive into obstacles.”

Photo: CNR / GiraffPlus, Terese Andersson / GiraffPlus.

Researchers noticed cultural and individual differences as the research progressed. While physicians and therapists liked receiving health data about the senior citizens, such as blood pressure, that data wasn’t as useful or as welcome for family members, who preferred just to be notified when something was wrong. “They think it’s too much. It’s hard for them to digest, and it’s hard for them to know what it means,” she says. “So in the end we actually had to just simplify some of the interface for the family members where we’re only just sending alarms. We inform them only when something happens, … but the physicians enjoyed the data because they could all of a sudden see things, and they would know when they had to intervene. It gave them an indication of

when is the right time to make a call.” Different regions of Europe also responded differently, Loutfi says. “In southern Europe, there’s more a tradition of family taking care of family, and in northern Europe there’s more a tradition of the system taking care of people,” she says. Many southern European residents are visited frequently by family members, less so in northern Europe, she says, “but our sample sizes are so low that it’s really difficult to make some widespread conclusions.” As for the elderly themselves, they generally responded well to the robots. Sometimes they would turn them off if they felt the screens were too bright or would knock off the sensors while trying to dust them, but in general “we found that people used the system.” The residents weren’t necessarily responding to the robot as a robot but rather as a telepresence device, basically a fancier Skype experience. “I would say that most of them liked the robot, and in fact now that we’ve closed the test sites, some of them are asking us if they can keep the robot. That’s nice to see. I think family members appreciate it, but healthcare professionals still are not quite used to using this kind of technology.”

COLLECTING FEEDBACK The project is now collecting indepth feedback from users to form some conclusions about the utility of telepresence robots for some elderly users. “I think you have to have a house, and you have to be living in such a way that the technology can come in and be meaningful. It doesn’t work if you live in too small of an environment,” she says. “You should also be alone. Right now we don’t have the technology to be able to determine activities when there are two people living in the home. And I think one thing we also understand is that you should maybe have certain ailments. I mean you shouldn’t be too healthy. If you’re very healthy, maybe the only thing you need is a Giraff, you know, to keep in touch with family members who may be far away.” Researchers are also considering bringing the system to market, Loutfi says, but so far one thing seems clear. “It’s hard to say really, but I think the main conclusion is that one size doesn’t fit all,” she says. MISSION CRITICAL

hen it comes to unmanned aerial systems, the Federal Aviation Administration would clearly prefer that flights be kept to remote areas, for obvious reasons. So it’s little surprise that with a September 2015 deadline looming to open U.S. skies, the federal agency issued its first commercial UAS exemptions to companies in Alaska, a state vast enough — at 365 million acres, there are only 1.3 people per square mile — to ease even the FAA’s fears of a possible collision.

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First up was oil giant ConocoPhillips, which launched a fixedwing ScanEagle in September of 2013 to conduct marine mammal and ice surveys 180 miles off the state’s north shore, in advance of exploratory drilling. Although another ScanEagle, made by Boeing subsidiary Insitu Inc., later went down in the Chukchi Sea, that first 36-minute flight was deemed a success. Controlled by a pilot on ship, the 40-pound military reconnaissance drone streamed instant and detailed video and telemetry back to base, all while emitting little

more than a model airplane hum. The ScanEagle can fly up to 18 hours on 1.5 gallons of fuel. It has, ConocoPhillips said at the time, “the benefit of improved safety and lower noise levels as compared to using manned aircraft.” Nine months later, BP Alaska flung a Puma AE, a seven-footwide, hand-launched, fixed-wing drone from manufacturer AeroVironment, over the Prudhoe Bay oil fields, becoming the second company to fly a commercial UAS in the States and the first to do so over land.

Drones, Ground Vehicles Give New Power to Energy Companies Seeking Data By Karen Aho

Photo: AeryonLabs.

“This is a breakthrough for BP,” Curt Smith, a director in BP’s technology office, reported from the test site. He told The Wall Street Journal that after the Puma obtained its first 3-D model of the field’s gravel pits, officials said, “That’s more data in 45 minutes than we’ve gotten in the last 30 years.” That these first UAS exemptions went to oil companies may be more than geographical coincidence. The oil and gas industry manages some 2.5 million miles of pipelines, along with drilling operations in remote and often harsh

landscapes. Largely self-regulated, both the costs and the stakes are high. In the U.S. alone, pipeline accidents killed more than 500 people and cost nearly $7 billion in property damage since 1986, according to a 2012 investigation by the news site ProPublica. Furthermore, one government report found that one-third of recent leaks were spotted by the public first, before the company responsible had even detected a problem. Add to such investigations the high-profile Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the rapid expansion of hy-

draulic fracturing, the controversial Keystone Pipeline proposal, and a simmering general awareness of the nation’s crumbling infrastructure and experts anticipate stricter regulations to come that could further motivate oil and gas companies to adopt innovative drone technology. “They probably have more of a volume of linear miles to look at, and the regulatory environment is getting tighter,” says Steve Phipps, chairman of the board at Woolpert, a geospatial data and analysis firm that just received an FAA exemption to operate MISSION CRITICAL

commercial drones in Ohio and Mississippi. “That’s why they’re looking to new technology.” While drones will certainly be in the picture, just how and when is an ongoing function of economics, he says. “I think we’re in the infancy of thinking about how best to use a new tool.”

wing that weighs 55 pounds loaded and can operate for 20 hours, he says. But current federal regulations also require unmanned craft to remain within the line of site — or one-half mile — of the radiocontrol pilot.

“The drone cameras aren’t scanning the horizon for obstacles; they’re looking down,” says Cunningham. Regulations require Instead of $10,000 a day, they “a pilot who can track it visually at all could do it for $1,000 a day. times.”

That’s what’s happening in South America, in Africa and other places. They’ve had a competitive leg up over companies here.

ADOPTING DRONES UAS technology is hardly new, but it still has significant range limits. Loaded with cameras or thermal sensors, some small copters can fly for only 20 minutes. “They’re not going far,” says Keith Cunningham, associate director of research and development at the Alaska Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integrations.

His university owns a fixed

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This may make long-range aerial surveys cost prohibitive for the time being. But the financial and qualitative benefits of short-range operations in the industry are already clear.

At Prudhoe Bay, North America’s largest oil field, it would take a worker seven days to check a two-mile section of pipe, a task the Puma AE undertook for BP Alaska in 30 minutes last June. There are 1,200 miles of pipeline in the Prudhoe Bay field. One man piloted the craft, which flew at 200 feet, while another operated the cameras. Experts on site analyzed images in real time. During earlier testing over the pipeline, UAS maker Aeryon Labs told a reporter that a small UAS

with a heat-seeking camera cost about $85,000, compared with the $3,000 per-hour cost of a manned helicopter. “The drone, therefore, would pay for itself within 29 hours,” the reporter surmised. “Instead of $10,000 a day, they could do it for $1,000 a day,” Cunningham says. “That’s what’s happening in South America, in Africa and other places. … They’ve had a competitive leg up over companies here.” At a gas plant in northern Scotland, Houston-based exploration and production company Apache Corp. was able to use drones to inspect flare stacks, a job that used to require at least a three-week shutdown while workers climbed the stacks using ropes or scaffolds, the Houston Chronicle reported. Using a fourpound quadcopter, Cyberhawk Innovations did the job in two days, without ceasing operations. It’s work the Scotland-based company has been doing for major oil players in Europe, the Middle East and Asia for four years. At the Sleipner A platform, a major network hub in the North Sea that for safety reasons cannot be fully shut down, Cyberhawk’s drone hovered in 25-knot winds above a 400-foot flare tower to capture thermal and photographic images, revealing minor damage to the radiation panels. Until that moment, the stack had been

“beyond the reach of traditional inspection techniques, creating an uncertainty about its condition,” the company says. During the two 15-minute flights, the drone also surveyed down to the water line, finding areas of corrosion on the jacket and damage to the ladder cages. “These technologies promise to be very efficient and cost effective,” Ron George, a researcher at Texas A&M, told the Chronicle. “It’s pretty easy to see why these technologies are appealing to the oil and gas industry.”

Photos: BP, AeroVironment, Inc., Woolpert.

Rigs in the Gulf of Mexico will soon get the same opportunity. The FAA granted an exemption in December to VDOS Global, an Oregon-based UAV inspection and data services firm, to inspect flare stacks for Shell Oil using the Aeryon SkyRanger, a small quadcopter from Aeryon Labs, a Canadian company. With more than 3,500 potential inspection sites in the Gulf, the company said it anticipates “significant demand.” The 5.3-pound SkyRanger — designed for military and built for rough weather — boasts stability in 55 mph wind gusts and temperatures up to 122 degrees Fahrenheit. Cunningham, who’s worked with SkyRanger’s lighter cousin, the Aeryon Scout, in Alaska, says no one doubts the technical ability of

the UAS — or, for that matter, the technology they carry. From 400 feet, sensors can already capture detail down to two centimeters and detect differences in water quality, soil composition, plant species, manmade materials and more. The lidar technology used by the Puma AE in Prudhoe Bay, for instance, emitted 400,000 pulses of light per second to help create 3-D maps of the roads, gravel pads and gravel pits, all of which are dangerously vulnerable to flooding due to permafrost. The pressing issue, says Cunningham, is to highlight how the marriage of these existing technologies can help people make better decisions, specifically to improve safety. The federal government awarded his university a $1.3 million federal grant to research just this the question. When engineers can sit at their desks in Anchorage, Alaska, and Houston and London and watch live video streamed from a UAS, then direct the pilot to swoop in for a closer look along the way, the quality of inspection and monitoring is bound to improve. “It’s really about the human factor, the information sharing,” says Cunningham. “We’ve compressed the cycle of the collection of data and the analysis of data and the decision-making from weeks, if not months, into real time.”

SURVEYING FROM THE GROUND GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy announced in December that it had successfully completed the first robotic inspection of a pipeline at a nuclear power plant. The self-propelled, ultrasonic robot Surveryor, developed in collaboration with GE Industrial, negotiated 10 feet of vertical pipe, a 90-degree elbow and 20 feet of horizontal pipe at the South Texas Project Electric Generating Station, transmitting live data to a command center via a power umbilical cord. The process took eight hours and required no excavation, a time consuming and costly measure that until now has provided the only visual access to buried lines. “Underground pipes are a key component of nuclear power plants but are difficult to inspect and sometimes inaccessible,” says Richard Rossi, GEH’s vice president of asset management services. “This technology enables an entire length of underground pipe to be inspected without the risk and expense of excavation.” The Surveyor, already used at oil and gas facilities, is six feet long and can inspect pipes of six inches to four feet in diameter. The pipes needn’t be empty.  MISSION CRITICAL

Real estate sometimes looks better from the air, and UAS can make that possible.

Canadian Realtor Brothers Fly UAS Ahead of the Curve By Brett Davis

Jordan Macnab and his brother Russ are Realtors based in Vancouver, Canada, who like to have fun with their work and try new things, including new technologies.

wives to let us buy the drones as a toy was to use it in business, so that got us in the door.”

One of the new technologies they have introduced to their work: unmanned aircraft.

“We’ve been really video heavy. It’s something that we’ve been pushing for a couple of years now,” Jordan says. “We really feel that video is the way of the future for showing houses and actually just selling houses.”

“My little brother is my partner, and he’s a pretty big techie Apple nerd,” Jordan tells Mission Critical. “A way to convince our 26

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The Macnabs have focused on using video in recent years.

Their first purchase was a DJI Phantom equipped with a Zenmuse gimbal, a wireless monitor and a GoPro Hero3 camera. “It took a while to get comfortable flying it,” Jordan says. “We did that for six months before we produced anything. Then we did a marketing video showing our properties.” That got them some attention, including from CTV, The Huffington Post, a local site named Vancity Buzz and more. That online chatter “got us all the business we need,” Jordan says. Despite the novelty, he says the UAS are just another arrow in the quiver of the modern real estate agent.

“It’s just another tool that’s part

Photos: Jordan and Russ Macnab.

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION

As anyone who has looked at YouTube recently knows, unmanned aircraft and video go together, and the Macnabs knew the technology would add some oomph to their video work. They “spent a couple of grand” on some UAS and started getting some publicity.

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Send Us Your Shots Have a great photo you’ve taken with an unmanned system? Send it in to AUVSI’s Unmanned Systems and it could be published in the magazine.

CONTACT : Danielle Lucey Editor dlucey@auvsi.org

All photos must be high resolution and must have been taken during legal unmanned system operations. If the photos were taken with an unmanned aircraft, the operator must also have adhered to AUVSI’s Code of Conduct. See http://www.auvsi.org/conduct for more information. 28

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END USERS

of our listing package,” he says. “It doesn’t work for every listing.” They work better for larger properties, and the Macnabs aren’t allowed to fly downtown or around high-rise buildings. “The better effect is to have bigger land to fly over,” Jordan says. While Realtors in the United States aren’t authorized The Macnab’s customized DJI Phantom. to use unmanned aircraft for their work — although many do — the Macnabs can do so in Canada, although they still must file a Special Flight Operations Certificate with Transport Canada for every single flight. They have to file a flight plan, even if they are just flying through the interior of a house. “We are doing exteriors and interiors. It’s a little bit harder to fly through an interior, unless it’s a larger, loftier place, which we have done,” he says. In the United States, the largest real estate brokerage company in the country, which owns Coldwell Banker, Jordan and Russ Macnab, drone-flying Realtors in Vancouver. ERA and Sotheby’s Interreal estate marketing purposes or hire Meanwhile, in Vancouver, Jordan national Realty, has told its companies to do so” until FAA rules says the Macnab company has been Realtors not to use any drone upgrading its unmanned aircraft and permit it. footage in their listings in the wake of Federal Aviation Admin U.S. Realtors have also report- plans to add more in the new year. istration opposition, according to “There are already five new ed receiving phone calls, emails Forbes magazine. drones since we bought ours, at half and even subpoenas from the FAA the price. … It keeps getting bigger,” asking about whether and how The National Association of Jordan says. they are using unmanned aircraft Realtors in the U.S. has also said “members should not use drones for for their listings. MISSION CRITICAL

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