Newark real estate broker Will Webber has used drones to market real estate listings. The unmanned aircraft he used captures specular views of properties.
That’s just one of the growing number of uses for drones that could one day fly along aerial superhighways, deliver, packages and finding missing persons. Drones were a hot topic earlier last week at the monthly event of the Delaware Technology Forum at Deerfield, Newark. The session focused on civilian use of the technology, rather than widely reported military applications.
To the disappointment of the 50 or so in attendance, no demonstrations were held along the golf course. The Federal Aviation Administration has banned the commercial use of drones and the worry is that the agency will dither over drawing up regulations.
Evan Lober of Squatch Creative and Peter Fomin of Zenith FilmWorks described the potential of drones but cautioned that overly strict regulations could hold back growth in an industry that could employ 100,000 people in the U.S. alone. Squatch is a technology-based marketing agency and Zenith owns drones that can be used for filming. Both companies are based in northern Delaware.
Lober says one example of that potential could come in search and rescue operations with relatively inexpensive drones covering large areas. Indeed, the FAA made an exception to its complete ban by allowing a search for a missing person in Texas.
Lober says the FAA moved to flex its muscles in regulating drones that have raised concerns over privacy issues and the potential to interfere with manned aircraft. The agency bans the non-hobby use of drones.
Lawsuits have been filed to reverse that ban and industry groups are now working with FAA, such as the National Association of Realtors, according to one report. That would lift the cloud over another key growth area for drone technology.
Lober says regulation is needed. Issues include the potential of drones to invade privacy and the potential of even smaller drones to injure people if something went amiss.
Despite the regulatory hurdles, drones are moving into the mainstream in agriculture, Lober and Fomin noted. Drones are already findinga home in agriculture a recent story in Fortune reported.
Still, the worry among those in the fledgling industry is that overly aggressive regulation could hold back its potential and allow Europe and Asia to grab a bigger chunk of business.
The FAA responded to that claim with the following statement.
This comparison is flawed. The United States has the busiest, most complex airspace in the world, including many general aviation aircraft that we must consider when planning UAS integration, because those same airplanes and small UAS may occupy the same airspace.
“Developing all the rules and standards we need is a very complex task, and we want to make sure we get it right the first time. We want to strike the right balance of requirements for UAS to help foster growth in an emerging industry with a wide range of potential uses, but also keep all airspace users and people on the ground safe.”
Amazon.com has generated a lot of publicity and jokes over its research in developing a delivery drone.
But Lober says the technology is advancing rapidly, with one-hour delivery a distinct possibility once the aerial superhighways for drones and related technology are developed and regulations reflect the technology.
Meanwhile, the number of tasks that drones will handle continues to multiply. Locally, a roofing contractor is looking into using the aircraft to check the condiiton of some spots.
Fomin says the technology could play a key role in beaming the Internet via wi fi signal to isolated areas, while monitoring the condition of crops and recording land and sea erosion, just to name a few possibilities.
“FAA willing, it’s going to happen,” Lober says.
The Technology Forum of Delaware holds monthly education and networking events. For further information check out their website.
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