Issue link: https://te.mouser.com/i/1416851
PAGE 3 FIVE BARRIERS DRONES WILL NEED TO CLEAR FOR COMMERCIAL SUCCESS TE CONNECTIVITY SENSORS /// FIVE BARRIERS DRONES WILL NEED TO CLEAR FOR COMMERCIAL SUCCESS travel and the height at which they can fly. To meet those safety standards, it takes a combination of high-grade sensors, including: • Barometers • Altimeters • Temperature • GMR • Tilt & Angle • Vibration While many of these sensors are found in all drones, the build grade and engineering of these sensors is a critical differentiator: commercial drones need to be operable in conditions far harsher than those encountered by drones designed for hobbyists and personal use. Exposure to extreme temperatures, high humidity, and radiation is common when drones are used for high-risk activities like fighting forest fires, agricultural spraying, and surveying disaster areas. Additionally, larger commercial drones will benefit from vibration sensors that can power an early, predictive failure system and GMR sensors that can help return wayward and out-of-range drones to their home base. Both sensors provide features that not only protect businesses' investments, but that may also appease regulator's future safety concerns. BARRIER 2: CONTACT AVOIDANCE While current regulations require commercial drones be flown within a pilot's line of sight during daylight, there is a push from businesses to eventually allow for fully automated drone flights. The argument for it focuses on scalability. The argument against it focuses on safety. (There's that word again.) If automated drones are allowed to fly, they'll likely need a number of additional safety features, including a contact avoidance system. Even if that's not fully embraced by the FAA or other regulators, similar systems will need to be developed once pilots are allowed to operate drones outside of their line of sight or are allowed to operate more than one drone at a time. Mid-air collisions with other drones or other objects (birds, buildings, and trees all come to mind) wouldn't just prove costly to businesses. They'd pose a danger to anyone at ground level. In order to develop contact avoidance systems, drone manufacturers are poised to use ultrasonic sensors in drone innovation to detect whether objects are approaching and whether the drone is on a path to collide with them. Those signals received from the sensor could then be used to provide a warning to pilots or to override the pilot's control of the drone. BARRIER 3: CONSISTENT AIRSPEED According to the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International, agriculture alone will create roughly 85% of the demand for commercial drones by 2025. One reason for that is the potential cost- savings drones can bring to crop spraying. In order to achieve those savings, though, drones need to fly at consistent airspeeds with a great deal of precision. More precise and consistent airspeeds mean more control over crop spraying, allowing for even distribution and accurate spraying, two critical factors for success in spraying.