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The volume of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in our airspace is growing rapidly. Business Insider Intelligence predicts that global drone shipments will reach 2.4 million by 2023, increasing at a compound annual growth rate of 67%.
These drones are providing blood samples and test kits, monitoring crops and livestock, responding to natural disasters and predicting volcanic eruptions. As a less expensive option for manned aircraft, drones can survey hard-to-reach places without putting human resources at risk.
However, the industry faces some critical challenges that need to be resolved before the full potential of UAVs can be realized. And in light of FAA’s Drone Safety Awareness Week, what better time than now to address these issues head-on!
Let’s start with the challenges faced by civil aviation authorities around the world. They have been tasked with managing the growing volume of drones in their airspace and enforcing UAV rules. But they are already overburdened by manned aircraft operations and have limited bandwidth to watch over hundreds of thousands to millions of drones as they take to the skies.
This means that authorities rely on drone operators to follow airspace rules and fly responsibly. But operators also face challenges.
They would have to monitor an exceptional volume of data to plan, execute and adapt their flights safely. This data includes location information, such as buildings, elevation, and road traffic; meteorological information, such as precipitation, visibility and wind speed; and regulatory information, such as airspace classes and restrictions.
This manual approach leaves much room for errors in rapidly changing airspace. Indeed, recent drone sightings near airports and stadiums have revealed how drones in poorly managed airspace can endanger lives and cause major disruptions to operations.
The bottom line is that it is not possible to manage and scale commercial operations with drones with the technologies available today. A smarter system is needed to protect the safety of our airspace as well as people and property on the ground. This system must reduce the burden on drone operators and airspace authorities by minimizing the potential for human error in airspace.
The key to enabling such a system is augmented blockchain technology with smart contracts.
Credit: SkyGrid
SkyGrid
Blockchain is a distributed ledger of immutable records stored in a decentralized database. This technology can be coded with smart contracts to establish mutually agreed rules by network members. Smart contracts require that an exact sequence of events occur to trigger forward contracts. If the terms are met, the smart contracts will automatically record the information on the ledger and execute the terms without human intervention.
How can this technology be applied to unmanned aviation?
When integrated with smart contracts, the blockchain can encode national airspace rules into an airspace management system for unmanned aircraft. This allows authorities to enforce compliance before flight clearance and during flight as conditions change. Businesses can also use this system to set additional safety parameters for their unmanned flights based on different types of missions, payloads, vehicles and environmental conditions.
For example, regulatory rules could include operating drones at altitudes below 400 feet, flying during daylight hours, or maintaining a 5-mile radius around airports without explicit approval. Weather rules may include a requirement to fly in winds of less than 15 mph with at least 5 miles of visibility. And a vehicle rule could include the requirement to fly with at least 20% remaining range as a reserve.
You can also define more specific rules based on the type of drone or payload. For example, stringent parameters could be set for high-risk payloads, such as biohazard materials and pharmaceuticals. These rules could include avoiding a 1 mile radius around stadiums, parks, and urban centers.
Encoded with smart contracts, a blockchain-backed system can automate rule compliance for all unmanned flights. This approach would minimize the burden on both drone operators and authorities. It also allows companies to scale their drone operations by making sure all pilots associated with their organization follow the same regulation.
There is no doubt that unmanned aircraft will have a huge impact on corporate operations and advanced air mobility in general, but there are still critical challenges that need to be addressed to protect the safety of our airspace. Smart contracts play an important role in solving these challenges.
