International
EXECUTIVE EDITOR’S SHOW REVIEW COMMERCIAL UAV ASIA SHOW AND IOT CONFERENCE, SINGAPORE
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espite a very busy and somewhat problematic registration process, though taken as a sign of success, once inside and underway this was a great event. Well attended from across Asia and show casing drone technologies from around the world, the attendees represented all facets of industry, academia, business, technology and large enterprise. Having first written about the emergence of drones entering into the civil sector in 2009, it is obvious now that drone technology has become main stream and is now in full flight. Literally! It remains only government regulation restricting much wider commercial use, and with companies like UniFly (www.unifly.com) these regulations can be easily referred to and evaluated. Others have much more ambitious plans, like Daka Technologies which reports to be progressing fast with the concept of installing drone delivery pods in all high rise apartments. To help alleviate any safety concerns, ParaZero drone safety systems, an Israeli company used the show to introduce an innovative pyrotechnic parachute and autonomous triggering technology. Fundamentally, drones continue to do the 3'D's - the dirty, dull and dangerous work, but the technology has expanded into ‘dronetainmant’ (unless told otherwise I'm coining that phrase) with drones being used for stage show productions and drone racing is also increasingly popular. Infinium Waders have developed performance drones, specially engineered for the entertainment industry. With in-house proprietary algorithms, complex swarming of UAVs indoors and outdoors is possible for live and novel entertainment showcases. The exhibition included mini drone races, drawing an enthusiastic crowd around a confined safety
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Altura Zenith from www.Aerialtronics.com
net protected centre stage on the expo floor. Races saw drones crashing, smashing and even completing the small course, in what was a challenging mini event for the pilots. One of the key technologies I was seeking out was automatic response drones, which deliver operational security capabilities for responding to alarm events, or being used for perimeter inspections or first deployments to signs of movement or suspicious activity. Only two systems claimed success in this area with developments underway fast and more announcements still to come by SmarmX and DroneBox. But others are also getting there, if not already and I would envisage well within two years we will see these systems deployed in much wider circles. H3Dynamics, a member of the Intel IoT Alliance, has developed the DroneBox as a specialised IoT
product. A Singapore-based, fast-growing robotics technology company, H3Dynamics also specialises in high performance hydrogen-electric energy propulsion systems for UAVs, integrated field and aerial robotics systems, and data analytics solutions across a number of industry sectors. The multi-national team, including based in Melbourne, consists of technologists, engineers, scientists from multiple disciplines, entrepreneurs, and industry leaders who have a wealth of technical and business expertise from their respective fields. Swiss drone manufacturer, senseFly, used the show to launch the eBee SQ fixed-wing agricultural drone. Built for the Parrot Sequoia multispectral camera, this system can cover up to 10 times more ground than small quadcopter drones. The eBee SQ builds on senseFly’s eBee platform, which has so far recorded over 300,000 successful customer flights over seven continents. The Parrot’s Sequoia camera