(Newswire.net — April 23, 2018) — You might think the drone boom has already happened. That the trend pieces have spoken, the market has become saturated, and only the laggards have yet to be persuaded by the many charms of unmanned aerial vehicles.
While those last three points may be mostly accurate, the world has yet to see a drone boom like the one that is on the horizon. It’s the beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) boom, and it has only just begun.
Getting industrious
BVLOS is essentially a drone flight that takes place beyond the pilot’s line of sight. Currently, in order to comply with regulations, drones can largely only be flown so far as the pilot can see it. As you can imagine, in order to be completed safely, efficiently and cost-effectively, many industrial applications of drones require BLVOS flight: long-range infrastructure inspections, remote surveying, stockpile evaluation, surveillance, incident response, the list goes on.
The applications listed above are among the many mentioned when the topic turns to how drones are set to revolutionize industry. However, when it comes to much of the world, that revolution is being held back by BVLOS regulations.
The current vision
In March of 2017 the Civil Aviation Authority of Israel issued the world’s first certification for fully automated, pilot-less drone flight to Airobotics, a pioneering producer of automated industrial drones. This certification allows Airobotics’ drones to not only fly beyond the line of sight, but to fly without a human pilot, instead relying on Airobotics software and artificial intelligence. The Airobotics system is notably being used in automated BVLOS mode by Israel Chemicals Ltd. and Intel.
In a vacuum this news makes it sound as though industrial drones are living up to their heady, futuristic expectations, but it must be noted that both Israel and Airobotics are leaders when it comes to industrial drone innovation. The rest of the world is playing catch-up, and they aren’t necessarily doing it very quickly.
Poland recently made news by presenting the idea of allowing BVLOS flight up to 120 meters above ground level and autonomous drone flight up to 50 meters above ground level to the public for the purpose of consultation, inviting input from industry experts and citizens alike. Japan has also made waves by announcing the intention to allow BVLOS flight by the end of 2018 so long as the flight’s safety can be guaranteed remotely through the use of cameras and sensors.
The difficulty in guaranteeing flight safety with a human pilot is one of the major hang-ups when it comes to relaxing BVLOS regulations. This is why countries like Canada, Denmark, Switzerland and South Africa allow BVLOS with prior approval, a process that tends to involve extensive testing and/or specific environmental and site conditions.
In the United States, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has in the past exercised caution when it comes to the idea of BVLOS flight, though operators are now able to apply for a waiver that grants them permission to operate BVLOS if the operator can present a strong case for how they plan to manage safety and mitigate risk.
Beyond BVLOS
BVLOS regulation revisions have been outpaced by drone technology, unfortunately for manufacturers, operators and industrial organizations alike. However, every indication – including successful requests for approval and waivers – is that BVLOS flight will become a reality in the near future for a number of nations.
BVLOS regulations being relaxed around the world will undoubtedly lead to a huge range of industries capitalizing on increased drone capabilities, which will begin to usher in an exciting new era, but fully realizing the cost savings, time savings and safety improvements promised by industrial drones may be yet another relaxed regulation away, this one dealing with automated flight.
Automated drone operation eliminates the considerable costs of training or contracting drone pilots, greatly reduces the time it takes to launch for on-demand or emergency flight and eliminates the possibility of human error. The industrial drone industry will have to take it one boom at a time, however, so while companies in Israel reap the benefits of automated drone flight, most other nations will have to be content with relaxed BVLOS regulations.