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Drone Mobility - Fad or Future?

Research in drone technology is taking large steps forward every day. And with each leap made by theoretical and applied research, additional applications seem to become reality (e.g. drone surveillance, automated crop dusting, video drones for sport events, etc.). One of the applications that draws a lot of attention is drone mobility, where drones or UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) are deployed as a means of personal transportation. However for the time being there does not seem to be commercial personal drones available and I do not see one on the horizon either. Sure we have Amazon and DHL who are (almost/already) deploying drones for delivering packages. But automated air taxis can so far only be hailed in science fiction movies. Let us take a closer look at some of the obstacles preventing the real breakthrough and adoption of applied drone mobility.

Legal Frameworks

When we are talking about legal frameworks to regulate drone mobility two aspects come to mind. First of all there need to be laws that describe the rules that regulate what is and is not allowed when operating a drone and to which rules drone operators must comply to. At European level, a detailed state of affairs can be consulted on the website of the European Parliament. The following is an excerpt of the document

"Being aircraft, drones have to comply with aviation safety rules. International civil aviation rules adopted since 1944 at United Nations level prohibit unmanned aircraft from flying over another state’s territory without its permission. In the EU, the current regulatory system for drones is based on fragmented rules, with many Member States having already regulated or planning to regulate some aspects of civil drones with an operating mass of 150 kg or less. The responsibility for civil drones over 150 kg is left to the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). However, the extent, content and level of detail of national regulations differs, and conditions for mutual recognition of operational authorisations between EU Member States have not been reached"

Secondly the legal framework regarding drone insurance issues also needs to be clarified. Even for autonomous cars, the discussion on liability in case of accidents is not over, let alone that there exists a consensus for person carrying drones.

Infrastructure

As is the case with all existing mobility options available, a decent infrastructure is needed to support them; whether we are talking about land, air, or water transport. A similar effort has to be made for drone mobility; we need landing spots, recharge stations and parking/storage space. This type of infrastructure however, does not come cheap. I foresee that the adoption will be much like the adoption of charging stations for electronic vehicles: the story of the chicken and the egg comes to mind, which one comes first: automated drones or infrastructure? There could be a small glimmer of hope over the horizon: electronic vehicles might have paved t he way for charging stations. Drone makers should perhaps aim to make their systems interoperatable with existing charging techniques and infrastructure.

Safety & Security

Many new cars that are launched on the European market are subjected to the (non-mandatory) testing by the Euro New Car Assessment Programme to asses its safety score in case of frontal and side-impact collisions. For drones to overcome a psychologic barrier in the humand mind to be labeled as safe, they will also need extensive crash testing and safety measures (e.g. redundant motors, mandatory parachute, etc.). A major threat to the credibility of drones are cyber attacks. Image that mid-flight the automatic pilot announces: "Route to new destination calculated". A bit puzzeled you ask "New destination?", to which the autopilot responds "The new destination is classified information." Probably the next few minutes you will desperately try to override the autopilot and whishing that the engineers had focused more on the cybersecurity of your drone, but to no avail: your drone is taken over by malicious hackers. While cybersecurity might not be high on the agenda of drone engineers (what good does it serve to have an unhackable drone if it can not fly stable in the air?), it is none the less an important issue that engineers need to address.

Technology

While it is undeniable that drone technology has made large leaps of progress, there are still technological hiccups that need to be sorted out before drones for personal mobility can be deployed on a larger scale:

Batteries

The modern world would look a lot different if it weren't for batteries. In fact one of the biggest fear of our modern society is to have the our cell phone die on us. In the context of mobility, batteries are also waiting for their big breakthrough; first as the power source of electrical cars. But for now in a car the battery has found its master in traditional fuels. It can neither match its range nor its refill time: charging a battery still takes considerable longer than filling up the car with petrol. The adoption of drones largely depends on the invention of affordable battery technology that packs a bigger punch without the disadvantages that current technologies have. The Nature journal features an interesting article about the evolution of battery technology and what to expect in the near future.

Standardised technology

Are you old enough to remember the battle between VHS and Betamax (and more recently HD DVD vs Blu-ray)? Or ever had your iphone battery die out only find Android chargers nearby? Lack of interoperability in the tech industry can be a bitch. In the coming years we will see similar battles for car charging and battery technology. According to IndustryWeek: "A decade ago, The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) estimated that the automotive industry wasted $5 billion annually due to the lack of interoperability. And for years, the automotive industry actually has established an organization, the Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG) to focus on standards between OEMs and suppliers." How about doing it different (and better) for autonomous drones? The industry needs a coordinating body to promote dialogue and even force alignement between different technologies. It will save money for all parties and speed up the adoption of drones.

Autonomous flight

We all know that Google has a car up and running that can drive completely autonomously (even quite decently). And also the traditional car manufacturers such as Audi, Daimler, Ford, Nissan and Toyota are experimenting with driverless technologies. In fact one of the spearpoints of drone mobility is the ability to allow them to fly solo to the destination of your choice. While the promise of fully autonomous cars is just around the corner (if the legal framework can follow!), actual real-world experience of both autonomous cars and automated package delivery by drones will speed up the development that is needed for autonomous flight.

Mindset

Last but not least, adopting true drone mobility is still hindered by ourselves. Would you ever consider giving up your car? Seriously. Perhaps to please your "environmental ego" you might have considered a hybrid car. And it might have even crossed your mind at some point to use the public transportation for all your transport. But those thoughts were probably driven by the idea to adopt a more environmental friendly lifestyle i.e. lower your carbon-dioxide emissions. When drone mobility is to get a real adoption, you should go one step further. Drone technology is still new and quite expensive (the Ehang 184 is a one person drone and is estimated to cost between $200,000 and $300,000) so owning one might be a bit of a stretch. Thus the real barrier you need to cross is letting go of the idea of beign an owner and start being a sharer. Why not prepare yourself for the future and start with a car-sharing scheme?