Can autonomous drones be deployed in urban areas?

Reese Mozer is President of Ondas Holdings and CEO and Co-Founder of American Robotics.  Ondas Holdings is a leading provider of private wireless data and commercial drone solutions.  The Wireless data solutions are provided via Ondas Networks.  The commercial drone solutions are provided through American Robotics and newly acquired Airobotics.  Together, American Robotics and Airobotics design, develop, and market autonomous commercial drone solutions worldwide.  Their  Scout System and Optimus System are highly automated, AI-powered drone systems capable of continuous, remote operation.  American Robotics has also led with regulatory successes, becoming the first company approved by the FAA to operate automated drones without humans on site. 

Right after being acquired by Ondas Holdings, Airobotics announced a $3.5M purchase order and joint venture with SkyGo, a UAE-based company that has a commercial license to provide unmanned aerial transport of goods and services across the city of Abu Dhabi.  With this partnership in place, the companies will move forward in launching a first-of-its-kind deployment of Urban Drone Infrastructure throughout Abu Dhabi.  The project will serve as the autonomous UAS model for the rest of the world, especially in major cities. 

Reese is an accomplished entrepreneur, executive, and technologist, with over 12 years of experience in the drone, robotics, and private equity sectors. He also serves as a Board member of the Commercial Drone Alliance.  Reese has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, Business Insider, TechCrunch, Gizmodo, Venture Beat, and CNBC, among other national publications. He holds a Master’s in Robotic Systems Development from Carnegie Mellon University and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and Entrepreneurship from the University of Southern California.

In this episode of the Drone Radio Show, Reese talks about American Robotics & Airobotics autonomous drone solutions, the Urban Drone Infrastructure project for Abu Dhabi and what we can expect to see in the way of global adoption of autonomous drone solutions.

If you could design a drone specifically for public safety agencies, what would it look like?

Blake Resnick is CEO and Founder of BRINC.  BRINC designs, manufactures and sells sUAS systems to public safety departments worldwide. The company’s flagship product, the LEMUR, employs innovative solutions designed specifically for public safety and emergency situations.  Using lidar technology, the drone flies indoors with precision and unprecedented agility, and its two-way communication system allows first responders to hear and see through the drone. But this only scratches the surface of the drone’s capabilities.

Blake has the innate ability to define a problem, imagine a new approach and create a technology-based solution.   He started taking college courses at the age of 14, and then attended Northwestern’s McCormick School of Engineering. Before launching BRINC, Blake worked at McLaren Automotive, Tesla Motors, and DJI. He’s a member of the Thiel Fellowship’s class of 2020. Under Blake’s leadership, in just 2 ½ years, BRINC has become a leader of public safety UAS solutions worldwide.

He is currently working on an sUAS mesh system designed to respond to gunshot detections and 911 calls within seconds. When not enveloped in product development, he actively engages in recruiting, strategy development, internal communication, and fundraising. 

In this episode of the Drone Radio Show, Blake talks about BRINC drones, in particular it’s revolutionary LEMUR drone and he provides insights into how the company has become successful in supporting the mission of hundreds of public safety organizations around the world.

Are Drone Highways Gaining Momentum?

Brenk Skorup is Senior Research Fellow at the Mercatus Center.  The Mercatus Center is a research center at George Mason University that advances knowledge about how markets solve problems and help us lead happier, healthier, and richer lives. For more than 40 years, research at Mercatus has strived to realize a world where markets operate at their full potential to increase abundance, civility, and well-being. 

The growing use of unmanned aerial vehicles has spurred a new UAS framework called "highways in the sky."  Drone highways in the sky are essentially designated air corridors that are reserved for the exclusive use of unmanned aerial vehicles. The idea is that these corridors would allow drones to fly autonomously, without the need for direct human supervision, while avoiding other aircraft and structures in the national airspace. 

One of the key benefits of drone highways in the sky is that they could significantly increase the efficiency and safety of drone operations. By providing a clear and well-defined path for drones to follow, drone highways could reduce the risk of collisions and enable drones to fly faster and more efficiently, potentially opening up new opportunities for commercial drone use.  But the concept is still in the early stages of development, and there are many different ideas and approaches being explored by researchers, regulators and industry stakeholders. 

Brent has published several research papers on the topic of drone highways in the sky.   His research has covered the economic, regulatory, and legal opportunities and constraints relating to drone highways.  In 2019 and 2022, he published a survey that assessed the regulatory environment for drones in all 50 U.S. states and evaluated each state’s readiness to support the growth and deve lopment of the drone industry. 

In this episode of the Drone Radio Show, Brent talks about drone highways in the sky, their benefits and the challenges local, state and federal policy makers may have in advancing the UAS industry while responding to varied stakeholder interests.

Are Agricultural Drones Coming To A Farm Near You?

Arthur Erickson is CEO of Hylio.  Hylio develops and offers innovative drone systems that automate precision agriculture treatments. Using Hylio’s technology, farmers or producers can apply crop treatments directly to problem areas, targeting pests and deficiencies with more accuracy and efficacy.  This allows farms to increase yields.  And it has propelled Hylio to one of the top manufactures of precision agriculture drones.

Arthur’s interest in UAS began when he was studying aerospace engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. While there, he worked with a research team to deploy drones for disaster prediction, response and transportation optimization. Recognizing the enormous potential of UAS technology, Arthur, along with classmates Mike Oda and Nikhil Dixit decided to form Hylio in 2015. While initially a drone delivery company based in Costa Rica in 2017, the team saw greater opportunities in the precision agriculture industry.  Today, Arthur leverages his technical and management experience to lead Hylio as it applies it revolutionary drone technology to the global ag-sector.

In this episode of the Drone Radio Show, Arthur talks about Hylio, how the company evolved into a leading precision agriculture drone manufacturer and how UAS technology benefits farm organizations of all sizes.

Does the drone industry offer a career path for individuals from marginalized communities?

Sedgrid Lewis of Atlanta, Georgia is Founder of The Hidden Pilot Project.  The mission of The Hidden Pilot Project is to teach and train black returning citizens and citizens under the supervision of the criminal justice system how to become licensed drone pilots.  Through The Hidden Pilot Project, individuals are provided with hands-on training to enter the unmanned systems industry. 

Sedgrid Lewis holds an MA in Criminology from the University of West Georgia.  He has worked in the criminal justice field for the past 20 years developing evidenced based social programs for juvenile courts and state agencies across the United States.  He is also the owner of Blackhawk Aerial LLC.  As a part 107 commercial drone pilot, he has flown for several national construction firms providing progression aerial photos. 

Sedgrid has dedicated himself to helping others experience the benefits of unmanned technology.  He provides drone technology workshops for at-risk youth across the state of Georgia.  He is also a certified instructor and coach for US Drone Soccer, which is becoming a fast growing sport at the high school and college level.  And, as the son of a third generation farmer, Sedgrid partners with black farmers across the south to provide technical training and farm drone technology demonstrations.  Sedgrid promotes precision agriculture in order to sustain black farms and increase profit margins.

In this episode of the Drone Radio Show, Sedgrid introduces us to The Hidden Pilot Project, drone soccer and how both are helping people from marginalized communities enter the aviation field.

How can lawmakers ensure their jurisdictions are ready to reap the benefits of the drone industry?

Scott Shtofman is Senior Manager of Grassroots Advocacy & Chapter Engagement for the Association of Uncrewed Vehicles Systems International.  AUVSI is the world's largest nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of uncrewed systems and robotics. It represents corporations and professionals from more than 60 countries involved in industry, government and academia. AUVSI members work in the defense, civil and commercial markets.

In December, AUVSI launched their largest-ever advocacy campaign to educate state and local lawmakers on industry-supported policy solutions to integrate commercial drone operations into the national air space  .  Called Drone Prepared, the multi-state initiative is designed to help lawmakers ensure that their state or locality is ready for the benefits the future of uncrewed and autonomous flight. 

Scott is a licensed attorney, certificated Part 107 Remote Pilot and owner and pilot for Quad Axis LLC.  He is a well-known policy expert on sUAS, having specialized in policy and operations consulting.  Scott’s role with Drone Prepared is to manage the advocacy efforts with state and local entities.

In this episode of the Drone Radio Show, Scott talks about Drone Prepared, potential legislative opportunities, and how local and state lawmakers can position their states and localities to receive benefits of the growing UAS industry.

How Will Drones Support NASA’s Mission To Mars?

Giuseppe Santangelo is CEO and Founder of Skypersonic.   Skypersonic is a leader in the use of drones for industrial inspections and first response emergency situations.  Their flagship product is the Skycopter: a drone with a tiltable video camera that is designed to work in extreme conditions and ultra-tight spaces. Skypersonic also invented the first-ever worldwide civil real-time remote piloting system that allows piloting in first-person view any drone, not just the Skycopter, located anywhere via the internet. 

Skypersonic is a subsidiary of Red Cat Holdings, a provider of drone-based products, services, and solutions for the enterprise, military, and consumer markets.  Other companies within the Red Cat Holdings include Teal Drones, Fat Shark and Rotor Riot.

In 2022, Skypersonic delivered to NASA the hardware and software for a rover and drone system that the crew members of NASA’s Simulated Mars Missions will use to remotely explore Martian-like terrain around Earth – all from their 1,700-square-foot simulated Martian habitat at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. 

In the Simulated Mars Missions, crew members will spend one year living and working in a habitat at Johnson Space Center that has been designed and built to simulate life on the Red Planet. The Skypersonic drones and rover will be taken to an area on Earth that is similar to Martian terrain – such as a desert or mountainous region – where they will be controlled remotely by crew members in Houston. The exercise is designed to test the ability of astronauts on Mars to remotely explore the planet with drones and rovers. 

Giuseppe is a mechanical engineer and has spent nearly all of his professional career in the aerospace industry.  He is a part-time professor at Wayne State University and collaborates at Lawrence Technology University as adjunct professor for the UAV Artificial Intelligence and Space System Engineering courses. He has been researcher and contract professor at the University of Catania of Italy in the Industrial Engineering Department.

Giuseppe has been responsible for the development of projects on behalf of the European Space Agency at Thales Alenia Space in Turin. He participated in the engineering design and development of several equipment for the International Space Station with NASA.

In this episode of the Drone Radio Show, Giuseppe talks about Skypersonic, its innovative Skycopter, the Simulated Mars Mission and the role that the company will play in the providing drones that will one day fly on Mars.

What’s it take to build the most efficient and reliable UAS propulsion system?

Jon Broome is CEO and co-founder of Vertiq, a manufacturer of ultra compact, high performance servo motors for drone propulsion. Combining a unique hardware design and proprietary motor calibration and control software, Vertiq optimizes motor performance and controllability.   As a result, Vertiq’s products significantly increase the effectiveness of commercial and defense drones.

UAS vehicles using Vertiq technology fly 10% longer, maneuver and stabilize 4x faster, experience 75% fewer critical failures, and have access to unique propeller positioning capabilities.

Jon started the Vertiq with his co-founder Matt Piccoli in 2017, and since then, they’ve been working to bring industrial-grade motors and motor controllers to the drone market. Jon graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Middlebury College in 2016. During his time at Middlebury, Jon founded his first company, which made high protein snacks for gym-goers and athletes at the college. 

Jon wished to continue his entrepreneurial career after graduation, and he quickly found his next venture when he attended his cousin (and future Co-Founder) Matt Piccoli’s PhD thesis defense, which focused on building unique aerial vehicles using advanced motor control techniques. Matt wanted to start a propulsion company based on his research and needed a co-founder to handle the non-engineering side of the business. Jon assumed the role of CEO and now, he is responsible for all of Vertiq’s business development efforts, investor relations, and company strategy, among many other duties.

In this episode of the Drone Radio Show, Jon talks about Vertiq, it’s revolutionary propulsion systems and how such systems are changing the drone industry. 

What does Europe’s U-Space Protocol for Uncrewed Systems mean for BVLOS Operations?

For that question, we head to Washington, DC to speak with Amit Ganjoo, CEO and Founder of ANRA Technologies.  ANRA Technologies is Award Winning Drone Operations and UAS Traffic Management Platform provider.  The company’s SmartSkies™ platform is used by multiple commercial and government entities for running and managing commercial drone operations.

Amit has over 20 years of aviation, telecom and wireless experience in both the federal and the commercial space. He is an engineer, a licensed pilot, following a lifelong passion in aviation and builds experimental aircrafts.

Amit’s engagement with drone programs for the U.S. Department of Defense motivated him to establish ANRA so he could address the growing need for unmanned systems to be safely integrated into existing air systems. ANRA launched their UTM platform in 2015 and has been collaborating and working alongside stakeholders and clients ever since. ANRA was selected as an Airspace Partner for NASA’s Advanced Air Mobility National Campaign and is the technology provider for the Future of Flight Initiative in the United Kingdom.

As part of his pursuit to efficiently integrate drones into the airspace, Amit is a board member of the Global UTM Association that supports the accelerated and transparent implementation of globally interoperable UTM systems. He is also a member of FAA’s Drone Advisory Committee working group for UTM and co-chaired the working group that developed ASTM Standard Specification F3548 for UAS Traffic Management UAS Service Supplier Interoperability. Until December 2016, he acted as the co-chair for FCC’s Technical Advisory Council for 5G and IoT, which included ground and airborne autonomous vehicles. He was the Director of Engineering and Principal Architect at Ericsson, providing telecom solutions to commercial customers and Federal Government, where he was the recipient of the Athena Award. He was also the Founder and CEO of a Mobile Marketing company from which he had a successful exit in 2009.

Amit is an adjunct professor at George Mason University School of Engineering and volunteers at a local Maker Space in the D.C. area. He holds a master’s degree in Computer Science and Civil Engineering from Iowa State University and a Bachelor of Engineering from Punjab Engineering College.

On January 26, 2023 Europe will implement a new uncrewed air space regulatopry framework, called the U-Space Framework.  U-space is a set of specific services and procedures designed to ensure safe and efficient access to airspace for a large number of drones, and which are based on high levels of digitalization and automation. The purpose of U-space is to achieve automated UAS management and integration, allowing for a large series of operations, many of them even simultaneous, and all of this in harmonious coexistence with the current ATM system.

In this episode of the Drone Radio Show, Amit provides an overview of the U-space framework, the impact it will have on BVLOS flights and the potential lessons and applications here in North America.

What are the current trends in UAS parachute recovery systems?

For that question, we head to Monte Sereno, California to speak with Gene Engelgau, CEO and Founder of Fruity Chutes.  Fruity Chutes manufactures premium quality parachutes for aerospace, corporate, institutional, university and consumer customers. Since 2007, Fruity Chutes parachutes have established a reputable history for dependable performance in unmanned applications

In addition to producing parachute recovery systems, the company provides drone manufacturers with free technical support for full recovery system integration.  It also assists manufacturers with obtaining certifications and waivers relating to FAA and ASTM standards as well as other national and international regulations. Since founding Fruity Chutes in 2007, the company has established itself as the leading provider to the UAS industry of a broad range of parachute recovery products optimized for light weight at a high strength capacity.  Fruity Chutes is the first UAS recovery company to have a customer using their parachutes obtain an Operations Over People Waiver, an Operations over Moving Vehicles Waiver, and FAA Type Certification. 

Gene has been part of the Silicon Valley tech industry since the late 70s.  He has founded several tech start-ups both in the early Internet e-commerce space as well as the hobby radio control industries.  He has experience in electronics hardware design, embedded systems, enterprise software, and web systems design and databases.

Gene has always had a passion for aeromodelling. He’s flown RC aircraft and rockets for 40 years.  In the mid-80s, Gene helped found CSys Labs Inc., a company that designed and manufactured one of the first all computer controlled RC airplane controllers and was sold under the Airtronics/Sanwa brand.

Gene has two daughters that hold key roles in the company. Janice Engelgau is the Lead Communications Specialist of Fruity Chutes with nearly a decade of experience working in the UAS industry. Developing methods to better educate the industry on parachute recovery has been the main pillar of her work with Fruity Chutes. Her goal is to help as many UAS professionals as possible understand the profound benefits of parachute recovery and successfully implement recovery into their systems.

Jayne Engelgau is the Head of Content and Web Development at Fruity Chutes. She integrates her inquisitive mind for drone applications with her experience in visual design, written media, and web development. She is committed to educating the UAS industry on the vital roles of safety technologies, parachute recovery system implementation, standardization, as well as pre-, post-, and in-flight PRS protocol. Upholding a lifelong belief that educational knowledge should be accessible, she popularizes and enlivens topics of UAS recovery in bright, “fruity” colors across a variety of communicative modes.

In Episode 171 recorded in 2018, I interviewed Gene and Jan as they introduced us to Fruity Chutes. In this episode of the Drone Radio Show, Gene, Jan and Jayne discuss about how changes in the drone industry in the past 3 years affect the design and use of parachute recovery systems