Experts say drone use must be central to urban planning
The demand for drones is likely to experience growth similar to that predicted for autonomous cars as urban airspace becomes filled with unmanned systems.
Aviation experts speaking at the UAS Forum in Dubai said managing drone traffic will become a crucial aspect of city planning.
As the autonomous vehicle industry promises to make roads safer, drone developers claim traffic will be taken off the roads and into the skies to help ease congestion.
Market analysis company Tractica is predicting consumer shipments of drones to increase globally to 70 million by 2021, when revenue in the industry is expected to reach US$5 billion (Dh18.3bn).
More companies are expected to use drone delivery services, particularly in emerging smart cities such as Dubai and Singapore.
The air traffic management research institute at Nanyang Technology University, Singapore, is focusing on how to develop a safe and reliable system.
“In Singapore, our focus has been on traffic management of unmanned aircraft systems in an urban environment,” said Mohammed Salleh, deputy director and senior research fellow at the university,
“Managing drones at low altitude in urban areas is something that needs to be planned for, because they will be driving the economy.
“Drones will probably be used for operations involving patrols or inspections that may be dangerous for human inspectors to go.
“They will have many applications in densely populated cities like Singapore and Dubai, but every city has different demands, depending on its infrastructure.”
The research institute is working on plans to help drones to detect and avoid each other as many are expected to become autonomous.
As in Dubai, regulations in Singapore have evolved to accommodate increasing use of drones, with amendments to the air navigation act in 2015.
Although hobbyists are free to fly drones weighing less than seven kilograms away from restricted zones without an operator or activity permit, larger drones are subject to licensing and permits.
The university is developing a pilot programme to allow
While technology keeps on developing, drone safety is in many ways the familiar question of air traffic control
landing and take-off zones, most likely in open areas or from the roofs of car parks.
Autonomous drones will follow similar flight paths between specified zones and will be fitted with geo-fencing technology to avoid collisions.
“It’s important people using drones are registered,” said Kashif Khalid, campaign manager at the International Air Transport Association for the Gulf region.
“Drones can be used with malicious intent, or by terrorists, for example, so it is not uncommon to see drones causing threats and there is always the risk of a third party taking control.
“This is why regulation is so important. The problem we have is how to assimilate that with civilian and military airspace.”