GRAND Magazine- Winter 2020 - 15

tech talk

Good news! The benefits of drones in your lifetime
BY DEANNA SHOSS

G

etting around in an "Autonomous
Aerial Vehicle" (AAV) was part of
the Jetson's daily routine in the
1960's cartoon that envisioned the family
of the future. The future has finally caught
up, with the new drone passenger taxis
from EHang in use under a pilot program
in Guangzhou, China today.
"It may be a while before we see passenger drones in the US, but they are certainly on their way," says Miriam McNabb,
Editor-in-Chief of DRONELIFE and CEO of
JobForDrones.
Indeed, Urban Air Mobility (UAM) is a
term being used by city planners around
the globe. UAM refers to on-demand and
automated passenger or cargo-carrying
air transportation services.
City and transportation planners are looking at
UAM to bring new ways for people to travel around
cities and urban areas, while reducing congestion. "In
many traffic-prone cities, there is nowhere to go but
up!" says McNabb.

Blood pressure going up just thinking
about it?

If the thought of flying through space in a pod like
passenger drone has made your blood pressure go
up, there's good news. Very soon you will be able to
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JAN., FEB. & MAR. 2020

Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao
said that "data gathered from these pilot
projects will form the basis of a new regulatory framework to safely integrate
drones into our national airspace."
Drones will definitely be a part of daily
life soon.

Since you'll likely use drone
deliveries in your lifetime,
here's how it could work.

"The hardest part for drone deliveries
now is what's called 'the last mile,'" says
Ken Rapier, one of three co-founders of
RBS Drone Technologies, Inc. (RBS), a
drone pilot training company in Chicago.
"Think of the Amazon Prime trucks that
call in a prescription and have it delivered to your
drive down your street, stopping for
home by drone, within minutes.
the driver to hop in and out and run packages to the
In March 2019 UPS completed the first successful
door," says Rapier.
drone delivery, at WakeMed Hospital in Raleigh, NC.
With drones, the driver, who would also be a
Alphabet subsidiary Wing launched a pilot program
licensed commercial drone pilot, could launch a drone
last September to conduct deliveries for Walgreens
from the roof of the truck, Rapier explains. "They
and FedEx in Christiansburg, Virginia. Both projects are would enter in precise GPS coordinates and send the
among 10 state, local and tribal governments that drone on its way with the package." Then with the 'call
were selected to participate for projects in the US
home' function and using the truck's GPS, the drone
Department of Transportation's Drone Integration would deliver the package and return to the truck as
Pilot Program (IPP)
it was already driving to the next location. The driver
In announcing the IPP program, US Department of would then attach the next package and enter the
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GRAND Magazine- Winter 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of GRAND Magazine- Winter 2020