sors to examine equipment, and pipelines for heat signature anomalies, as well as normalized difference vegetative index (NDVI) sensors to evaluate plant life color differentials next to pipelines, which may cause possible leaks. Dams Similarly, autonomous drones outfitted with high resolution, optical, and infrared sensors are able to inspect dam walls for potential leaks, breaches, and pending points of failure, while being remotely deployed to monitor a dam’s perimeter, serving intelligence-surveillance-recon- naissance (ISR) functions. Emergency Distribution of single drones or drone swarms that include ground- based, amphibious, and aerial combinations can safely assess a ground situation after a disaster, enhance search and rescue operations of miss- ing persons by utilizing photoelectric sensors that offer first-person view and heat signatures, and evaluate identify forest fire risk vectors using normalized difference vegetative index (NDVI) sensors. Food, Fishing, & Agriculture Single drone or drone swarms can scan farms to identify areas in need of irrigation, fertilization, or even under-utilized arable land. Use of amphibious drones outfitted with NDVI sensors extends the methodol- ogy to the fishing and oceanic industries. Drones can also be equipped with LiDAR sensors to perform geodesic analysis in the exploration of new areas suitable for farming. Drones use infrared sensors to identify the heat signature of livestock or fish to indicate whether any portion is ill, thus giving farmers and fisherman critical insights that could impact yield in meat, fish and dairy products. Similar drones are able to locate stray animals in the day or night and warn of nocturnal predators to protect livestock. Autonomous drones enhance farm perimeter secu- rity or can inspect a larger through the right edge computing network topology. Defense Industrial-grade drones are in constant demand by various branches of the military, especially the Army and Navy for safe ISR use cases. Au- tonomous drones coupled with strategically placed sensors and mobile command centers (MCCs), can routinely patrol popular border cross- ings. Since drone swarms and counter drone swarms are considered the future of warfare, the military has taken a keen interest in both the hardware that flies, rolls and swims for a universal and ubiquitous US system. Energy Commercial drones provide high resolution, optical inspections of industrial generators and power plant pipelines and alert potential breaches and pending points of failure. The technology can also check the efficacy of windmills, transmission lines, and solar panel surfaces. Autonomous drones loaded with infrared sensors can monitor the edge of nuclear plants using ISR functions. Nuclear Reactors, Materials, & Waste Drones offer high resolution, optical reviews of nuclear reactors for potential leaks and pending points of failures using infrared assess-
ments of equipment and pipelines for heat signature irregularities. Autonomous drones equipped with augmented reality capabilities can survey the perimeter of nuclear plants using ISR functions. Transportation Drones assist in all road, bridge, tunnel and mine evaluations, as well Autonomous drones supplied with high resolution optical and infrared sensors can also be disseminated to monitor external boundary and internal surfaces of water management facilities using ISR functions. In conclusion, drones – whether they be aerial, land-based or aquatic- are intelligent robots capable of performing humanlike functions to save lives and provide essential engineering services that better the entire industry by reducing costs, maximizing return on investment (ROI) and create new business value in a safe, responsible and eco- friendly manner. as the delivery of goods and supplies. Water & Waste-Water Systems Aquiline Drones is a progressive American drone company founded by highly experienced aviators, systems engineers and IT gurus. With a customer-centric model, US-based manufacturing and supply chain and world-class MRO services, the company offers innovative ways for using drones in commercial activities. Supported by a dedicated UAV cloud and real-time OS, autonomous drone operations with real-time control and dynamic in-field decision making capabilities, Aquiline Drones’ full-spectrum of technology so- lutions provide a more expansive and deeper applicability across count- less industries and environments by delivering real-time data insights. Aerospace-compliant processes for software, hardware manufacturing and systems integration, along with best-in-class mission capabilities are being planned and designed as the company continues to forge relationships with Federal, State and private organizations in an effort to develop and launch new drone system applications in a collaborative manner. Visit www.AquilineDrones.com for more information.
BARRY ALEXANDER is an experienced airline pilot, who recognized the need for an aviation-inspired operating system to take commercial drone functionality to the next level and thus created Aquiline Drones (AD), the first U.S.-based, comprehensive drone solutions company.
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csengineermag.com
may 2020
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