{"id":3517,"date":"2014-12-11T17:58:12","date_gmt":"2014-12-11T17:58:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/eng\/?p=1397"},"modified":"2014-12-11T17:58:12","modified_gmt":"2014-12-11T17:58:12","slug":"drones-are-taking-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/combo\/2014\/12\/11\/drones-are-taking-off\/","title":{"rendered":"Drones are taking off"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Source:<\/a><\/p>\n

Source: Make: Technology on Your Time Volume 37: Drones Take Off! January 31, 2014 Available in the UI Lichtenberger Engineering Library periodicals section<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

As you take your final exam, you may find yourself\u00a0shopping last minute for your family’s holiday gifts. Don’t despair. There is a day for that. December 18th is Free Shipping Day; a one-day, online-shopping event when thousands of merchants offer free shipping with delivery by Christmas Eve.1<\/sup><\/p>\n

So how do your\u00a0packages go\u00a0over the river and through the woods to\u00a0arrive at your grandmother’s house in less than a week? Current delivery methods include carefully\u00a0choreographed and computerized warehouse management\u00a0structures as well as expedited ground and air express shipping services. Now, another method is rapidly\u00a0taking off: commercial drones.<\/p>\n

Typically, drones\u00a0are associated with clandestine\u00a0military operations. However,\u00a0a year ago\u00a0Amazon announced that it is developing aerial robotic technology to fly packages directly to a person’s doorstep.2<\/sup> “Drones ‘will change the way we conduct some of our existing business in the not-too-distant future, but more importantly, will create completely new and world-changing applications we haven’t even thought of yet,’ said Jeff Lovin, a Woolpert senior vice president.”3 <\/sup><\/p>\n

What is required to make this happen? The Federal Aviation Administration, the\u00a0government agency responsible for all aircraft flying in the United States airspace, must approve of their safety. “The key safety element is to prevent drones from colliding with other aircraft, or with people on the ground. That means ensuring ways for other aircraft to detect and avoid drones, and for drones to land safely if they lose contact with remote pilots.”4<\/sup><\/p>\n

Because of\u00a0the high demand\u00a0for developing\u00a0commercial, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), the FAA\u00a0is pressured to expedite rules and regulations. In a letter to the FAA, Amazon said its indoor testing of drones must\u00a0now move outdoors “to practice in real-world conditions.” Paul Misener, the company’s vice president of global public policy, said the company might move its research abroad if the FAA does not act quickly.\u00a0With\u00a0a\u00a0Congressionally mandated deadline of September\u00a02015 looming large, the government agency has\u00a0set up six test sites<\/a> across the country and\u00a0given exemption status to a few companies in order\u00a0to learn more about how the technology works.5<\/sup><\/p>\n

What if\u00a0you miss\u00a0Free Shipping Day? Perhaps purchase your own\u00a0Parrot AR.Drone 2.0<\/a>\u00a0and personally deliver your gifts in record time.<\/p>\n

\"Planning<\/a><\/p>\n

Bestaoui Sebbane, Yasmina. Planning and Decision Making for Aerial Robots. New York: Springer, 2014. Engineering Library TL718 .B47 2014<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

References<\/strong><\/p>\n

1<\/sup>About Free Shipping Day<\/a><\/p>\n

2<\/sup>Amazon Unveils Futureristic Plan: Delivery by Drone<\/a>\u00a0December 2, 2013 (Source: 60 Minutes CBS News website)<\/p>\n

3<\/sup>FAA Lets 4 companies Fly Commercial Drones<\/a> (Source: USAToday.com, December 10, 2014)<\/p>\n

4<\/sup>Ibid<\/em><\/p>\n

5<\/sup>FAA’s Treatment of Amazon Proves Congress Must Act or Companies Will Take Drone Research Abroad<\/a>\u00a0(Source: Forbes.com, December 10, 2014)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Learn More<\/strong><\/p>\n

Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International<\/a><\/p>\n

Bestaoui Sebbane, Yasmina.\u00a0Planning and Decision Making for Aerial Robots<\/span>.\u00a0New York: Springer, 2014. Engineering Library TL718 .B47 2014<\/a><\/p>\n

Commercial Drones<\/a> (Source: Popular Science website)<\/p>\n

Unmanned Aircraft Systems<\/a>\u00a0(Source: Federal Aviation Administration website –\u00a0FAA.gov)<\/p>\n

“60 Minutes” reports on the uncertainty of regulating drones<\/a>\u00a0March\u00a014, 2014\u00a0(Source: YouTube)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As you take your final exam, you may find yourself shopping last minute for your family’s holiday gifts. Don’t despair. There is a day for that. December 18th is Free Shipping […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":87,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/combo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3517"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/combo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/combo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/combo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/87"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/combo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3517"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/combo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3517\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3518,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/combo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3517\/revisions\/3518"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/combo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3517"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/combo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3517"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/combo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3517"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}