With the use of drones on the rise, it is crucial to have an efficient management system to streamline drone deliveries that will meet growing transportation needs.
Rudy Banerjee, an associate professor of geography at the Indiana University School of Liberal Arts in Indianapolis, has developed SkyDOS, a drone traffic management system that translates current road network traffic controls for an improved drone delivery system like a set of “pipes in the sky” conceptualization.
Current drone delivery systems utilize the Federal Aviation Administration model that employs straight-line/geometric routes to deliver goods. It regulates airspace and allows drones to fly 200-400 feet above ground, drawing routes as they go, similar to navigating boats on a lake.
SkyDOS utilizes roads as a network-based routing solution and topology, not geometry. (Geometry tells how far apart airports are, whereas topology tells whether they are connected.) Instead of the FAA-inspired straight line geometries, Banerjee’s solution streamlines the drones like cars on the roads (or water delivered through pipes).
“Utilizing current road systems provides the foundation of an improved drone delivery solution, as road technologies have already been tested for a century and work at ground level, and thus would translate well in the sky,” Banerjee said. “The system would exist 300 feet above ground level and would have a risk level significantly lower than other drone/ground delivery systems.”
In general, drone deliveries, without the need for human drivers, have a cost reduction of more than 90 percent.
However, with this system in place, there would also be decreased vehicle traffic in cities, causing road tax bases to be lost. To combat this, Banerjee’s system would provide each city’s local governments with the ability to auction off airspace rights and the oversight of safety for the system, similar to how the Federal Communications Commission auctions off phone spectrum for hundreds of billions of dollars every year. The airspace above city roads are owned by the public, so its pertinent that they get paid for their use, said Banerjee.
“SkyDOS helps solve the nuisance factor of inefficient transportation for profitable last mile delivery,” Banerjee said. “This system eliminates current drone delivery inefficiencies while staying up to speed with the demands of the future of transportation.”
Ultimately, Banerjee believes this drone system can also help climate change by drastically reducing pollution from cars, cutting CO2 emissions whilst reducing noise pollution.
Banerjee disclosed his technology to the IU Innovation and Commercialization Office. The technology was recently awarded a patent and Banerjee is looking for industry partnerships to take his system to market.
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