Definitions
Prime Air: Amazon’s drone delivery service which is still in the development process (1)
UAV: Unmanned aerial vehicles such as drones (4)
SSA: “Sense and Avoid”. A somewhat ambiguous term that describes technology that allows drones to avoid a collision by sensing objects (3)
“Sense and Avoid” and UAVs
The year was 2013 when everyone’s favorite online shopping company, Amazon, was ready to take package delivery to the next level using drones. However, while the development of Amazon’s drone delivery service, known as Prime Air, has been talked about over the past few years, it seems that none of us have been able to say that we have received anything via drone. For those wondering why this is the case, the answer is not so simple. Working within the established drone-flying laws, figuring out the logistics of where drones can deliver, and developing better technology are all issues that have been hurdles for Amazon (1).
However, Amazon is working hard overcome these obstacles. One example of this would be that Amazon is said to soon implement “Sense and Avoid” technology into Prime Air’s drones. While the everyday consumer may not find this implementation interesting, a deeper look at this technology would show how important it is as it would allow drones to “reach speeds of up to 60 miles per hour” without having worry about collisions (2). In addition, a look at this technology would show how the development of Prime Air, as well as drones everywhere, relies on computer science.
The SSA procedure can broken down into 4 steps: Sense, Detect, Process, and Avoid. First, the sensors of a drone are used to collect information regarding the environment as well as the intended path of the drone. During this part of the procedure, the sensors are also used to detect any objects that would cause a collision. Then, the information gathered by the sensors is “processed using the collision avoidance program embedded in the main processor”(4). Finally, the drone takes the instructions from the collision avoidance program in order to carry out its next move. This process continues in a loop throughout the flight. With the use of this technology comes many challenges as well as rewards. Specifically, the success of this technology depends on aspects of the UAV such as “size, weight and electrical power consumption”(4). However, the upside is that the speed in which data is processed allows for a drone that is capable of quickly avoiding obstacles (4).
Conclusion
While the use of SAA technology may not seem like a big deal, Amazon’s implementation provides us with a sign that we may be one step closer to drone delivery. In addition, Amazon is not the only company who has made use of SAA technology as companies such as DJI, Intel, Parrot, Neurala, and LeddarTech have all used SAA in their own projects (3). With this, it is clear that computer science is important in the development of drones. Since the processing of information is based the algorithms within the collision avoidance program, it is computer science that will allow SSA and other vital technology to be developed in hopes of improving drones.
Sources
Just like unmanned cars and trucks had to wait to overcome regulatory obstacles before gaining any real traction, it will be exciting to see drones come to the forefront of logistics. The amount of development dollars going into projects like Prime Air is an encouraging sign that drone delivery, and unmanned technology in general, could really be the next big thing.
ReplyDeleteDrone delivery would make our lives very convenient - instead of waiting for weeks, we would receive deliveries really fast. And also with drones replacing vehicles for delivery services, this could potentially have positive impacts on the environment such as less traffic and air pollution.
ReplyDeleteThis is some really cool innovation that Amazon is getting at here with the delivery of packages by drone! It would make sense that the work would be done by computer programming in order to continue to look out for obstacles and continuously avoid them. I wonder if there are sizing/weight limitations to this and if multiple drones would be necessary for especially large packages?
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