Volume 7

Issue 3

March 2016

Droning On, and On, and On...

The desire to live the futuristic way of The Jetsons has been a far-fetched dream since the 1960s. With their robot maid and flying cars, there's no way this way of life could ever be more than just entertainment, right? Wrong. Robotic vacuums are now household items, and while we may not have flying cars yet, we do have flying drones. Drones are paving the way for the future, and their usage possibilities are taking shape rapidly.

The Sky's the Limit
Since December 21, 2015, more than 300,000 drone owners have registered their drones under the new Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulation. While drones have taken flight as "toys" as well as government weapons of warfare, there are companies with entirely different intentions.

Google started a project, codenamed SkyBender, to develop solar drones that deliver 5G Internet to customers, and Amazon will be using drones to deliver packages to customers' doorsteps with Amazon Prime Air. Besides being used as a delivery service, drones can be utilized for many other things. According to Senior Futurist Thomas Frey at the DaVinci Institute, there are more than 192 future uses for drones. Some possibilities include:

Early Warning Systems - earthquake warnings, tsunami forecasting, forest fire prevention
Emergency Services - finding missing children or pets, animal poaching prevention, endangered species identification
Sporting - personal training, marathon tracking, outdoor bowling
Marketing - spot advertising, multimedia formations, food and product sampling

Dreams Delayed
The main delay of drone usage in the United States is the FAA. Understandably, drone usage is clouded in skepticism. Is it safe? Is it efficient? Is it practical? The industry standard for the battery life of a drone is about 25 minutes, with a weight limitation of about 5.5 pounds. These limitations beg for proof of practicality.

To ease skeptic minds, consider the California-based startup, Matternet, which has already been using drones to deliver products to hard-to-reach parts of countries such as Switzerland, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic. Matternet's cloud-based system guides the Matternet ONE drone along secure routes at altitudes between 50 to 100 meters above ground, and adjusts according to inclement weather, and avoids tall buildings, mountains, and restricted airspace.

While the idea of using drones for more than just entertainment has been met with skepticism, it's only a matter of time before the public gets onboard with the movement. Drone usage possibilities are still in the infancy stage, but will continue to make headway, and one by one, we will see dreams take flight.

Sincerely,

Mona Graham

Monogram Communication Services
798 University Avenue
Sacramento, CA 95825
Phone: 916.922.0930
Fax: 916.922.0929

www.monogramcommunications.com

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