What comes to your mind when you talk about drones? For most consumers, the first thing that comes to mind is the combination of audio-visual and entertainment application scenarios, taking advantage of flight to capture various pictures and create a more interesting viewing experience, but in fact, drones have already been upgraded. It uses its technology in the field to improve our current quality of life.
According to the report of DRONEII.Com, the global drone market will jump from US$14 billion in 2018 to US$43 billion in 2024. In addition to the familiar entertainment and shooting, the scenarios where drones can be used include survey/disaster relief and early warning. Systems, data collection and analysis, and environmental monitoring are also areas where drones can focus.
Focusing on these advantages of drones, the Industrial Bureau of the Ministry of Economic Affairs can make good use of the value of drones in the “Popularization of Smart Urban and Rural Life Application Program”, allowing it to escape the entertainment shooting scene and use it in logistics, inspection and other roles. Entering remote villages, injecting innovative living water into the local people with scientific and technological power.
See how drones can transform smart urban and rural areas from logistics to inspection
“The purpose of smart urban and rural areas is to use technology to enable people in remote areas to simultaneously enjoy the resources and quality of life equivalent to metropolitan areas.” Wang Zhongping, the assistant manager of Zhongguang Intelligent Robot, which has long invested in the research and development of drones in China, observed that this That’s why CLP chose to start with logistics, inspection and other scenarios after joining the “Popularization of Smart Urban and Rural Life Application Program”, hoping that with the assistance of technology, the life experience in remote areas can be upgraded.
Spreading out Google Maps, the journey from Hsinchu Railway Station to Jianshi Township is nearly 3 hours, with nine bends and eighteen turns on the way. Natural disasters often cause road collapses, cutting off the main pipeline for transporting materials. “This journey only takes 10 minutes for drones.” Under weather permitting, drones can fly vertically to speed up the delivery of materials, making remote villages a big step forward in resource demand. Of course, Wang Zhongping also explained that in such a scenario, it is necessary to connect with local governments, logistics operators and even retailers. Zhongguang can use its technology and expertise in drones and work with partners to realize the development of smart urban and rural areas. .
And this technology has also been exported overseas and cooperated with Rakuten. Wang Zhongping revealed that a test flight has been carried out in Baima Mountain. In areas with a height difference of nearly 1,600 meters and a round-trip distance of about 10 kilometers, the goods are delivered to their destinations by drones. The journey that used to take about 7 hours by car and manpower can now be solved in just 10 minutes. It can not only transport materials up the mountain, but also transport the garbage on the mountain down, creating two-way value by drones and improving rural life. life experience.
In addition to the logistics field, inspection applications can also play the benefits of drones. Wang Zhongping said that the maintenance of electrical towers is related to the lives of residents in remote villages and the safety of life and property of maintenance personnel. In the past, people often climbed to high places for repairs or required cross-regional rushing, which is not only time-consuming and labor-intensive, but also may be omissions that cannot be judged by human beings. occur. Now, with the assistance of drones, not only a large-scale detection is not a problem, but it is not affected by space and can perform a thorough 360-degree inspection, even in mountainous areas with harsh environments.
Use “eyes” and “brain” to make drones roam in the field more intelligently
The reason why drones can achieve so many application scenarios and enhance the quality of life and intelligence in remote rural areas depends entirely on technological breakthroughs. “You just imagine that the current drones are actually sweeping robots that can fly,” Wang Zhongping vividly stated. explain. Due to the lack of introduction of artificial intelligence in traditional drones, task execution still requires a lot of manpower to monitor, and accidents may also occur due to human operation. The design enables drones to have the ability to think and judge.
First of all, to be called an intelligent robot, it needs to be equipped with an image recognition system. Wang Zhongping said that this makes the drone like a human eye and can capture external images, so that it can collect the required information when performing tasks, and avoid obstacles through SLAM. technology to assist UAVs in identifying external obstacles, whether in the process of transportation or inspection, it is more smooth.
In addition, intelligent robots also need to have a good computing platform, just like a brain, which can analyze the captured images and build models, so that when they fly on the same path in the future, they can be more familiar and let this UAVs can reduce the dependence on human operation and accelerate the efficiency of providing services to remote areas.
The demand for remote villages is large, and the application potential of drones is endless
“In fact, 75% of the cost of the logistics system is spent on the last mile.” Wang Zhongping said that if the technology of drones can be used to break through the bottleneck, it is believed that the quality of life of people in remote rural areas will be greatly improved. To speed up the pace, he believes that every logistics node needs to embrace digital tools and face digital transformation in order to work together to turn over the current application scenario.
Looking forward to the future, Wang Zhongping is even more looking forward to it. He believes that there are still many fields waiting for drones to use technology to break through the existing framework. “Can you imagine when we have air taxis? It will be revolutionary in the aviation industry. The development will also bring a whole new experience to the medical treatment of residents in remote areas.” The short-distance manned transportation service may provide more immediate and efficient help for residents in remote areas, or even in the event of an accident due to mountain climbing. Through this plan, Wang Zhongping believes that by working together with industry, government, and academia to create practical applications, more people will see the value of drones and accelerate the embrace of smart technology in remote areas.
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