It was, as often happens, Jeff Bezos who launched the sector: he announced that he wanted to make deliveries of Amazon products by drone in just 30 minutes. And public interest in these devices has exploded. However, it must be said that the movement of goods is only one of the many applications of drone technology which now increasingly resemble self-driving flying cars.
A rapidly growing sector – it is estimated that the size of the market for services performed by drones will reach up to 63.6 billion dollars by 2025 – which will receive a great boost from 5G. In fact, they know that with each update of cellular network technology, progress always takes place in stages. But 5G encompasses several improvements in a single new generation: greater speed and capacity, greater coverage and lower latency.
For i drones and autonomous driving in fact memory, data storage, motor control and even built-in artificial intelligence and machine learning are required for these vehicles to perform in a variety of use cases including security and military applications, agriculture, first responder and medical applications and of course the making deliveries. Indeed, it is expected that the 5G connection will allow drones to move autonomously and support analytics and artificial intelligence programs advanced by processing large amounts of data in near real time in the field.
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“A few months ago – Massimiliano Ballarin, Regional Sales Manager at Cradlepoint Italy (an Ericsson company based in Boise, Idaho, which develops cloud-managed wireless edge network equipment) explained to us – an Australian energy company successfully tested the ability of a 5G drone to help restore the electricity supply. The company equipped the drone with cloud connectivity, artificial intelligence and an ultra HD camera that provided professionals with images of the failure that could help them assess the damage. In the event of storms, or other adverse weather events capable of knocking out power lines or causing damage, a drone equipped with this can provide the necessary information to help determine what workers, equipment and materials are needed to make repairs. .
Lo development of this technology is in fact very fast and of great social utility. And it won’t just be about cars or drones. “In Korea – continues Ballarin – immediately after the start of the pandemic, a telecommunications company used a robot connected to the 5G network and equipped with an ultraviolet lamp to sanitize surfaces and check the body temperature of company visitors, while last fall it New York State has announced a new air corridor between the cities of Rome and Syracuse which will serve as the country’s first testing ground for the use of remotely piloted aircraft (UAVs) relying on 5G wireless networks. To explain the reasons for the investment, New York Governor Kathy Hochul cited numerous industries and public services that would benefit from the development of 5G-enabled drones, including agriculture, forest management, transportation and public safety. .
Now the problem, as usual, is legislative: iThe US government is asking operators to maintain eye contact with drones and to fly at a height of no more than 400 feet. In the city, therefore, the drone can only deliver parcels in small stretches, basically just one block. Too little. But with 5G, even this rule could change thanks to the greater security guaranteed by this connection. And it is no coincidence that last April the Biden administration asked Congress to implement a plan with the aim of reducing the risks introduced by remotely piloted aircraft and establishing “clear standards” to regulate their use.
We’ll see how it ends. Of course drone technology and therefore their use is about to really change.