The emergence of VTOL drones and the possibilities they hold have hit the public, the innovators and the market with hope and excitement and the possibilities are endless; delivery, taxiing, and private hire to name a few. Yet, the greatest threat that dares oppose these great autonomous aerospace drones… is birds.
Bird Odyssey
The Urban Air Market is expected to be worth $15 billion by 2030, and companies such as Audi, Porsche, Hyundai and Boeing are preparing themselves. Despite certain aspects of safety requiring an iron, systems are ready and preparing to conquer aerospace. The opposition though, who refuse to let us share the air, are birds. Something that us humans have spent years inventing and innovating to overcome has found an adversary. You would think that there would be enough room up there for both of us, but the birds have their own plans. There are 13,000 bird strikes reported yearly in the USA, and due to the low altitude of VTOL drones, that number could sorely increase, though experts are brainstorming ways to save the birds and manage a friendly relationship between us, them and the air.
Taking Off
In 2018, Cavonix began conceptualising brilliant and innovative ideas for the endless possibilities that they had the opportunity to produce. With the help of Cavonix’s gifted minds and team of dedicated engineers, Artificial Intelligence and autonomous technology became a reality. Despite progress still being made, and rough edges still expecting a sand down, Cavonix are there having already produced a fully autonomous product. VTOL drones are just one of many ingenious designs that Cavonix have created and intend to create. “Vertical Take-Off and Landing” is a new, promising piece of technology that will be bound to take-off – pun intended. Using RTK GPS systems and Fleet Management Systems, VTOL can assess optimal pathways that cover an entire geofenced area and maximise yield. Take off and land anywhere, anytime.
Moving Forward
VTOL drones can be used in a range of ways. For mining, a VTOL drone can precisely map and decide ideal locations for digging; in agriculture, VTOL drones can map routes and re-routes to any destination to ensure the utmost productivity and meticulousness. They can also be used for the military to help support vehicles safely travel from A to B, but by far the most exciting and fantastical route that these drones could take is the prospect of Airtaxis – an actual black and yellow flying taxi landing in your garden and waiting to fly you to your destination. It’s a thing of cringey 80’s movies – but the market is ready, and so are we.
So, despite the ‘stand’-off, with the birds, (which in my opinion could easily be solved with mass manufacture of scarecrows) VTOL drones and the sci-fi dreams of the 80’s are closer than arms reach. With all our latest technology such as RTK GPS, FMS, VTOL and Radar/LIDAR sensors, we are conquering the aerospace.