What is an innovative new application for drone technology not currently being implemented? Why is this application valuable either in terms of potential profits or benefits to society?
Firstly, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced rules on 2015-02-15, preventing drone delivery program (Amazon, DHL, Google, etc.).
Secondly, the FAA's rules state that an unmanned aircraft (UA) can be flown autonomously through use of an on-board computer, communication links and any additional equipment that is necessary for the UA to operate safely.
Law-enforcement agencies have been using drones for aerial surveillance of drug transactions, assessment of traffic accidents, etc. According to the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), deploying an UAV can substantially reduce the time it takes to map an accident, from 1 to 2 hours, down to 15 minutes - on average resulting in a 45-minute to 1-hour time savings.
However, existing police drones are clearly based around human operators. Future innovation in drone technology will enable new application of police drones in traffic enforcement by incorporating autonomy algorithm to actively seek out traffic violations.
Illegal and dangerous manoeuvres, such as lane-crossing and tail-gating, occur on city streets or on highways. At present, they are occasionally caught by a human police officer in a police cruiser.
An autonomous police drone would automatically take off, patrol the traffic, identify traffic violations, take photo/video evidence as well as the license plate for reporting, then come back to a mobile or stationary charging station for recharging the battery.
Although such police drones would be hated by bad drivers, they would be loved by good drivers as a valuable tool to enhance traffic safety. Police officers will be doing other tasks that would require human quality. Police forces will benefit by reduced cost and increased fines. Governments and citizens will benefit by lower taxes.
Therefore, Autonomous Police Drones for Traffic Enforcement is the innovative new application for drone technology not currently being implemented but being valuable in terms of potential benefits to society.
