Digital Transformation and UAS

 

figure 1: drone swarm

Digital Transformation of UAS

Introduction:

    The digital transformation has been a rapid development in many sectors of industry. From paper to PC the world has changed drastically from the advent of many of the new technologies that a lot of us now take for granted. This is referred to as the "digital transformation" and has been a growing factor in how business conduct themselves or form. This new transformation has unsurprisingly wound up in the aviation sector, more specifically the unmanned sector of aviation.

     Unmanned aerial vehicles, colloquially referred to as drones, are a growing aspect of our daily lives. Beginning as a military technology and slowly evolving into a hobby for many, drones have begun to evolve into a powerful tool of industry. We are seeing a new step in the transformation of UAVs, a digital transformation if you will. In this new step there are currently four key players: The Internet of Things (IOT), Cloud Computing (CC), Big Data (BG), and Artificial Intelligence (AI).

    While each of these four key players of the digital transformation interact with each other, they have some distinctions that set them apart from each other. The Internet of things is how different devices interact with each other on a network, allowing rapid communication between physical platforms. Cloud Computing is the practice of using a network to send raw data from a platform to another location to be processed, which in a way uses IOT. Big Data is the information gathered from every device, person or program; this information has an incredible number of uses for development, good or bad. Artificial Intelligence is the practice of having a computer learn from inputs and data sets to develop a pattern of use, the application of this pattern is up to the operator (At least until AI learns when to apply itself on it's own). Below there are links to articles, blogs, lectures, etc. that cover these topics, they will be linked and discussed.

Internet of Things:

https://www.auvsi.org/sites/default/files/Embention%20-%20Veronte%20Autopilot.pdf

https://www.gsma.com/iot/connectedskies/

https://www.iot-now.com/2019/08/02/97962-innovative-ways-use-iot-enabled-drones-near-future/

https://www.computer.org/publications/tech-news/research/flying-iot-toward-low-power-vision-sky

A commonly brought up technology that is often on the discussion table with Internet of Things is drone swarms. These can work in a variety of ways, but the end result is more or less the same thing; a fleet of drones that can be used to accomplish a common goal. If this is combined with other digital transformation strategies it can be a powerful tool. While one drone from a single operator may be able to accomplish a lot, many drones operating in tandem with each other with an AI pilot can accomplish a much greater number of tasks.

Cloud Computing:

https://www.hindawi.com/journals/jr/2015/631420/

https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/11/3/316 

https://www.nutanix.com/theforecastbynutanix/technology/drones-connect-to-cloud-computing-to-analyze-data-from-the-sky

https://arxiv.org/pdf/1604.00381.pdf

A common problem with data collection is the amount of time processing takes. On top of that data processing can be confusing to someone who focuses more on the pilot side of UAS. A way to navigate this is to have your vehicle send the raw data to a software or company that will process it for you. Having onboard data processing is another option, but that can negatively impact the vehicles flight characteristics (Due to aided weight and power draw). This works due to the Internet of things, and the data collected could be referred to Big Data in a way.

Big Data:

http://envirofdok.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/UAV-Jacob-Future-of-Unmanned-Systems-for-Env-Monitoring-.pdf

https://raima.com/uavs-will-need-the-best-in-big-data-management/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/colinsnow/2019/02/06/what-every-cio-needs-to-know-about-commercial-drone-data/#77a5563a89ba

https://unmanned-aerial.com/k-state-hosting-midwest-big-data-hub-with-focus-on-uas-for-digital-agriculture

Big data is a bit more of a ethereal technology compared to the other three of the Digital Transformation of UAS. Data is the most important currency of our time, finding a better way to collect data and process it is what will push us all forwards. Drones are being used more and more for data collection as the technology improves, this data can be used for a potentially limitless amount of developments. A major technology that this data is used for, is machine learning and AI.

Artificial Intelligence: 

https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/capabilities/autonomous-unmanned-systems.html

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/how-artificial-intelligence-is-influencing-the-drone-industry-for-improved-performance-301094576.html

https://www.unmannedsystemstechnology.com/2019/05/us-army-next-generation-uas-to-use-ai-based-perception/

https://www.unmannedsystemstechnology.com/2019/03/new-counter-uas-system-utilizes-ai-machine-learning/

Artificial intelligence is what will change our lives in the near future more than any other development, whether we like it or not. Unmanned aerial vehicles can interact with AI in many different ways, including a drone being piloted or taught by an AI, or data gathered by drones can be used to train other AI. Drone pilots are probably going to end up replacing human pilots not that far in the future, just don't tell that to the pro-flight majors. Since drones are so mobile and versatile, they can gather a lot of data that wouldn't be readily available for AI to process if not for UAVs. If you combine these two technologies you get drones that are able to effectively gather and process immense amounts of data,