Central Highlands Development Corporation

Drones or UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) are everywhere at the moment and I mean not just in the air! We read of Google trialing fast food delivery in a northern Canberra suburb; Russia trialing postal delivery; window washing and wind turbine washing drones; tree and grass planting drones; drones used for water quality testing in dams and rivers; and carbon mapping using sensors on drones and identifying wild dogs and other pests (Landline, Sunday 15 September 2019). Then there is Amazon's Prime Air delivery drone capable of vertical takeoff and landing as well as forward flight. This advancement solves some of the issues with fixed-wing drones - easy take-off and safer landing!

All laughs aside, drones are big business. In May, the start-up drone 'lifesaving' medical delivery company Zipline, based in the USA but operating in Rwanda and Ghana, was valued at over $1 billion. Goldman Sachs predicts that the industry will be worth US$100 billion by 2020. 'Delivery drones' are the focus at the moment and have certainly refreshed the excitement for more people and companies scrambling to get into drones. But don't dismiss the growth in use of drones for mapping.

While many are recognising the untapped business potential with drone use, currently they are either used for recreational purposes (photos and video), experimenting with product delivery or the collection of data (multi-spectral sensors including infrared). Very few conversations are heard on the use of data collected. Like any source of spatial related data, the value-adding comes with the enhancement of the data for its use in decision-making, in land based science and industry operation on the ground. 

Drone based sensor data, including LiDAR (which stands for light detection and ranging, and is essentially the use of laser light and returns measured using a sensor), needs to be geo-rectified and geo-referenced. Like satellite data, there are always problems that need to be fixed. Gaps appear in imagery. LiDAR for example does not work well where there are high levels of atmospheric moisture or cloud cover - and ground truthing and image processing is required. Geo-referencing is required to make sure data sets have consistent cartographic coordinates for mapping to enable them to be laid over other forms of data (e.g. vegetation, soil maps, zoning maps, waterways etc). Multi-layer analysis using geographic information systems (GIS) is used in a variety of industry sectors, from resources, tourism, environmental assessment/management, agriculture, water management, coastal management to urban development. 

What does all this mean for the Central Highlands? The uptake in use in drones for mapping and feature identification will require more people to have skills in geospatial data processing. It will also include the need for skills in geo-coding - the use of algorithms in remotely sensed data to extend the use of geographic data into areas such as erosion and sediment control, bushfire risk analysis, carbon sequestration analysis, stormwater management and flood analysis/mitigation. Tying this to the rapid growth in geo-positioning technology (GPS) - essential for the drive toward automation in the resources and agriculture sectors - can give more clarity and understanding of what some of the 'jobs for the future' could be. 

Just over the horizon, 300kms to the west, Barcaldine has succeeded in being branded as the world centre for drone use testing. The Outback AeroDrone Symposium 2019 follows a successful inaugural event in 2018 in which drone technologists and researchers assembled from around the globe. This year, there will be all forms of drones from fixed wing, rotary drive, PV driven drones as well as all sorts of associated technology. Barcy will provide the best place to learn, work and play with drones.  If you are keen on drones (or future jobs!), book your tickets for the 21-23 September 2019 event here. 

But that's not all! Following the Symposium, the World of Drones Congress is coming to Brisbane on 26 - 27 September. This international calendar event will focus on the use of drones for business, urban development, asset management, disaster risk reduction/management, OHS, land use planning, agriculture, science and education. Get more information here.

Contact CHDC Regional Innovation and Development Coordinator Matt McIntyre on mmcintyre@chdc.com.au or (07) 4982 4386. 


One of the drones used in the fast food delivery trial in Canberra (Source: ABC News, 9 April 2019)

Whoops there goes the sauce! Catching practice as well? (Source: ABC News, 9 April 2019).