SPECIAL FOCUS: DRONES
of drone motors, solving many of the safety concerns that exist around the use of air drones globally.
Solving the ‘fail safe’ challenge One key issue with air drones or unmanned aircraft (UA) is that they have an extremely short lifespan when compared with manned aircraft and so it is impractical to expect manufacturers to adhere to strict aviation certifi cation standards. It has to be assumed that components on a UA are more likely to fail than those used in a traditional manned aircraft, which poses specifi c problems for their acceptance by regulators for wider use. T is issue is being examined at a high level through the development of robust international standards by the International Standards Organisation (ISO). T e very fi rst drone standards are now being developed by the ISO and are due for committee draft release in the spring of 2019. A key aim of these standards is to address the minimum safety quality standard required when manufacturing an unmanned air system (UAS). One consideration raised during development is the need for the drone to be able to ‘fail safe’. And although the standards will not dictate how a manufacturer should solve this problem, in the
Drone technology can predict the failure of mining machinery
likely event that this requirement is included in the standard, it leaves the manufacturer with a serious issue of how this can be achieved. In the past, solutions such as the use of parachutes have been introduced by safety-conscious manufacturers but, with advancements in predictive maintenance solutions, manufacturers now have an alternative that would ensure that the UA returned to the operator prior to motor failure and indicate which motor needs to be changed. T is simple but eff ective solution, born in the diamond mining
industry, will enable the air drone industry to satisfy the essential ‘fail safe’ requirement thus opening the doors to far wider applications of this revolutionary technology. Additional development could extend this to other areas of a UAS to further enhance safety in fl ight, especially in manned drone systems, which are set to revolutionise the way in which we transport freight and people in the future. T is development alone could accelerate the growth of the drone industry considerably, leading to a substantial
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