The use of drones are classified into two categories and each of the fields can be exploited to capitalize fully on its potential i.e.
1)Drone use in combating COVID 19 pandemic;
2)Drone use Supportive activities. The use and their details are provided in the following sections: 1.Drone use cases in combating COVID 19:
a.Spraying disinfectants
i.Drones designed to spray disinfectants have been remodeled with pesticides on agricultural lands. While the verdict is still out on the effectiveness of using drones to spray pesticides, nevertheless, it is an important use case of drones that are widely being deployed by countries.
ii. Drone companies in countries such as China have teamed with Agricultural research institutes to make effective use of drones for spraying disinfectants. China, South Korea, UAE, Israel, and India have deployed drones to spray these disinfectants in their respective urban and rural spaces. The primary recipients of drone based disinfectant operations have largely been Government offices, hospitals, public places.
b.Monitoring body temperature:
i.Drones mounted with thermal cameras have been deployed by state authorities across the world to detect body temperatures of people in public places. Some drones are fitted with AI-enabled cameras which enable to the identification of any abnormalities in body temperature.
ii.A team of researchers from the University of South Western Australia has reportedly made a breakthrough wherein the drones fitted with specialized cameras can detect coughing, sneezing, detect heart and respiratory rates of people and monitor their body temperatures. Countries such as China, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel and Bulgaria have deployed drones to monitor people’s body temperature.
c.Medical and food supplies delivery :
i. there are some essential human activities which necessitates people to venture out. For instance, for their daily needs, people move out of their homes to purchase food and medical supplies (for COVID and non-COVID patients).
ii.Advantage of deploying drones for food and medical supplies transport during COVID 19 becomes particularly important given the fact that there is a significant drop in air traffic congestion. Transportation of medical supplies, medical equipment and even blood samples could be pursued through drones.
iii.A company named Antwork has flown medical samples and quarantine supplies from People’s Hospital, Xinchang county to Disease control center in Xinchang county. The company is also considering expanding its operations in Hangzhou and Wuhan provinces of China. Chinese e-commerce company JD has used drones to supply medical equipment to hospitals located in remote areas of Wuhan.
iv. In case of China, reports suggests that robotics have been extensively used inside hospitals to cater to these needs of COVID infected patients. Robotics have been deployed to deliver food to patients in COVID infected wards.
v.Zipline, a drone company has already proven and validated drone based medical supplies deliveries in Rwanda, Africa. The company is currently engaging in talks with US Government to seek permission to begin operations in Untied States. Similarly, a Canadian company Drone Delivery Canada has also begun negotiating with the Government of Canada for transportation of pharmaceutical products in suburban and rural areas of Canada.
2.Drones use Supportive activities:
a.Surveillance and ensuring lockdown:
i. police forces have deployed drones to expand the coverage of their surveillance with faster speed. Drones are uniquely positioned to not only pick up signs of lockdown violations on the streets but also to ensure that people are adhering to social distancing rules on rooftops.
ii.One of the unique advantages of deploying drones to ensure surveillance and lockdown is that it precludes police officers performing such duties from getting infected by COVID 19, particularly those operating in declared containment zones. iii.Countries such as Israel, China, USA, Malaysia, Kazakhstan, Italy, France, Jordan, Belgium, Greece, etc. have deployed drones to ensure lockdown in public places. In case of Israel, drones are regularly sent in places wherein people have been quarantined. Such quarantined people are required to come near their windows to provide visual confirmation that they are inside their houses. Drones have also been used to disperse crowd and ensure that people are practicing the social distancing norms. a sudden drop in crime statistics in Israel could be attributed to extensive deployment of drones by the state of Israel. China too has deployed its drones extensively to monitor congested areas and disperse crowd in its cities and other areas.
b.Public Broadcast :
i.While drones continue to be effectively deployed to surveillance and ensure lockdown, its effectiveness substantially increases when it is fitted with speakers. Drones with mounted speakers have frequently been used in countries such as China, Israel, France, Spain, India etc. to disperse crowd in public places.
ii. Drones deployed for public broadcast can be effectively used for not only dispersing crowd but to also relay area specific messages pertaining to COVID 19 to educate and raise awareness among inhabitants. In scenarios wherein some people are found to be not wearing masks, drones with mounted speakers are able to relay messages encouraging people to wear masks. In case of countries such as Malaysia, Qatar, Kuwait, drones with fitted speakers have been used to relay messages in multiple languages.
c. Survey mapping :
i. Drones have also been found to play a critical role in activities like survey mapping. For instance, while planning construction of hospitals and critical care facilities drones could be used to play an important role in surveying areas. In case of China, the country has made use of satellite technology to survey areas.
ii.According to reports, several empty fields in countries such as China, US and Germany have been converted into makeshift hospitals. Drones have played a critical role in survey mapping of such areas to construct hospital efficiently and with minimal human involvement.
iii. Further drones fitted with lightings have been used to illuminate areas which have been designated for construction activities. Drones were used for one such hospital construction in Wuhan, wherein 6 drones hovering 50 meters above ground could illuminate an area of 6000 sq meters and remain illuminated for 10 hours with a single charge.
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