It is a nightmare scenario, a fully loaded 747 passenger airplane colliding with a small drone that either blinds the pilot of causes an engine malfunction leading to a crash with a large loss of life. FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) guidelines require at the moment that drones remain outside the perimeter of the flight path of passenger jets, but many private drone owners are unaware of these regulations. And on a terrifying note, it could be the weapon of choice for terrorists wanting to take down an airline with minimum costs and almost no way to be detected or stopped.

In many airports, there is the growing trend of placing sensors around the perimeter of the airfield to detect drones that enter the so called “safe zone,” but this does little for airplanes that have left that safe zone or for helicopters or small planes that would be flying at low enough altitudes to be at risk for midair collisions with drones. And for the high flying passenger jets, as the air becomes more crowded with UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) that may not have been accounted for, the risks are chilling. Solutions are being created in several sectors, hoping to find one that works best. Google is currently working with the FAA to develop universal drone sensor technology that will allow drones to detect when an aircraft (helicopter or airplane) is nearby. This technology will cause the drone to automatically drop to a safe height out of harm’s way.

It’s all in the programming

In the golden age of science fiction, writer Isaac Asimov created the three laws of robotics. The first law: a robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. The second law, a robot must obey orders given to it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. Finally, a robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

In a sense what Google is trying to develop would be in accordance with those laws of robotics. The theory that is behind the technology is that once the sensors detecting an oncoming aircraft, despite what any other commands that are given to the drone, it will automatically drop to a safe level that will avoid a collision. Sounds simple, right?

Not exactly. There are many factors to take into account. For instance, the drone would need to be able to detect the oncoming aircraft quick enough to react. Easy when you take into account a large plane or jet, but when you start figuring in smaller aircraft or helicopters moving at a high rate of speed, the variables change. Second, what it the sudden drop puts it in the path of another aircraft? A sudden drop may create more problems than it solves. Researchers and programmers are trying to develop systems that would give the drone a sense of its surroundings and react appropriately. Dropping to avoid a helicopter only to slam into a car or an airplane just replaces one problem for another.

Then, for deliberate collisions, how to make the software and hardware tamper proof. This will work in a way to make the drone inoperable should someone attempt to override the software or disable the sensors on the drone. It works fine on off the shelf drones, or drones built of off the shelf technology. However, drones built from scratch would still be without said technology.

Solutions Emerge

The technology that Google and the FAA are collaborating on will hopefully solve these issues.  The problem is just finding right solution or combination of solutions that work best together.

The favored solution by the FAA and Google is onboard programming and sensors that cause an automatic override for the drone to drop to a safe level. What has been suggested is that instead of sensors being in place to detect just oncoming aircraft, they should be tuned to listen for aircraft transponders as well.

The FAA requires aircraft to have transponders that allow for tracking and identification. Instead of radar based sensors, the drone targets the transponder codes. In this way, the drone has an idea of the size and speed of the other aircraft and can move accordingly. Also, by tracking transponders it can then be more aware of its surroundings. It can time to drop speeds and altitude based on the orientation of multiple transponders and make a better decision based on better data.

Another option being reviewed at the moment is placing transmitters on planes and helicopters themselves. Since drones are usually small and limited in the amount of equipment they can carry, the amount of drone center solutions are limited.  This does not take into account any drones built before this technology was developed, or drones that purposefully do not have it on board.

All drones are similar in terms of certain things. Most all require some sort of programming and ground signal. A programming language is universal. The solution is that airplanes emit a signal that would instruct the drone to drop out of its safe zone. This would detect the drone’s transmission signal and then transmit the appropriate commands. Even if that command would be to simply turn off the drone making it plunge to the ground.

Final Thoughts.

With new technology comes new challenges. Drones are emerging as a new way to do business, and a new toy to play with. Their purposes and actions reflect those that build them, purchase them and use them. Unfortunately, that does not always involve responsible use. And sometimes accidents happen.

A simple move in the wrong direction could cost hundreds of lives in a midair collision. This means that we cannot wait for it to happen to act, we must be proactive and search for a solution to prevent that event.

The amazing thing about technology is that as long as there are problems, there will be dreamers and designers that will try to solve those problems.  We can only speculate at this time how theses solutions will work, and what they will involve, but we can be comforted that there will be a solution.