Technology / Automation Archives - Simply Drones

Will it be possible to control the weather using drones?

simplydrones — Tue, 10 Aug 2021 04:25:01 +0000

Science and technology are the closest thing to magic. With it, we can do things that we would never have thought of, but how far can we go? Through the years, we have witnessed how the human being is expanding the use of the technology that he creates reaching areas never imagined, it is common for something that was invented with a specific purpose to end up adapting to new needs, changing and evolving.

And it is that with the speed of technological advances that we have been experiencing in the last century, it would not be a surprise, in the short term, to run into the “futuristic events” that for years we have witnessed in science fiction movies and series being a reality.

Can you imagine that the government can control the climate of your country through Drones? Would you like to receive your favorite restaurant’s food in minutes thanks to a drone? Or go to work flying in a modern Drone Bus and avoid all the traffic? Well, these are projects that are a reality or will soon be (by the way, you can find out about the Drone Bus on our blog).

Without a doubt, controlling time is something that only the gods could do... until recently.

In the United Arab Emirates, in the desert of the Arabian Peninsula, there is not exactly enough water. What they do have is money and with-it technologies to get water if necessary. So much so that it is getting it to rain, even though the temperatures exceed 140° F. How? The answer lies in the artificial seeding of clouds, a process that allows the clouds to discharge as much water as possible, even if the environmental conditions do not exist. For this, the human being himself oversees making the conditions happen, doing tricks, of course.

How does technology cause it to rain?

Scientists at the University of Reading in England helped develop a series of drones that can fly into existing clouds and alter the electrical charge of water droplets so that they clump together, amazing, isn’t it?

If it works in a small region, this means it could help replenish troubled water supplies around big cities like Dubai, and usher in a new era of human control over the climate. According to local media, the United Arab Emirates has achieved a total of 219 operations to create artificial rain in 2021 alone. Despite the heat waves and the arid climate of the country, they are making it rain on its cities and areas of interest.

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Una publicación compartida de المركز الوطني للأرصاد (@officialuaeweather)

Is there controversy about the use of drones to control the weather?

This technique of seeding clouds and then releasing all the water within them is generating controversy since many governments believe that naturally occurring climatic events are being altered and this could have “hidden interests”. In addition, there are experts who believe that this can get out of hand and cause flooding, although it has been shown that in the hands of experts this can be controlled.

This mechanism is not the first to be used to try to generate artificial rain, since there are products that are mostly used by people involved in agricultural workers who use a type of product capable of creating cloud seeding in another way, although it is not 100 % safe for humans.

For now, it is believed that this technique applied by Dubai to create rain to lower the hot summer temperatures is perfect if it is controlled and guarantees the safety of all citizens of the country.

What you opinion on this topic? Would you like this climate control system to be implemented around the world? Let us know in a comment on this post!

Drones are changing the world, and at Simply Drones, we bet on this it is for this reason that we invite you to discover our portfolio of services. Perhaps at Simply Drones for now we will not make it rain eventually, but currently, we do have the best service in Aerial Thermography, Conceptual Panel Design, and Ground Monitoring. What are you waiting to discover our service?

SOURCES, AUTHORS AND REFERENCES:

– The national NEWS. 2021. UAE carries out 219 cloud seeding operations in first six months of the year.

– Rus, C. 2021. With drones and electric shocks, the United Arab Emirates is making it rain in the middle of the desert with a temperature of 40 ° C. Xataka News.

– High Tech Institute. 2021. The United Arab Emirates is using drones to create artificial rainfall.

– Cohen, A. 2021. How Dubai Is Using Laser Drones to Shock Rainwater Out of The Sky. Forbes News.

Silvia Monroy
Author

The post Will it be possible to control the weather using drones? appeared first on Simply Drones.

Drone bus: Imagine going to work flying

simplydrones — Mon, 02 Aug 2021 20:00:18 +0000

If we talk about transportation methods, without a doubt, the Drone Bus model presented by Kelekona is one of the most innovative concepts in mobility, technology, and versatility in the drone and transportation industry.

The company is committed to a design powered by eight electric motors, capable of transporting 40 passengers to just over 500 km (among them you could be you) and a pilot. Impressive, right?

We also all know that moving around big cities, between states or countries can be exhausting, it is for this reason that Kelekona aims to make air transport an everyday act, easy and affordable for everyone. In the long term, the company’s intention is that tickets on the drone bus cost the same as a train ticket for an equivalent distance.

How long would it take to reach my destination with the Drone bus?

The intention is that with the Drone bus we can reach all the destinations we want faster, to give us an idea of the speed of the proposed prototype, the company gives as an example some cities that could be reached with just one hour of flight. Los Angeles and San Francisco (560 km in a straight line), New York to Washington (330 km), and London and Paris (350 km) would be some of these examples since by road these cities are between four- and five- hours half.

With the Drone bus, not only money would be saved, but also time, since the model would be designed to land easily in small spaces, which would make the use of this air transport more accessible without the need for large landing strips.

What is it made of and what will the design of the Drone bus be like?

The aircraft design will make extensive use of aluminum alloys and composite materials alongside parts produced by additive manufacturing (3D printing).

The eight electric motors, located in pairs on both sides of the fuselage, at the front and rear of the fuselage, will tilt for vertical take-off and landing and offer horizontal thrust during flight, while the fuselage will take care of the lift. One aspect to highlight is that the propeller blades driven by the engines, in addition to being fair, will have a variable pitch to better adapt them to each phase of flight.

The necessary batteries will be housed in a pod that will form the lower part of the fuselage and that can be replaced after each flight by one with its batteries charged, while the used one goes to the recharging station.

And what would be the security measures of the Drone bus?

As for safety measures in flight, Kelekona relies on two radars, located above and below the fuselage, and video cameras that cover all sectors around the aircraft that give “100 miles of additional environmental awareness to detect and avoid unknown aircraft, birds, climatic anomalies or infrastructures that do not appear in the charts and maps”.

As we can see, drones and innovation go hand in hand, because every day we can see more uses of drones in our daily lives. The use of drones is increasingly common in all areas and work areas, every day at Simply Drones we are amazed at how much can be achieved by making creative and responsible use of drones.

At Simply drones we also do wonderful things with drones, encourage yourself to discover our services and who knows, maybe one day we can also take you home.

SOURCES, AUTHORS AND REFERENCES:

– BATES, V. (2021). This Drone Bus Will Carry 40 Passengers Between Cities for the Price of a Train Ticket. SINGULARITYHUB.

– CALVO, L. (2021). Kelekona, an aerobus for 40 passengers. FLYNEWS.

– Website Kelekona: www.kelekona.com

Silvia Monroy
Author

The post Drone bus: Imagine going to work flying appeared first on Simply Drones.

Drone solar inspections increase efficiency at power plants

simplydrones — Sat, 24 Jul 2021 22:09:33 +0000

The Problem:

Every PV system faces problems with underperformance, system component failure, and the influence of performance by weather conditions. These problems reduce the energy efficiency of the photovoltaic (PV) solar park causing energy losses. Traditional regular inspections of these solar farms can mean a waste of money and time. It can also pose a risk to workers due to various factors such as terrain, height, weather conditions, and more.

The Problem:

Before drones:

Traditional solar field assessments consist of inspecting each panel with portable thermal imaging cameras to check for faulty cells or cables. During this process, staff must manually track the location of faulty panels for further maintenance. Given the dimensions of most solar farms, this inspection method is inefficient and creates a heavier workload for maintenance and operations teams. Only about 2-3% of panels are inspected in many large plants.

The solution is Simply Drones:

With our DJI M210 drone and DJI Zenmuse XT2 camera, we take visual and thermal images of solar panels from the air.

We use the most advanced platforms on the market for industrial applications.

The visual images make it easy to detect problems of all kinds, such as dirt, shade, animal nests, or physical failures of the solar panel.

Thermal images taken by our infrared sensors, helps us identify areas where the panels are not operating at full capacity saving time and money.

The solution is Simply Drones:

With our DJI M210 drone and DJI Zenmuse XT2 camera, we take visual and thermal images of solar panels from the air.

We use the most advanced platforms on the market for industrial applications.

The visual images make it easy to detect problems of all kinds, such as dirt, shade, animal nests, or physical failures of the solar panel.

Thermal images taken by our infrared sensors, helps us identify areas where the panels are not operating at full capacity saving time and money.

The results:

Drones increase the efficiency and precision of solar inspections, reducing inspection time by 70% compared to traditional methods. Our teams can perform large area inspections collecting high-resolution RGB and thermal images. Using drones, 250 hectares can be monitored in one day, which would take 3-4 months with traditional inspection methods.

Surprising no? Now we invite you to know about our services. At Simply Drones, we make it simply.

SOURCES, AUTHORS AND REFERENCES:

– Manaure, A. (2020). Drones to improve inspection of solar parks. The Standard CIO.

– DJI ENTERPRISE. (2020). Everything you need to know about drone integration in solar parks.

Silvia Monroy
Author

The post Drone solar inspections increase efficiency at power plants appeared first on Simply Drones.

When is it a good option to contract Aerial Thermography services?

simplydrones — Mon, 19 Jul 2021 13:22:51 +0000

Thermography is an advanced technique that aims to discern the temperatures of an object or area without the need for physical contact. From the infrared rays the data of the object of study are shown, where through the different thermal palettes these data are interpreted, at Simply Drones, we make use of the White-Hot palette, where we can see the temperatures through a scale of grays in which warmer objects are shown in white and cooler objects in black. The images not only speak of temperature but also speak of thermal patterns, behaviors, and anomalies that must be interpreted to obtain the desired results and thus contribute to the efficiency of the aerial thermography service.

There are many applications that thermography has, among which the maintenance of industrial equipment, the inspection of solar panels, weather predictions, military maneuvers, space observation, etc. stand out.

Obviously, progress in technology allows professionals to have much more advanced recording and detection equipment. Until now, thermographic analysis required quite expensive knowledge and instruments. However, drones have been a step forward in increasing the precision and convenience of data collection. It is obvious that the versatility and mobility offered by drones allow access to places from which it was previously unthinkable to reach.

The possibility of incorporating thermal imaging cameras into drones and photographing or filming from the air greatly expands the range of possibilities for professionals in the sector. Today at Simply Drones, we want to show you when or when it is a good option to hire Aerial Thermography:

1. When you need to check and inspect large areas of land and want to save time and money.

2. Difficult areas: many times, we need to get to a place that is difficult to access, and our equipment or personnel can be at great risk, in these cases, drone pilots are trained to finish the job safely and quickly.

3. When the work cannot stop: in solar plants, data is collected while the panels are working. The images are taken perpendicular to the panels to obtain more truthful and precise information.

4. Safety and rescue: drones can be very useful in locating and rescuing injured, lost, or missing people, they can also help to monitor fires through the detection of hot spots.

5. Inspection of electrical towers: the maintenance of lines with aerial vehicles is something common for companies in the electricity sector, thermography is generally used in intensive inspections. Thermographic images are used to search for “hot spots”, those points of an element whose temperature is higher and, therefore, stand out in the thermal image.

As you can see, Aerial Thermography with drones is a very broad sector that is still in full development, every day we can find new applications to thermography, since this area can reach more sectors that have not yet been fully explored with drones.

Now that you know the different applications of aerial thermography, we invite you to visit our Solutions section so that you know how at Simply Drones, we carry out our work in each area in which we specialize and what each of our services includes.

SOURCES, AUTHORS AND REFERENCES:

Silvia Monroy
Author

The post When is it a good option to contract Aerial Thermography services? appeared first on Simply Drones.