Friday Fun Flights #7! Our Weekly Summary of the Weird, the Whacky, and the Wonderful Things with The Drones Up There!

It’s Friday, and it’s time for our weekly roundup of all things drone!

We can’t avoid the main topic – so there is less weird and whacky and more wonderful and scary. In a world that struggles with the ongoing Covid-19 crisis, there has been a tremendous amount of news coverage on the role that drone technology might play with managing and monitoring the outbreak.

We’re pretty certain that if you have an interest in drones, you’ll have seen the articles, but if not, here’s a good summary: “Pandemic drones to monitor, detect, those with Covid-19.”

There are tremendous privacy, ethical and society issues that are unfolding with the use of technology in our world, and the use of drones will not remain untouched. We are of mixed feelings here at LI&D.

For example, there are many reports of police departments and other public security and safety officials turning to their ‘eyes-in-the-sky’ to monitor compliance with various lockdown orders, such as this article and video from the UK. Time will tell how this unfolds in the absence of legislation, regulation, politics and public opinion.

There is also a debate emerging about the use of drones for disinfecting public spaces – read this article in the BBC. It was done in China and elsewhere, and some in Western society are reported to be considering it, even as there are varying opinions as to whether it is effective or not.

The debate will become more pronounced in the future – here’s an overview of what people are thinking from a government and legislative perspective.

Aside from that, it is clear that we continue into a future where drones play an increasingly important role in a variety of industries beyond insight from altitude. For example, here is a great article in DroneLife as to how drones will come to be used in power line stringing.

We remain of the opinion that the entire crisis is going to see a massive acceleration in the role, use and opportunity with drone technology. That opinion was solidified this week when we saw this article:

That’s some serious firepower being added to the acceleration of drone technology as a viable delivery option.

Enough serious stuff – or is it? We also came across this seemingly lighthearted story of one neighbour using a drone to share some Scotch with another neighbour.

Heartwarming, perhaps, but wouldn’t this establish a pathway for infecting your neighbours if you were positive?

That’s it for now – let’s finish off this post with another “Drone Fail” video. This one, ostensibly some of the best fails of 2019! Enjoy!

Have a safe weekend – wash your hands! – and remember, if you see any interesting news and developments in the world of drone tech, send us a message at FridayFun@locationintelligence.ca