CNN
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Eighty-seven million passengers passed through Dubai International in 2017, making it one of the busiest airports in the world. So when there’s a hiccup in operations, the effect can be profound.
Shutdowns can cost the airport as much as $1 million a minute, and in recent times drones have been a big issue. Drone incursions into airport airspace were responsible for three shutdowns in 2016 – one for as long as 90 minutes.
To counter the problem, the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority (DCAA) has implemented Skytrax, a system that monitors domestically registered drones to prevent shutdowns.
Courtesy Exponent Technology Services
In Dubai, Exponent Technology Services collaborated with aviation authorities on a new tracking system helping prevent drones entering no-fly zones. Exponent also trialed a food delivery by drone, flying out 900 burgers in just one day. Scroll through to discover more innovative drones around the world.
JAXA/NASA
JEM Internal Ball -- The JEM Internal Ball was dispatched to the International Space Station in 2017 to capture astronauts at work. If that sounds like vanity, it's estimated ISS occupants spend approximately 10% of their working hours photographing their findings.
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Parrot
Parrot Bebop Pro Thermal -- Parrot's thermal edition drone can provide a live feed identifying heat signatures, such as those given off by a human body, or the hot spots of a burning building. As an inspection tool manually controlled by humans, it can be used by first-responders and in disaster-relief efforts.
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DP World
DP Cargospeed -- A rendering of a DP Cargospeed route in Dubai with drones and trucks working within the supply chain.
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BAS CZERWINSKI/AFP/AFP/Getty Images
Ambulance Drone -- Capable of speeds of 100 kmph (62 mph), Delft Technical University's
ambulance drone prototype carries a defibrillator which can be dispatched for use in the event of a heart attack.
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SCAD
Plan Bee -- Honeybee decline is a worrying issue, integral as they are to pollination. Industrial design major Anna Haldewang has developed a drone called Plan Bee, which mimics the action of a bee, sucking pollen from one plant and expelling it onto others to enable cross-pollination.
Read more.
The Little Ripper UAV -- In January 2018 in New South Wales, Australia, the Little Ripper UAV proved vital in rescuing two men caught in rough surf. Lifeguards used the drone to drop an inflatable life preserver in minutes, which the swimmers clung on to to make it to shore.
Read more.
AirDog
Airdog ADII -- In extreme sports, headcams are so passé. The Airdog ADII drone will follow riders on snow, water, dirt track -- wherever -- using a GPS-enabled wristband capturing aerial shots while you make your aerial moves.
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Volocopter/RTA
Volocopter -- The 18-rotor autonomous Volocopter was trialled in the emirate in 2017 and reportedly has a flight time of 30 minutes and cruising speed of 30 mph -- enough to get you from the airport to the Burj Al Arab with time to spare.
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CNNMoney
Amazon Prime Air -- Amazon has been making significant headway in drone deliveries, with the first drop in the UK occurring in
2016. In 2017 a patent application emerged showing details of a system for safe air drop in back yards -- even involving tiny parachutes.
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UPS
UPS -- Amazon isn't the only delivery company dipping into drones. UPS demonstrated a human-drone tag team system with integrated storage and launch facilities built into one of their iconic brown vans.
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Cartivator
SkyDrive -- Still in development, the SkyDrive from the Cartivator Project, a Tokyo non-profit, hopes to play a key part in the 2020 Olympic Games. With three wheels and four rotors, the car-drone hybrid will hopefully be the vehicle of choice for the lucky individual tasked with lighting the Olympic flame.
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Zipline -- Rwanda has embraced medication delivery technology and approved the world's first drone port, while manufacturer Zipline is working with the Ministry of Health to supply pockets of the country with much-needed items -- starting with blood.
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Tim C. Cox
Flirtey -- In Virginia, 2015, an Australian-made Flirtey drone was approved to supplying a rural pop-up clinic with medication.
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hubsan
Hubsan X4 -- Drone racing is a big deal. It has its own series -- the Drone Racing League -- featured on ESPN, and is a fast-growing sport. The Hubsan X4 has a point-of-view camera and some nifty moves.
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CNN
Workhorse SureFly -- With eight rotors and two seats, the SureFly is one of the larger drone taxi prototypes out there. Touted as a replacement for the helicopter, its makers aim for a competitive target price of $200,000.
Watch more.
Courtesy EPFL
GimBall -- The GimBall won the $1 million first prize in the 2015 "
Drones for Good" competition. It's designed to be "collision-tolerant" and access hard-to-reach areas such as burning buildings and nuclear disaster sites.
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Lakemaid
Raining beer -- An ill-feted venture in Minnesota saw ice fishers and local brewers rebuked for using drones to deliver beer cases in 2014. Beer company Lakemaid ran afoul of the Federal Aviation Administration because flying drones for commercial purposes at 400 feet or higher was against the law.
Read more.
Aerix Drones
Aerix Aerius -- Manufacturers once boasted of drones that could fit in the palm of your hand. The Aerix Aerius takes that claim to new levels with this, the world's smallest quadcopter at just 1.2-inches wide.
Blade
Blade Nano QX -- The Blade Nano QX is small by name, small in nature. Without a camera it's one for drone puritans and like Mihir Garimella's Google Science Fair-winning invention, is well equipped to avoid obstacles mid-flight.
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Skytrax works by fixing a tracker weighing 58 grams (2 ounces) to every drone licensed for use in the emirate. Developed in collaboration with drone company Exponent Technology Services, chief executive Asam Khan says no other city has gone to such lengths to monitor and manage drone activity.
Real-time tracking is monitored by the DCAA 24 hours a day, and if a drone strays close to a no-fly zone such as Dubai International, the system will send text alerts to DCAA officials and the drone operator, warning them to change course.
No drone is allowed within 16,400 feet horizontally or 3,000 feet vertically of commercial air traffic, says Khan.
CNN
The two-ounce tracking device fitted to licensed drones in Dubai by the DCAA.
Mike Rudolph, head of airspace safety at the DCAA, says it’s “relatively rare” they’ll have to call up a drone pilot over a potentially dangerous flight path. The system can’t take down a drone from the air mid-flight, but Rudolph says due to Skytrax’s ability to hold pilots to account, it’s proving an effective deterrent when it comes to airport airspace incursions. “We’ve had no incidents from the time that we’ve implemented the system,” he says.
Futureproofing drone regulations and managing the skies will only become more important as plans take shape for an air taxi service in Dubai in 2020.
“Drone operators such as ourselves, we have to realize use of the national air space (is) not a fundamental human right,” says Khan. “You share it with other users, so you have to use it responsibly.”