Redbridge Online

Category: drones

  • What’s Fueling the Tech Revolution?

    What’s Fueling the Tech Revolution?

    “An iPod, a phone, an internet mobile communicator… these are NOT three separate devices! And we are calling it iPhone! Today Apple is going to reinvent the phone. And here it is.”
    – Steve Jobs

    In 2007, we were introduced to the first iPhone. It’s campaign slogan was, “This is only the beginning.” You remember that, right? It was like yesterday and it was WHOA at first site and created a tech revolution that changed the world as we knew it.

    Today, our lives are digital and analog, and new and better ways to connect to each other and the world around us are everywhere. The expansion potential continues to be huge. Yesterday, we came together over in awe over a new phone. Today, revolutionary tech is just waiting to bring the world together to replace current technology with a new generation of amazing.

    So, what’s fueling the revolution? Everything. Every facet of our worlds has reached the right time and place to create the perfect storm for advancement.

    More devices, more data.

    Wearables, homes, mobile, and cars are coming online faster than ever. Connected devices are the new life hack – they count the steps we take, map the way, dim the lights, organize our thoughts, and provide a billion ways to digitally share our lives with each other.

    The information collected, in turn, is providing valuable insights that will drive future development and help to create snapshots of society and user behaviors as a whole.

    Drones are here.

    They’re taking selfie stick and RC helicopters to Heisenberg levels. They’re also being utilized for government and commercial use. 2015 ended with mandatory drone registration and has sparked the rise of a whole new set of regulations and data tracking industry.

    More data is streaming.

    Every picture, post, video, live game, everything. It’s all 1’s and 0’s, transferred and output as meaningful information to the end-user. And the technology driving data transfer is only improving. Processors are faster. Camera and video resolutions are better than they’ve ever been. Gaming consoles and VR are integrating better graphics and experience capabilities with every iteration.

    Right now, real time transfer is such that Formula One racing group monitors everything from tire pressure and temperature to aerodynamic effect issues and makes adjustments trackside, and apps like Periscope and SnapChat make sharing videos to large audiences so simple that they’re exposing a world of content sharing opportunities at a crazy fast pace.

    High performance data centering is becoming standard.

    There was a time in the energy industry when investing in efficiency and high-performance products made more business sense than building new power plants. The datacenter industry has reached that phase. Providers are being sought out by educated buyers that want green power and efficient design, not necessarily for sustainability purposes, but because of the long term effectiveness.

    We’re seeing unprecedented levels of user adoption of connectivity. The global population consumes 3.9 exabytes of data per month right now. By 2019, that number will be 24.3 exabytes. It’s not enough to have some racks in a datacenter. You need to be in a datacenter that will be able to support your needs when 24.3 exabytes are being streamed across the world wide web.

    Artificial Intelligence is killin it!

    Devices are streaming data real-time.. and getting smarter. Tesla shocked the world with an autonomous driving system that allows Model S drivers to take their hands off the wheel and allow the car to essentially do the driving for them. And then they added the Summon feature, where the car “learns” to start itself, and drive out of your garage and around the corner to pick you up, sans driver. They’re not alone in their AI investments. Last year more than $2 billion was invested in companies focused on developing AI-like technology.

    The integration of artificial intelligence and cloud computing has given rise to “fleet learning” across connected devices, meaning that where the human brain has to be taught one brain at a time, what one AI device “learns” can be immediately transferred to all devices. This means, machine learning that transcends human learning capacity is being created all around us right now. Existing compute power limits potential to a degree, but is there a time when this generation of faster thinking and learning intelligence expands that? Even Stephen Hawking has concerns.

    The energy storage investment is paying off.

    With more people coming online than ever, power use continues to rise. Experts predict that total energy demand will increase 21% by 2030. 2015 saw renewables record nearly $330 billion in investment around the world. New wind and solar alone accounted for 121 GW of new power installations.

    With energy use on the rise and frequent changes in demand peaks by season and time of day, the market for energy storage is also growing. We’ve seen innovative energy storage solutions from a number of capabilities including; air energy storage, batteries, conservation, efficiency, and more. The market is expected to reach 10.8 billion by 2018.

    Technology will continue to change all of our tomorrows, at rates faster than any change in history. Advancements in tech are already beginning to automate many of the jobs we see in the market today. In fact, 65% of children starting primary school today will work in jobs that haven’t even been thought of yet.

    We’ve come a long way, Baby. And, if you’re thinking this is just the beginning, you’re right.

     

  • Drones. Are they poised to take over the universe?

    Drones. Are they poised to take over the universe?

    Remember that first time you ever watched I, Robot and the robots started to take over? Me too.

    I don’t have cable, but last week I happened to be staying in a hotel in my very favorite city in the US and “I, Robot” was playing on one of the channels. Have you seen it? It’s the movie where Will Smith is living in a future where artificial intelligence has evolved to the point that robots are in every household and assisting humans on all levels of day-to-day activities. In the movie, everyone except Will Smith has come to accept the integration of artificial intelligence as the norm. Will maintains that without the ability to feel and think freely, robot “logic” makes them untrustworthy to make decisions regarding the health and welfare of human lives. In the end he’s right and the robots make the decision that as humans we’re our own worst enemy and therefore need to be contained to keep us from harming ourselves further. Anyway, good movie.

    Watching the movie led me to think about the drone controversy and how people fall on opposite ends of the argument. Some are excited about the idea of this new technology and the possibilities, while others are skeptical and concerned about how drones are being integrated into our lives. I love technology, but the subject of drones left even me a little apprehensive. So, I set out with a list of questions and have Googled, listened to presentations, and attended drone events to learn as much as possible about the subject.

    • How are drones being used?
    • What are some of the positives?
    • What challenges they’re facing?
    • What’s next?
    Current Use

    If the question is who’s doing what with drones right now, the answer is everyone, and everything. Right now, the “selfie stick” is all the rage, but that might only be because most people aren’t aware of DJI’s Phantom 3, the easy to fly camera drone that takes consumer selfies to Heisenberg levels. And, much like the gas powered remote control racing cars that hobbyists used to dedicate dollars and hours to, a subculture of drone enthusiasts are now taking to recreational drone racing. Check out the Aerial Action Sports League’s Game of Drones! Amazon and Google are both looking at drone technology for package delivery solutions. In some cases you could receive a package faster than getting pizza delivered. Pretty crazy, right? Well, that’s not all. An Oregon-based company named HoneyComb, is poised to advance agriculture by using an agricultural drone that looks just like a mini stealth bomber! The AgDrone System incorporates dual cameras, software and data processing, and smart analytics for enhanced pest identification and water deficiencies.

    Positives

    Cup half full? There’s a lot of ways our lives can be positively impacted by drones. Obviously recreational racing, who doesn’t love that?! And the cameras are like taking GoPro to the extreme. Imagine getting a full 360 degree video view of the next sweet stunt you pull on a snowboard without having to worry about having hardware strapped on. That’s pretty neat! And for every farmer in California who is affected by the drought, imagine if you knew only 1/10 of your crop needed to be watered, or that pests only lived in a corner of the crop. You’d save energy and water. Win win! And, I don’t know about you, but getting my next Hubble picture delivered by a flying smiling box in 30 minutes vs. 1 week is kind of intriguing. And, on the most serious side, the day we didn’t have to risk human lives in war.. I’m all about that.

    Negatives

    Downside? For every positive, there’s a negative. And… like any new technology, there are going to be those people who don’t fly above board. There’s the www, and there’s the deep web. There’s the pharmacy, and there’s the Silk Road. Jobs may become obsolete as new career paths emerge. Security breaches will likely happen when people focus mainly on production and processes in early development stages. We’ll begin to hear more stories of accidents and injuries reported across the board as the technology becomes more mainstream. As a for instance, last week a woman was knocked unconscious while attending a parade. And of the 20 cars on the road since 2009, Google’s self-driving cars have been in 11 accidents. One accident involved a car rolling through a stop sign. No injuries were reported, but can you imagine being at a stop light and seeing an unmanned Google drone rolling through? Whoa. It gives new meaning to that song “they see me rollin’.. they hatin.”

    What’s next?

    It’s like every new technology without clear boundaries, there’s a learning curve as the culture catches up with the industry. Three of the biggest advancements for the industry will likely include regulations, education, and improved battery technology.

    Both Amazon and Skyward, are already working with the FAA to develop rules and tools to aid commercial drone use. Amazon has already filed a petition to conduct flights using drones that travel up to 50 mph. Skyward’s Urban Skyways Project is working with NASA to create an aerial robotics network to direct drone traffic much like the FAA does with commercial airlines.

    When regulations are clearer, we’ll begin to see more mainstream training around drone use, In the meantime, organizations like Roswell Flight Test Crew are making it their mission to educate people around best practices when operating drones.

    Currently, lithium-ion batteries are used in most drones, so usage is limited by power. And, while the field of battery technology hasn’t seen much advancement in decades, companies like Google, Apple, and Tesla are in constant innovation mode along with universities to bring batteries into a brand new era. It’s just a matter of time.

    To close, Wayne Dyer once said, “Everything that exists right now was once imagined, which means that everything that will exist is now being imagined.” There have been other times in history when culture was disrupted by new technologies. The Model T replaced a much slower alternative before our existing roadway infrastructure was developed. At a time when consumers were satisfied with flip phones and cd players, Steve Jobs once told riveted audiences that his new phone would not only answer calls, but store and play music and provide access to the internet. The lesson can only be, technology will always advance. Your best bet is to be proactive. Educate people and develop standards and guidelines as needed to stay as far ahead of the development as possible, with the knowledge that there will be instances where you are forced to be reactive.

    (Special thanks to New Tech PDX for providing such a comprehensive view of Oregon’s drone industry.)