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Prevention of cheating from the air, a flying object that dances with a dancer. Unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, are a technology that is still in its infancy. Amazon has announced that it will use it for product delivery, and expectations are rising as a context for technological innovation. Hiromichi Kobayashi, a management consultant at Hitachi Consulting and the author of "The Impact of the Drone Business," says that drones are an "industrial revolution in the sky" with high hopes for the potential of drones. (Yahoo! News Editorial Department/THE PAGE)
The business world is naturally paying attention to drones, which have various possibilities. According to the growth forecast of the drone-related market conducted by the research company "Seed Planning", the market for "industrial unmanned aircraft/helicopters" was 1.6 billion yen in Japan in 2015, and will continue to grow until 2022, seven years from now. It plans to expand to 40.6 billion yen in 2020.
In 2013, Amazon, a major US online retailer, drew attention when it announced that it would use drones to deliver products. Product delivery is a major area of drone use. Several companies in Japan are researching its utilization. However, Mr. Kobayashi says, ``Unfortunately, at the moment, we are not at the level where drones can fly to where we live and deliver things.''
It is still possible to connect point A and point B and deliver with a drone, but for example, it can be delivered to the front door while avoiding the dog in the garden by getting under the power line and landing in the garden of the house. , it is still difficult to avoid obstacles.
Use cases are not limited to delivery. "Surveying" at a construction site. Komatsu, a construction equipment manufacturer, aims to create optimal construction plans by collecting and integrating various data. However, in surveying, which is the major premise, obtaining accurate data quickly became an issue. Drones can be used to shoot construction sites from the sky, survey them, and create 3D models. It says.
There are also many examples of its use in the entertainment field. There are examples where aerial footage is used in music promotion videos, and in variety shows, scenes of celebrities bungee jumping are filmed. At a dance event led by MIKIKO, who is known as a choreographer for the female idol group Perfume, three drones and human dancers dance together and perform together.
A case where drones were used in a music promotion video. From YouTube "OK Go - I Won't Let You Down - Official Video"
Some cases are under research and development. Microsoft Research and St. George's University are working on a drone to collect mosquitoes in the jungle. Emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) such as Ebola hemorrhagic fever, bird flu, and MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome), which was recently prevalent in South Korea, pose a risk to the international community. Drones, which can move completely autonomously, are expected to work in places inaccessible to humans or dangerous.
Although the term "drone" is becoming established, the official names for unmanned aircraft in English are UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle), UAS (Unmanned Aircraft Systems), and RPAS. (Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems). Drone is a word that means 'drone', and was just a colloquial term when used for unmanned aerial vehicles. However, recently, Mr. Kobayashi sees that a new genre called "drone" seems to be emerging.
There are two themes in the expression that Mr. Kobayashi advocates drones as an “industrial revolution in the sky.” "Sky" and "Robot".
"Sky" is actually a space that is difficult for humans to use. Until now, humans had no choice but to fly in airplanes or walk on the ground. With the advent of drones, however, the situation changed. The space of the sky can now be used in various ways, such as for delivery or for shooting.
In addition, Mr. Kobayashi explains that "the essence of drones is 'flying robots'." In the world of the future, robots have been expected to enter our lives more and more. run around and stay. However, if the use of drones, which can fly autonomously and have aspects of robots, becomes widespread, it could become a pioneer of the coming "robot era."
The title of the book, "Shock," combines these two aspects, and says, "I put the meaning of having a very large impact on our society and life."
But with new technology comes trouble. In April, an incident occurred in which a drone fell on the roof of the prime minister's official residence. Amid growing calls for regulation of drone flights, the Drone Regulation Law (Revised Aviation Law) was enacted in September and came into effect in December.
Regulatory laws include (1) prohibiting night flights and allowing them to fly during the day, (2) visually checking the surroundings, and (3) not flying at festivals and event venues where many people gather. In addition, a detailed rule has been published that prohibits flights above 150 meters.
About these regulations, Mr. Kobayashi says, "It's not a radical law, and it's reasonable compared to regulations in other countries." “Conversely, there has been a gray area up until now, so there are areas where it is difficult to measure how far it can be used for business and whether it is okay to fly drones.” It is said that there are some businesses who say, "It has become easier to do business" because a certain degree of "line drawing" has been made in a completely unexpected and unregulated state, and utilization within this framework has been permitted.
However, there are still many challenges surrounding drones. During the Kinugawa River flooding in Joso City, Ibaraki Prefecture in September, aerial footage of the damage done by a drone became a hot topic. Although the video was useful for grasping the damage situation, there is also a problem here.
``The drone was flying at a high altitude, so there is a possibility that it may have collided with the helicopters of the Self-Defense Forces and fire departments flying above. There is also a part of me wondering if it was something that could not be filmed, or if the footage from a helicopter would have been fine.”
There is also the issue of privacy. In the case of drones flying in the sky, it will be possible to take pictures that have never been thought possible before. For example, people who live in the upper floors of tower apartments do not live with the expectation that they will be photographed by a camera through their windows. Therefore, if such a situation occurs, I think that the residents will have a great sense of disgust. Such "unexpected situations" will arise one after another in the future, and discussions will be repeated.
“Right now, we are fumbling step by step to create operational rules, and rule-making has just begun,” says Mr. Kobayashi.
In the future, more and more drones will be used commercially, and the time may come when many drones fly in the sky. Mr. Kobayashi says that there is currently an active movement to create something like a "control system" dedicated to drones, in order to create a society where drones can be used freely.
For example, when a drone is delivering, it is a system that grasps the position of each drone and allocates flight routes, such as "Fly from here to here is OK" and "Take a different route at that time". In this way, the social system and rule system built around drones, which are also flying robots, can be applied as they are to the future "robot age." Mr. Kobayashi looks ahead to the future, saying, "In that case, how we can create an efficient robot-using system will have a much greater impact on our lives in the future."
Akihito Kobayashi Hitachi Consulting Management Consultant. Born in 1973. After working as a system engineer, obtained an MBA from Babson University. His publications include “Drone Business Impact” and “IoT Business Model Revolution”.