Drone Week
Drone Week
A part of the Danish drone strategy is to explore potential for international research collaboration. Last week a group of Danish drone researcher were in California to make this a reality. Innovation Centre Denmark aided them in organizing and planning visits to universities and companies in California.
When
The United States has a position as a frontrunner in the drone industry and has the largest share of global research in the drone area. The United States’ position as a frontrunner in the drone industry and research is also reflected by an increasing educational attention on drones. An increasing number of universities in the United States offer degrees in drone technology, have drone research labs, and increasingly prioritize resources on drone research. This makes U.S. an important partner for Danish researchers and companies. Therefore, it is no coincidence that a group of top researchers and leadership from Danish Universities made a visit to the U.S. last week to explore potential collaboration.
The weeklong visit from the Danish Technical University, The University of Southern Denmark and Aalborg University consisted of plenty of road time while visiting four different UC Campuses in California; San Diego, Merced, Davis and Santa Cruz. During the visits the universities had a chance to present their research and the current status of Danish drone research, and learn what their Californian counterparts are currently working on. This led to finding a surprisingly large overlap in research interests, which has opened doors for future collaborations on research, Ph.D.-exchange and summer schools.
Another finding during the week was a wider appreciation for the interdisciplinary application of drones on different fields of research, such as the use of drones in mapping of pest infestations in agriculture, which can potentially give a higher yield to crops and reduce the amount of pesticides used. This is a mutual point of interest for both Denmark and California, who are both agriculture heavy.
Desktop research can only give you so much knowledge. Field research where you meet people in person and see things with your own eyes provide an invaluable learning experience.
Per Knudsen, Head of Geodesy
DTU Space
Sceptics might question the value of travelling the distance between Denmark and California for a five-day visit, but Professor Per Knudsen from DTU Space definitely sees the value of getting out in the field even though the field is more than 5,000 miles away. “Desktop research can only give you so much knowledge. Field research where you meet people in person and see things with your own eyes provide an invaluable learning experience,” he says about his visit to California.
Associate professor Anders la Cour-Harbo, Director of Drone Research lab at Aalborg University also highlights the benefits of the visit.
“It is a tour de force of the Californian drone research community, and we get to meet the right people in a short amount of time,” he explains.
The week ended with a visit to two Bay Area drone companies, Zipline International and Elroy Air. Zipline International uses autonomous drones to deliver medical supplies in areas with poor infrastructure. During tour of Zipline’s facilities, a number of overlapping areas of interest were uncovered, and lively discussions about the challenges and the high safety requirements for the use of drones, autonomous and otherwise, in urban areas and in high-traffic airspace took place. Director Brad Beach of SDU UAS Center described the visit to Zipline as a unique insight into how companies tackle complex challenges related to engineering, autonomy, robotics and legislation and how a startup company manages to solve them. These insights may be able to aid the University of Southern Denmark in the Health Drones Project, which faces challenges similar to Zipline.
