Page 23 - Aruba Today

TECHNOLOGY A23
Friday 1 April 2016

Traffic backed up? Bridge out? More states deploying drones

STEVE LeBLANC In this Jan. 15, 2015, file photo, Michigan State Police Sgt. Matt Rogers and Trooper Don Zinz bring the Aeryon SkyRanger in for a
Associated Press landing during a demonstration of the new Unmanned Aircraft System at the State Police training track in Dimondale, Mich.
BOSTON (AP) — That buzz-
ing sound overhead may Associated Press
soon signal the arrival of
the 21st-century version fic and using heavy equip- much fill it will take to repair ried about drones operat- All drone testing must be
of a guy in a hardhat and ment,” Cook said in a state- a damaged roadway by ing too close to airports or approved by the FAA.
bucket truck. ment. “(Drones) can get in feeding images collected in flight paths, fueling fears According to the AASHTO
State transportation de- and get out quickly.” from above the site through of a midair collision. survey, several states have
partments are increasingly Michigan officials estimate a computer program. A report released last year said the application pro-
studying the use of drones that a standard bridge Drones aren’t welcome ev- counted at least 241 re- cess to research drones
for everything from inspect- deck inspection takes eight erywhere. ports of close encoun- can take months.
ing bridges to clearing car hours, a crew of four peo- The Massachusetts group ters between drones and The FAA has already been
accidents. ple and heavy equipment includes representatives manned aircraft, including looking ahead to a time
Michigan transportation at a cost of about $4,600. from the Massachusetts 28 in which pilots had to when drones are routinely
officials are set to begin a The same inspection with Department of Transporta- veer out of the way. employed for bridge in-
two-year study. Minnesota a drone takes two people tion Aeronautics Division, Massachusetts officials say spections and other uses.
has tested a drone to help just two hours at an esti- as well as the attorney that while they’re exploring Last year, the agency pro-
conduct safety inspections mated cost of about $250. general’s office and the how to develop workplace posed rules to let small
of bridges. At the University of Ver- state highway division — applications for drones, commercial unmanned
Vermont is using federal mont, researchers using an acknowledgement that they also need to work with aircraft — under 55 pounds
grant dollars to study the federal grant money are drones and airplanes don’t the Federal Aviation Ad- — perform tasks like aerial
use of drones to monitor developing programs to always mix. ministration to resolve stat- photography and cell tow-
river flooding and figure let drones estimate how Pilots are increasingly wor- utory and regulatory issues. er inspections.
out how much material is
needed to fix roads. FCC program to help poor get online will start in December
And in Massachusetts, a
group has also been look- TALI ARBEL cellphone Internet or home ments like making an inde- $2.25 billion budget, but
ing at the pros and cons AP Technology Writer Internet. pendent party check that that amount could be
of drone use, from poten- NEW YORK (AP) — Low- It’s the latest federal gov- people are eligible rather raised.
tial threats to their possible income Americans are ex- ernment attempt to close than having phone or Inter- There was a fair amount of
use surveying construction pected to be able to apply a “digital divide” between net providers do it. drama accompanying the
projects. for help from the federal those who have access to Providers get payments FCC meeting, which was
The states are among 33 government in paying for the Internet and those who for signing up customers, delayed for several hours.
that have studied or used Internet access in Decem- don’t, as the ability to go and then pass along dis- The two Republican com-
drones, helped develop ber. online becomes seen as counted or free service. missioners had wanted a
drone polices, or aided in The Federal Communica- an increasingly important There had been problems lower, $2 billion cap on
drone research. tions Commissioners voted, part of modern life, key for with some providers sign- spending, among other
That’s according to a new 3-2 along party lines, Thurs- looking for jobs and going ing up ineligible customers. changes, and said that an
survey by the American day to expand the $1.5 to school. Having someone else verify agreement with Democrat-
Association of State High- billion Lifeline program, a FCC Chairman Tom Wheel- that people are ineligible ic Commissioner Mignon
way and Transportation $9.25-a-month subsidy, to er said the agency is ad- could help remove the in- Clyburn went out the win-
Officials, which represents Internet as well as phone dressing abuse and fraud centive for them to do that. dow at the last minute after
departments of transporta- service. It can be used with problems with improve- The program will have a pressure from Wheeler.
tion in all 50 states, Wash-
ington, D.C., and Puerto
Rico.
The Michigan study is part
of a longer review.
In 2014, state transporta-
tion officials there con-
ducted a study with the
Michigan Tech Research
Institute that found drones
potentially useful for a
range of transportation
tasks, from assessing bridge
decks and monitoring traf-
fic to processing thermal
data and inspecting con-
fined spaces.
The first study determined
that drones are safe, reli-
able, less expensive and
help keep workers out of
harm’s way, said Steven
Cook, a Michigan Depart-
ment of Transportation en-
gineer.
“A traditional bridge in-
spection for example typi-
cally involves setting up
work zones, detouring traf-