TEDGlobal explores peaceful role for unmanned aircraft
LONDON: Instead of being harbingers of death, drones should become a vital technological tool in the conservation fight and in delivering vital goods to remote areas, the TEDGlobal conference in Edinburgh heard Wednesday. Biologist and science-fiction fan Lian Pin Koh told the conference about his fleet of environmental drones which have been used to monitor the orangutan population in the remote Indonesian forest of northern Sumatra.
The aircraft have a 2-meter wingspan, weigh less than 2 kilograms and cost just $4,000.
Equipped with a mini-computer, a GPS, a compass and an altimeter, they can be easily programmed using Google Maps and are able to fly autonomously for between 40 and 60 minutes, traveling up to 50 kilometers.
Their high-resolution cameras can “establish a map of the forest,” generate three-dimensional images of the site and “monitor illegal activities harmful to nature,” explained the speaker Wednesday.
Since January, 200 vehicles have been built and are being used by environmental protection groups in such countries as Switzerland, Indonesia, Madagascar, Congo, the United States and Greenland.
“We believe that the drones have a huge potential not only to fight crimes against nature but also for studying biodiversity and animal life,” said Lian Pin.
TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is a global set of conferences that presents speakers with an 18-minute window to promote their “ideas worth spreading.”
Greek businessman, Raptopoulos Andreas, now settled in California’s Silicon Valley, saw another role for drones in delivering essential goods such as drugs and vaccines to otherwise inaccessible areas.
He hopes a network of drones will help the “1 billion people” who are completely cut off for part of the year due to impassable roads.
Andreas conducted a test mission into a Haitian refugee camp in 2012.
But Andreas also envisages drones having “a significant impact” in bottle-necked “megacities,” saying they could deliver packages across town for as little as 24 U.S. cents.
But drones today are seen almost exclusively as a weapon of war, a theme explored by science fiction author Daniel Suarez.
“I’m not here to talk about fiction but real robot-killers,” he said, citing robot-snipers located on the border of the two Koreas which are able to “automatically identify a human target and shoot him from over a mile away.
“Currently, there are still men in the loop but they are not required technically, it is a choice,” he explained, adding that 70 nations were currently on the path to developing similar weapons.
He called for the establishment of an international treaty and a “ban the manufacture of robots-killers.”
Previous TED speakers include U2 singer Bono, Microsoft mastermind Bill Gates and former U.S. President Bill Clinton.
TEDGlobal is an internationally oriented sister conference, which was added in 2005.
The nonprofit outfit announced Wednesday it would move its annual TEDGlobal Conference to Rio de Janeiro in 2014, moving from its current home in Scotland.
Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Technology/International/2013/Jun-14/220288-tedglobal-explores-peaceful-role-for-unmanned-aircraft.ashx#ixzz2WSEzwPTO
(The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb)
