Hitting New Heights
Spring 2018
The sky's the limit for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles.
You've seen them hovering and
zipping through the air like
mechanical hummingbirds. NASA
is planning to use them for
atmospheric research; the military
relies on them to locate and attack
targets. And just about any hobbyist
can grab one for $50 or so at Target
or Brookstone.
Welcome to the age of drones, or
rather Unmanned Aerial Vehicles.
Developed and used mainly to
deliver high-resolution images from
impossible heights and angles,
they're now poised to revolutionize
a number of industries.
“The market for UAVs is very hot
right now,” said Barbara Grant,
instructor for the Division of
Continuing Education's Optical
Engineering certificate program.
“Amazon is a major player in this
area, and drones are becoming
more and more common for
consumer as well as commercial
purposes.” According to market
researchers, the worldwide market
is somewhere between $2 billion
and $21 billion.
Drone technology is a game-changer,
opening up a burgeoning
market that will grow exponentially
in coming years, Grant believes.
Consider that Amazon is developing
drone fleets that can deliver
packages to your door within 30
minutes. And Uber is looking to test
a line of UAV air taxis in L.A. by 2020,
a potential revolution
in urban travel.
For now, the most common uses
for drones are aerial photography
and videography, using increasingly
miniaturized and sophisticated
cameras. They're nearly ubiquitous
in infrastructure and construction site
inspection. And drones have
been used to track wildfires in
remote areas.
“Significant applications include
surveying and mapping,” Grant
said. “They're also being used to
check for damage to pipelines
and electrical lines.”
What might the future hold? Grant
expects prices to decrease while
quality and functionality increase,
creating significant demand,
“as with any game-changing
technology.”
“I am looking forward to this,
because I believe that as the
quality improves, particularly on
the camera end, the accuracy
levels in some applications will also
improve,” said Grant, who teaches Introduction to Radiometry and has
authored a number of books on the
subject, including “Getting Started
with UAV Imaging Systems: A
Radiometric Guide.”
But there's more to come — a lot
more if you believe some of tech
world's most innovative minds. By
most accounts, the UAV future is
coming fast.
Taking flight
Amazon Prime Air's drones have
been well-publicized, and they're
already taking flight in limited
numbers. Prime Air carried out its first
public demonstration in the U.S. in
March, and successful trials have
been conducted in Europe and
Australia.
Now Uber is laying groundwork for
compact UAV air taxis, a perfect
solution for crowded city traffic.
Uber Elevate is testing drones that
could provide short, quick trips
across town without an onboard
pilot. Imagine getting from Long
Beach to LAX in 20 minutes instead
of battling gridlock for over an hour.
UAV taxis offer a number of
potential benefits: They take off
vertically like helicopters but they're
much smaller, all-electric, quiet and
exceedingly green. Uber plans
trial runs in L.A. by 2020, with fully
operational rooftop “droneports”
ready to go by the time the
Olympics come in 2028.
Sounds like a pipe dream, but
Uber is moving full speed ahead.
The company has partnered with a
number of companies including Bell
Helicopter. Dallas and Dubai are
already committed to opening the
skies to Uber Elevate, according to
Uber chief product officer Jeff
Holden.
“[It's] the pinnacle of urban
mobility,” Holden said. “The reduction of congestion and
pollution from transportation, giving
people their time back, freeing up
real estate dedicated to parking
and providing access to mobility
in all corners of a city.”
As with Prime Air, there are hurdles
to overcome, not the least is FAA
clearance, but steps are being
taken to provide proper regulation.
“Another indication of how hot the
UAV market is,” Grant said, “there's
an FAA advisory committee chaired
by the CEO of Intel Corp. to advise
on integration of commercial UAVs
within the national airspace.”
This is clearly a growth segment that
holds promise for anyone seeking a
career in the UAV market. And the
DCE Optical Engineering certificate
program can be an excellent entry
point.
A closer look
The concepts behind radiometry
form an essential basis for optical
technology that's crucial to many
drone applications today. The U.S.
military, for example, makes
extensive use of radiometry
in its UAV applications.
Simply put, radiometry
involves techniques and
technology that
measure electromagnetic radiation
that includes visible light, but also
infrared waves that can't be seen
by the human eye. That's a key
component of many UAV systems,
allowing for camera systems that
deliver sophisticated imaging,
Grant said.
“Lots of cameras can yield pretty
pictures,” said Grant. “That's not the
same as providing cameras that
can yield quantitative, calibrated
radiometric information about a
ground target.”
Law enforcement can use drones
with thermal-imaging cameras to
hunt down suspects, and NASA is
working on drones that can monitor
the ozone layer. This technology is
also a powerful tool in precision
agriculture, one of the fastest growing
applications for UAVs,
Grant said.
“When crop growers need to assess
plant health, water stress effects
can be detected in near-infrared
images before they may be seen
by the eye.”
Get schooled
Introduction to Radiometry: The
Propagation and Measurement of
Optical Radiant Energy provides
a strong background in the subject.
“My radiometry course relates to
the UAV marketplace, in general,
because our final project is a
practical problem that UAV imaging
systems address,” said Grant, owner
of Grant Drone Solutions and
recipient of two NASA awards for
her work on weather satellite
imagery. “My goal is to drive toward
a top-level radiometric system
design.”
The program offers a deep dive
into optical engineering, teaching
innovative approaches to camera system
design. Skilled optical
engineers are essential for
developing smaller, lighter, more
powerful cameras and lenses for
advanced UAV systems.
“Some of the established camera
companies, those with long track
records, have cameras designed
and marketed specifically for
drones,” Grant said. “Because size,
weight, and power consumption
are critical issues for UAV cameras,
knowledge of how to design high
performing, small systems can be
very helpful.”
Perhaps the most important part of
learning radiometrics is knowing the
language, Grant said. And the first
two weeks of her course focus on
terminology, which lays
the foundation for the rest of
the curriculum.
“I can't stress enough the
importance of getting terminology
right,” she said. “During my first job
as junior engineer I was placed
on a project with several PhDs in
engineering and physics. They had
no knowledge of key radiometric
terminology, and they struggled.
So I make sure participants in my
course learn what these PhDs
didn't know, early on.”
Learn more about the
Optics Programs.