This week’s “Around the Commercial Drone Industry” news round-up looks at the impact of federal funding on commercial drone programs in North Dakota, MIT research into “self-localizing” drones, and a Kentucky study detailing the effectiveness of drones in healthcare delivery.

Federal Funding to Spur Commercial Drone Integration in North Dakota

“A freshly approved $11 million legislative appropriation to integrate North Dakota’s unmanned aerial system into Federal Aviation Administration airspace is expected to spur drone development for commercial applications even further in the state,” stated the North Dakota News Cooperative in a recent article. According to the piece, the funding will aid in the “integration of the Grand Forks-based Northern Plains UAS Test Site’s (NPUASTS) Vantis radar platform with the FAA’s Pathfinder radar program” and “allow secure data sharing between the two, making the state even more attractive to businesses operating drones beyond the visual line of sight, or BVLOS.” Moreover, the funding will expand the coverage range “from the current 3,000 square miles to 56,000 square miles.”

MIT Researchers Develop Self-Localizing Drones

Tech Briefs reports on new research out of MIT that could lead to more effective autonomous navigation in challenging environments. According to the report, “MIT researchers have introduced a new approach, MiFly, that enables a drone to self-localize, or determine its position, in indoor, dark, and low-visibility environments.” The system “uses radio frequency (RF) waves, reflected by a single tag placed in its environment, to autonomously self-localize.” In an interview with Tech Briefs, the researchers explain how their work incorporated “millimeter wave signals,” which are “used in 5G or self-driving cars.” By placing a millimeter wave signal on a drone, the researchers enabled the vehicle to “localize itself with respect to a sticker that we place on the wall, a millimeter wave tag.”  This, they said, “would allow us to provide a localization system in these challenging environments with minimal infrastructure. “

Kentucky Study Details the Effectiveness of Drones in Healthcare Delivery

A research paper based on a pilot project using drones to deliver essential health resources to residents in rural Kentucky “demonstrated the potential of using drone technology to overcome geographical barriers to improve health care access.” A report from the University of Kentucky College of Medicine explained how the paper, “Exploratory Pilot Study Engages Community Health Workers to Test Drone-Based Package Delivery System for Personal Protective Equipment in High-Risk Appalachia Population” explains how researchers “successfully used drones to deliver personal protective equipment (PPE) to high-risk clients in Eastern Kentucky. PPE, like face masks and gloves, were an important tool in stopping the spread of COVID-19 during the pandemic.” Funded by the UK Center for Appalachian Research in Environmental Science (UK-CARES), the pilot study involved the University of Kentucky’s Center of Excellence in Rural Health (CERH), the USA Drone Port, and Kentucky Homeplace.