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From Blood Delivery to Security, Singapore Plans to Deploy a Lot of Drones

From Blood Delivery to Security, Singapore Plans to Deploy a Lot of Drones
A drone being used as part of an inter-agency effort to inspect construction sites in February 2016 © The Straits Times

Hi-tech Singapore is planning to roll out a swarm of drones for tasks that include delivering parcels, inspecting buildings and providing security, but safety and privacy concerns mean the initiative may hit turbulence.

Companies have already started testing the devices for commercial use, mainly in an area of over 200 hectares (500 acres) dotted with high-rise buildings and shopping malls, specially designated by the government for the trials.

A staff member of Singapore technology firm H3 Dynamics using a drone to inspect a building facade in Singapore. Image: Roslan Rahman/AFP
A staff member of Singapore technology firm H3 Dynamics using a drone to inspect a building facade in Singapore. Image: Roslan Rahman/AFP

 

t is part of the affluent city's drive to embrace technological innovation, as well as an effort to tackle a manpower shortage in a country of just 5.6 million, which relies on foreign migrant workers in many low-paying sectors.

Commercial use of unmanned aerial vehicles is already taking off around the world, in areas as diverse as crop-spraying and surveying for insurance claims, but Singapore's push represents a particularly ambitious bet on the technology.

Staff members of Singapore technology firm H3 Dynamics preparing to fly a drone to inspect a building facade in Singapore. Image: AFP
Staff members of Singapore technology firm H3 Dynamics preparing to fly a drone to inspect a building facade in Singapore. Image: AFP

 

Singapore's civil aviation authority has got behind the project, saying it recognises the potential for drones "to transform mobility and logistics", and is working with industry players as it seeks to shape regulations for the sector.

During recent tests, a drone buzzed through the air, snapping pictures of a tower block's facade, trials for a system that could see laborious human inspections of the city's ubiquitous high-rises replaced by automated checks.

A Singapore Technology Aerospace owned drone on a mobile landing and charging station during a demonstration in Singapore. Image: AFP
A Singapore Technology Aerospace owned drone on a mobile landing and charging station during a demonstration in Singapore. Image: AFP

"Today's existing building inspection process is extremely slow, expensive, tedious, prone to accidents, fatigue and human error," said Shawn Koo, chief technical officer of H3 Zoom, a unit of the firm H3 Dynamics, which is behind the tests.

Such inspections are typically carried out by workers from South or Southeast Asia, who hang precariously outside buildings on platforms suspended by ropes.

 

An engineer monitors a live video feed sent by a surveillance drone at a command centre in Singapore. Image: AFP
An engineer monitors a live video feed sent by a surveillance drone at a command centre in Singapore. Image: AFP

 

Robotic Guards

Drones are also being tested as robotic guards by local firm ST Aerospace.

At its command centre, screens show a simulated security breach in a fence. A black drone is deployed, which chases an intruder while transmitting live images that direct security officers towards him to make an arrest.

Tests have also been carried out for drone parcel delivery while a hospital operator plans to use the devices to transport blood samples and specimens between its hospitals and central laboratory.

 


Source : AFP

Indah Gilang Pusparani

Indah is a researcher at Badan Perencanaan Pembangunan Penelitian dan Pengembangan Daerah Kota Cirebon (Regional Development Planning and Research Agency of Cirebon Municipality). She covers More international relations, tourism, and startups in Southeast Asia region and beyond. Indah graduated from MSc Development Administration and Planning from University College London, United Kingdom in 2015. She finished bachelor degree from International Relations from University of Indonesia in 2014, with two exchange programs in Political Science at National University of Singapore and New Media in Journalism at Ball State University, USA. She was awarded Diplomacy Award at Harvard World Model United Nations and named as Indonesian Gifted Researcher by Australian National University. She is Researcher at Regional Planning Board in Cirebon, West Java. She previously worked as Editor in Bening Communication, the Commonwealth Parliament Association UK, and diplomacy consulting firm Best Delegate LLC in USA. Less
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