Mounted camera system could prevent drone collision disasters

An intelligent camera system which can spot a Cessna-sized object at 8km could prevent potentially devastating collisions between drones and planes, researchers have said.

The National Research Council of Canada (NRC) has set out to prevent the risk of crashes with manned aircraft as commercial drones become more popular.

In Toronto, two airliner cabin crew members were injured in November 2016 when the plane swerved to avoid a suspected drone near Billy Bishop airport. In the UK, large planes including a Boeing 777 and Airbus 320 have narrowly avoided hitting unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and pilots say a collision could be disastrous.

The NRC said its new Passive Intelligent Collision Avoidance Sensor (Picas) system fills a “crucial technology and safety gap”. The UAV-mounted system uses cameras with a wide field of view to “see” oncoming objects at long range.

Picas software then examines the images to determine if an object is another aircraft on a collision course. The system is unique because its long range means crashes can be avoided even if a plane is heading straight for the UAV, the researchers said.

If Picas is developed into something “inexpensive but effective” for commercial drones it could be a useful tool for preventing collisions, said Steve Landells, flight safety specialist at the British Airline Pilots Association.

“What we are really concerned about is the impact of a drone collision on a helicopter,” he said. “We’re pretty sure that if a drone hit any rotor blade or tail rotor on a helicopter, that helicopter is probably going to crash. So if this system… could move out of the way of something like a helicopter, which is obviously slower moving, then we would welcome any system that could help with that.”

Manufacturers must take more action to prevent crashes from happening, he said. Other preventative measures could include geofencing, where virtual boundaries could shut down devices, or automated alerts to the authorities when drones stray into restricted areas.

Any collision could lead to tragedy and effectively kill the burgeoning drone industry, he added.

The NRC is currently verifying the Picas system’s accuracy with in-flight tests. The research council hopes it will be the first commercially viable “sense and avoid” system by 2018.

This piece appears in the July/ August print issue of Professional Engineering.