Industry’s Help
The agency has enlisted assistance from BNSF and other companies to tackle the challenges in an airspace crowded with the most private planes in the world.
“The FAA itself can’t really move this forward on its own. It needs industry,” said Joanna Simon, an associate at Morrison & Foerster. The San Francisco-based law firm’s clients include Facebook Inc., which wants to use drones to provide internet service.
BNSF, owned by Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., is particularly suited for the task. The railroad operates 32,500 miles of track crisscrossing sparsely populated areas along a well-defined right of way, which eases planning. Communications towers that are part of a safety system for trains can be used to help guide drones.
Bad Track
The railroad also has a compelling business case. The Latitude HQ-40 drone that Graetz supervises has a six-foot wingspan and is equipped with cameras that when paired with special software can potentially detect track anomalies more quickly, possibly preventing derailments. The flights, from just outside of Playas, New Mexico, lay the groundwork for drone inspections of other fixed infrastructure, such as pipelines and power lines.
“The more we fly, the more imagery we collect, the more we run it through the analytics, the better things get,” Graetz said.
Another company, PrecisionHawk Inc., is working with partners to use satellite data to build three-dimensional maps so drones by themselves can avoid objects such as grain silos and tall trees, says Tyler Collins, the director of business development. PrecisionHawk has developed drones and software to monitor the health of crop fields.
“One of the most exciting things is that the FAA is fully invested in figuring out how to do this,” he said.
Extending Coverage