# What's Trending in the World of Drone Autonomy

- Event: NestGen ’22
- Published: March 4, 2022
- Length: 42:18
- Watch: https://nestgen.org/library/watch/lEH-bAZyChw/

> The transcript of a recorded NestGen session, for reading or for use with an AI tool. It comes from the video's
> captions; automatic captions can mishear names and terms.

## About this session

Find out the latest developments in the technology, market segments, policies, and adoption of commercial drone autonomy.

## Transcript

**[0:12]** hello and welcome to one of the most awaited sessions of nesgen 22 I hope you're having a great and even full day so far to take NestGen up a notch and to set a clear definition of what drone autonomy is how is it different from automation and what's trending in this space we're very excited to welcome grant grant is the founder and president of grant gilliam llc and unlimited aircraft systems regulatory and bd consultancy services firm he advises drone manufacturers and companies that provide ua service as well as companies operating in industries using drones he represents clients before government agencies and assists commercial drone users with the concurrent navigation of federal state and local uas regulations he has been featured in fox business and fox news to discuss the opportunities and challenges arising from drone use well that's not it grant is also the host of

**[1:13]** drones in america a weekly podcast produced by market scale another tiny thing that needs special mention for which grant has a fan in me is that he's one of the biggest proponents of women in drones and he has several talks highlighting the same go check them out later when you find time over to you grant thank you so much and congratulations to the whole flight based team on putting together this event it's just been so well marketed and I really think it's been well received by the industry so I'm thank you to the team of flight based again my name is craig giat and I run my own regulatory and business consulting I'm in aircraft system company and I've been in the space now for about four or five years and it's going on five years and there's been a lot of exciting developments um since I first entered the industry but really we are starting to see that shift towards a fourth and fifth level drone autonomy and I'm really excited to talk about that okay so when we talk about what's trending in the world of drone autonomy um

**[2:15]** there's some important definitions that we certainly need to talk through uh next slide please um what what I want to make sure the participants walk away from this presentation with is an understanding of the difference between drone automation and drone autonomy as those are two quite different things and I'm going to talk a little bit about each automation we're seeing plenty of that right now and it's not that hard to come by when we talk about drone ottoman uh automation we're talking about nearly focused on specific tax um based on well-defined criteria restricted to certain tasks it can perform so think of a situation where a drone operator defines the parameters of the flight and they're able to send the drone on its way and the drone is able to execute that predestined path or rather I should say that pre-programmed path that is a drone automation activity because at all times the pilot still maintains responsibility in control of the drone it requires

**[3:18]** human intervention just like in the case of um a car a automobile think about autopilot or cruise control it's very similar cruise control is actually a really good example when we're on the interstate and we're driving our cars we set it to a certain speed and unless we tell it to speed up or slow down it's going to stay on that speed um we also as I mentioned there's pre-programmed flight paths and they use the traditional automation tools like beacons waypoints and geo-fencing and I think this is really starting to become standard in drone operations to have these mechanisms in place I know in the united states of america uh just this past year 2021 we um legally authorized flights during night time without a waiver there are certain sensors and nights and um parameters you have to have in place but the point being that because the drone itself has those measures in place the regulating body trusts the operator to operate during a more quote unquote risky time nighttime so I

**[4:20]** think that's a trend we're seeing across the board with drones the more you're able to put on the drone on the front end the more likely you are to perform an advanced operation so again the drone flying automatically using an array of sensors timers motors and other electrical components and we see plenty of that going on today next slide please now with drone autonomy we're talking about something entirely different altogether this is truly machine learning um ai this is the machine the drone itself thinking for itself with um limited to no human involvement and it basically is going to be a situation where the drone acts as a human and is able to compensate if it encounters a situation that provides a dangerous um obstacle or if it finds itself in a situation where otherwise can no longer ensure safe flight in the airspace it can learn and adjust dynamic environments and evolve as the environment around it

**[5:22]** changes when we're talking about detect and avoid technology and the ability of drones to really um begin to think for themselves with limited to no human involvement that's where this comes into play again it uses the artificial intelligence systems gathers data from the sensor satellites cameras and videos and it uses that data to make decisions it doesn't have a human itself plugging in the decisions and then the drone on its own is able to follow those decisions the drone itself is taking this data and figuring it out for itself and again it's not confined to an algorithm it can go out on its own which I probably don't need to tell you as um interesting as this technology sounds and it truly is and it's the direction we're heading in you can imagine that there are concerns about what happens when machines take over we're going to talk a little about about that in a minute next slide please and here's where we're going to talk about it so public perception and the role that public perception plays in how drones and drone autonomy is accepted into an environment

**[6:29]** cannot be overstated it is next to the regulatory environment I would say as important as the regulatory environment because public perception shapes regulations and the regulations shape the rate at which the autonomy evolves right now in many countries drone autonomy on its face is not permitted because the regulations across the world typically require the involvement of the pilot in some form so that's a regulatory hurdle but it's put into place because in large part because of the public perception hurdle if the public were to become more trusting of drones they would trust the drones more to perform operations with limited to no human involvement that in turn would shape the regulatory environment so what are the factors that weigh in favor of positive public perception and how that influences the rate it with strong autonomy uh develops versatility of uses if you've been to a drone demonstration or simply if you've read up on use cases and what drones are used for it's amazing there seems to

**[7:31]** be no shortage as to what these devices can do um you know from agricultural spring operations to drone deliveries um the traditional photography videography data collection it really is amazing to see all the things drones can do they're not perfect for every situation but they are great assets in many situations in many end user industries ease of access drones can get into places that helicopters and traditional aircraft cannot and that makes them valuable and popular because when we are looking at search and rescue missions for example or forest fires having or transmission line uh inspections having an aircraft that has a greater ease of access can make a huge difference cost savings with kova 19 especially we saw a lot of end user industries really adopt and embrace this technology because it saved them money at a time when the economy was

**[8:33]** hurting worldwide and so that trend continues as we see end user industries really seeking to achieve economies of scale by utilizing this technology risk reduction it's you know safe to say you can send a drone up to inspect something and if that drone falls and is damaged all in all not a big deal as long as it doesn't land on someone or hurt someone not a big deal drones can be replaced human beings cannot and if a human falls from an inspection site that's a far greater danger so you are looking at significant reductions in liability and cost next slide please now negative what are the negative factors that perhaps are slowing this down slowing down the rate at which the regulatory environment involves and drone autonomy is accepted so let's talk about privacy concerns there is a significant

**[9:34]** concern among the public when it comes to drones due to their and this goes to the next point perceive stealth how small they are and how versatile they are um we those of us in the industry have been working very hard to improve this issue but it takes time and um so we are continuing to work to spread that positive message again perceived stealth fear of impact um especially when we first rolled drones out there was always concerns that they would land on someone and then noise issues they're not pleasant to listen to especially indoors if you ever hear a drone indoors it's pretty uh it doesn't sound too great so um obviously companies are working on noise standards and working with the appropriate regulatory bodies to resolve this but that's just something else to keep in place so these factors kind of help um they hurt the process and how drone autonomy evolves next slide please now let's talk about sources of negative impressions because this goes a long way news media um worldwide it's no big secret that news outlets worldwide since the

**[10:39]** dawn of time tend to not focus on positive and often focus on negative and um certainly with drones we are no exception it is far more likely to come across a negative drone story in the news media than it is a positive um cinema is even worse I don't know that I've seen a positive drone use in a movie yet um but we have seen ample examples of movies where the villain at the end of the movie comes out and he's surrounded by drones and that obviously does nothing positive for our industry so I really would like to see a movie that focuses at least in part on the positive aspects of drone use and how that can improve um humanity and all the great use cases there are for drones and finally real estate landowner groups um they're especially in the united states of america there can be uh conflicts between landowners who increasingly expect to have aerial trespass rights not just land rights in the united states the saying is the FAA

**[11:43]** regulates everything from the top of the blade of grass up we have certain um real estate groups and landowner groups that want more more ownership over the airspace so that is an increasing trend that can hurt when it comes to how drone autonomy is adopted next slide please so let's talk about the positive impressions government bodies can go a long way in shaping the narrative and as we found in the united states working with the federal government the state government and local governments all together it maximizes your chance for portraying a positive narrative when it comes to drone use because you are getting that regulatory buy-in private industry of course it's our role to continue to show government stakeholders and the um and others out there the public why drones are safe and why they should be implemented law enforcement is a huge source of positive

**[12:43]** impressions some of the greatest use cases for drones are search and rescue forest fires hurricane relief and similar use cases and so that will continue to hopefully expand and accelerate drone autonomy and then educational institutions it's it cannot be overstated how important it is that we educate our children while they are young as to this technology and why it will create job opportunities and economic opportunities that will be available for years to come because this technology is not going anywhere it's only growing next slide please so let's talk about the levels of drone autonomy that's all that's why we're here today so what exactly are we talking about well we mentioned the difference between automation and autonomy but here is a synopsis that drone industry insights put together that I really like there are several similar ones out there and they're all pretty similar in that they start at a low level that pretty much involves only a pilot very little drone if that makes sense all the way up to only drone no pilot so

**[13:48]** let's start with that let's start with level zero where there's no automation at all not even automation 100 manually operated no obstacle avoidance this is when you're thinking of drone racing your model aircraft your earliest drone uses that's where you're going to see a lot of this hands-off no automation just complete complete reliance on the pilot itself and again as I mentioned worldwide regulatory platforms continue to require the presence of a an operator a human operator in some capacity so that's your level zero basic ground level if you were to go out and just start wanting to fly a drone yourself now let's talk about level one this is with low automation but there are some aspects of the drone that are automated the pilot does remain in control as he or she has to but the trunk the drone does control at least one vital function and it does have sense and alert obstacle avoidance capabilities so like

**[14:51]** when we're talking about inspections and this can be transmission line inspections pipeline inspections um or even a more simple example a roof inspection in the insurance industry we often see drones used for roof inspections photography and filming of course many movies today are made utilizing drones and um that certainly is going to continue we're also seeing an increasing trend in wedding videography and photography utilizing drones so this is where your level one automation comes in on some security use cases and monitoring as well so if we step it up a notch and we go to level two we're looking at partial auto mailing automation this is where the pilot is responsible for safety as is required but the drone can sometimes take over the head the heading the altitude sense alert obstacles avoidance are still there so I would say this category is where we see most of how drones are being utilized for

**[15:54]** commercial purposes worldwide this is where you're talking about your mapping you're surveying and you're spraying in your own seating and uh you're measuring as well so agricultural uses as well as advanced inspection uses um the more you are able to rely on the more the pilot is able to show that the drone can compensate in the event of an obstacle or more importantly at that point as we're still talking level two that the pilot himself or herself can compensate then many operations are allowed given this level of autonomy but that's only level two and the goal is to get to the highest level so next slide please so now let's talk about level three this is conditional automation the pilot in this situation acts more as a fallback system therefore is often understood that the drone is going to be leading the operation

**[16:54]** with the pilot there to take over just in case most regulatory paradigms allow for this because you still have a pilot in charge who is able to adjust in the event of a safety risk the drone performs all functions given certain conditions and then you have the same sense and avoid capabilities this is more advanced mapping surveying but here's where we get into the first glimpses of delivery in protection security delivery is interesting because I want to talk a little bit for a second about delivery because I see that as the future of this industry well one aspect of the future of the industry but especially when we're talking about autonomy there is no greater use case that is going to bear heavily on how quickly drone autonomy is adopted than drone deliveries drone delivery started out as um and they still are considered kind of the holy grail of the drone industry the idea that you can take a good a vaccine a medical a medicine

**[17:55]** groceries pizza food clothing that you can take it from point a and bring it to point b um vastly reducing the traffic issues pollution issues timing issues um and in many cases safety issues this is a very uh promising use case and one that I personally have been heavily involved in the past two and a half years in my practice and it's important that I want to talk about this a little bit more because it ties so heavily into autonomy and what I said earlier about public perception and how that shapes regulatory environments which in turn shapes the rate at which drone autonomy evolves prior to covid drone deliveries were still considered somewhat taboo somewhat off off topic um yeah we'll get there one day but it's basically the same as drone transportation you know they say people aren't getting riding in a droning time stand from point a to point b we're not going to be carrying goods from point a to point b there were

**[18:56]** exceptions to this in experimental use cases and in america we had government programs in conjunction with the FAA that specifically uh fought to shape and innovate drone deliveries but it wasn't until cove it happened that anyone I would argue um certainly not a majority of the people would understand just how accepted drone deliveries would be ultimately be worldwide and you know one of my and I want to take this moment just real quick to talk about a personal story um one of the companies I worked with drone up they started testing out cobit 19 test kit deliveries and I remember when we first approached the FAA about it it was almost controversial the notion that you were going to be exposing individuals to drones at a rate in which they never had before because once you start implementing deliveries you involve significantly higher portions of the population and um drone up in conjunction with walmart began testing out deliveries of kovid 19

**[20:00]** test kits and I was there in various cities in which it happened and to see the look on elderly populations um remember with covid the key here was many many groups were um were apprehensive and fearful and wanted to socially distance but they were especially vulnerable populations that were in highly highly encouraged to stay at home and to not venture into pharmacies and into hospitals and convenience stores unless absolutely necessary these coveted 19 test kit deliveries allow these vulnerable populations to obtain tests without having to subject themselves to that risk and I was on I was on hand to see how these elderly and vulnerable populations received it and I saw firsthand that the story how I thought this was going to go is not how it's going these populations were incredibly grateful that drones were able to do this and more

**[21:01]** importantly the law enforcement the local government entities in the area and the public in general even those who weren't necessarily receiving a kobe 19 test kit thought it was so cool so edgy and um there was very very little fear and I will say this about drone up they were on hand to answer any questions that the public or law enforcement had about drones what is a drone here's what it is here's what the safety risks are here's how we're going to protect you and so um I went on that aside just to say that drone deliveries really kind of started taking this industry in a different direction I still believe they are and um we've since then that was 2019 20 2020 2020 is when we really started seeing a lot more coveted related drone deliveries well now we're starting to see more drone deliveries in general not just for things such as cova 19 vaccines but also uh inhalers I had one client

**[22:01]** who in florida the parents both had coveted and couldn't go to the store to get their son an inhaler he was having an asthma attack a drone was able to pick it up from a walgreens and bring it straight to the sun um these kinds of stories are so crucial in shaping drone autonomy and how drone autonomy is going to open up for the industry so um with that being said drone delivery is really where this story gets interesting but that's level three when we talk about level four this is very high automation the pilot's pretty much out of the loop um but he's still there he has to be legally again in most regulatory systems and then you know there are backup systems if one of the systems on the drone fails um and the drone will remain operational and sense and navigate capabilities and this is more advanced photography and filming so finally we get to level five which is the dream level of automation and with level five we're talking

**[23:01]** about full automation here the drones will use as artificial intelligence tools to plan flights as autonomous learning systems and their ascent and navigate capabilities this is where we're talking urban air mobility and large cargo deliveries this is when we're truly talking about going into that television show many of us know called the jetsons where you would look outside and everyone was either riding in an aircraft or using a drone or some kind of aircraft for everything level five is what would take us there and what would get us there so um level five we're not there yet but that's the holy grail and that's what we're aiming for and striving for next slide please so let's talk about trends now trends and drone autonomy and where are we going let's start with 2013 why 2013 that's when it really we began to see more um drone automation android autonomy come into play and with 2013 australia's kind of

**[24:04]** where it originated with drone racing and um that's where first person view cameras really kind of came into focus and that kind of was the first hint of where we were going to head with drone autonomy although that was level zero it was very promising to see where the technology was headed um now with level one that became widely available as of 2015 and I would say and this is interesting in 2015 at the beginning only 12 united states companies were licensed to use drones for commercial purposes imagine that only 12. just seven months later it grew to 900 it had grown to 900 over half a year and that's farmers railroad operators security services medical facilities we it became very clear that commercial drone operations not only were going to become a very prevalent component of this global industry but

**[25:05]** also that commercial operations were going to be key to paving the way for drone autonomy now level two which became widely available as 2016. this is where we saw companies like dronesy develop drone for reforestation you have certain areas where that were suffering from deforestation the drone itself was capable of replanting seeds and repopulating those areas um DJI also released its um one of its mg series and what was great about these drones is they still to this day DJI drones in the field in the realm of agriculture are still reliably reliably reliably used by operators across the country and with good reason in terms of the cost advantages the drones have they truly are so um it's amazing with what DJI drones can do and with when we are talking about um agriculture for example their aggregate strong it uh that's a perfect example

**[26:09]** I've seen many companies that are increasingly using drones and agriculture and they're turning to dgi's products so 2016 kind of we first saw the capability with crop protection but those drones had both automatic and manual operations and that's why this is key to drone autonomy you began to see a wide a widely respected and utilized drone company like DJI implementing these automatic operations to go hand in hand with the manual operations next slide please so level three widely available as of 2018. now here's something very significant happened in between uh 2016 and 2018 and I believe this could also be part of the reason why we saw level 3 um take such a boost in 2018 and 2017 is when the um united states overhauled a strong regulations thus widely making drone operations feasible um we call it part 107 in the united states there

**[27:15]** are ancillaries all across the world and when you have a regulatory framework that on its face permits and allows commercial drone operations that's going to accelerate the rate at which strong autonomy develops and with part 107 in the united states that certainly opened the door and that's why we began to see more level three operations skadio which quickly has become a major force in the industry a very well respected brand an american american-made drone um skydio launched his r1 model it's widely considered to be a breakthrough in autonomous drones for consumers um we this was a point in 2018 when we started seeing um others utilize other drones besides DJI again um DJI is still the leader in the market and they're widely used and widely respected now we see other companies coming in to compete and that in itself shows that this industry is growing and it's definitely exciting times ahead um

**[28:19]** intel deploys percepto sparrow percepto is based out of israel they're another great company and they had a the first autonomous drone in a box system for inspection and maintenance they utilized it as an italian powerpoint uh plant facility drone in the box systems have also become increasingly popular and it was around this time I would say when that happened and when you're talking about about utilizing drone in a box systems and these types of advanced operations you are talking more about level three so then let's talk about level four which really in 2020 is when we started getting there and um I want to give props out to iris automation because in 2019 that's when they rolled out their acacia system and it was the first commercially available detect and avoid system and it really has been adopted and um in beef loss operations worldwide and they're doing a great job with that um in 2021 you also had xn technologies drones they achieved the highest documented level of

**[29:20]** aerial autonomy meaning that they were willing to put pen on the paper and say we can provide you a level four operation I thought a drone in 2020 was willing to do that or I'm sorry 2021 was willing to do that shows how far this industry has come and then finally in 2021 an american company american robotics became the first drone system manufacturer to receive FAA approval to operate an autonomous drone system without human oversight obviously there are strict parameters on this but this was amazing news for the industry and american robotics really has helped pave the way for what truly autonomous operations are going to look like so those are some developments that we have seen in recent years that really speak to this trend and drone autonomy and how um how we are moving from level zero to ultimately level five next a slide please all right finally what can we do as an industry those of us in this presentation or

**[30:22]** those of us who are interested in drones how can we get to level five because that's the ultimate goal right we want to ride in drones ourselves we want drones to be able to carry the heaviest of items across populated areas and urban environments when the time is right and safety can be insured how do we do that well we have our homework cut out for us but we can do it um transparency can not be overstated always always when you are performing drone autonomy testing have a public house a open house a public event have the public out there invite your state and local regulators and your um your federal regulators as well invite the public let them touch the drone or touch the detect and avoid device whatever it is let them touch it let them ask questions tell them how you can ensure that this device will be operated safely and that it will play its role in keeping the airspace safe while progressing the technology and assisting humanity

**[31:22]** with drone operations public outreach the more we can educate the public about what drones are and what they can do the fact quicker that will allow drone autonomy to achieve level five if the public comes into a situation where all of a sudden everyone uh selects people are riding in a drone across the sky in downtown tokyo that's going to be a problem if there's been no public outreach however if you build those expectation levels and you invite the public to participate and let them know about this technology and why it will change their lives for the better and how you can keep them safe that will allow drone autonomy to um get to a higher level as soon as possible finally education it's so critical that we start our children early learning about this technology it's also important that we identify key opportunities for minorities and women as well because this is an industry that has so much potential growth and it knows no color no gender there are opportunities for

**[32:28]** everyone here and the more we can invite people from different walks of life and with different backgrounds and experiences to participate in this technology and in this conversation I believe that will also significantly accelerate the rate at which drone autonomy will become respectful on will become respected on a wide scale level next slide please so with that I'm happy to take questions thank you I was just taking down notes uh grant I wanted to quickly summarize the complete session for the audience thank you so much for giving such an insightful presentation uh it all started with how public perception you know can shape regulations and the kind of authority it holds uh to having a negative perception of drones in movies I can I immediately thought about spider-man I know I'm a huge marble fan myself but it has it had negatively painted the use of swarming drones and uh the it it gives

**[33:29]** an impact there's a lot of people who view marvel movies uh another great point is that how covet accelerated drone delivery so that's that's a very major milestone that we uh you know reached uh you've shared you've shared anecdotes on how the perception of people changed after covert 19 happened uh one major uh statistic that stuck with me is um in the year 2015 12 to 900 in a span of like five to six months is that right so yes 2015 was the year of drones or the commercial drone industry and uh yes uh to to end it I think uh you've you've ended it on a very positive note and you know the how how positively can public uh perception change or you know increase adoption so thank you again for the presentation I'll quickly move on to the questions that everyone has asked in uh if you have any more questions so grant please drop in in the qnh tab so one of the first question is what are the biggest

**[34:34]** technical challenges to overcome in order to achieve full drone autonomy without a doubt the regulatory environment because the moment the regulator state we can move the remove the human from the operation all bets are off um and autonomy will explode um I would like to say there's a chance that could happen very soon I don't think that's accurate but I do know that the regulatory environment um worldwide we are starting to see an easing up on beef loss beyond visual line of sight regulations I know in america we're working on that right now and I've seen in other areas of the world as well and I think once we can remove those beef loss barriers then as well as restrictions of operating over people those are the obstacles that are standing in the way and those are the ones that we are vehemently working on removing as we speak

**[35:35]** uh thanks again for addressing that moving on to the next question do you think positive public perception is more of a u.s problem because of the militarized use of drones in the past militarized other than countries such as rwanda china or australia there is one aspect of public perception that I think is a bigger problem in america um and I'm an american so I can say this we for some reason have this this expectation of privacy that I often don't see in other countries and I think um I'm not saying it's right or it's wrong but I think that in america everyone at least when drones first became popular there was this notion that anyone with a teenage daughter who sunbathed in the backyard needed to like either get a shotgun to shoot down the drone that's horrible that's a horrible way of thinking about it of course but the point I'm saying and I'm kidding when I say that the point I'm making though is that's the

**[36:36]** type of public perception here is we need to protect our daughters against these drones and anyone who's in this industry knows that's not even remotely the full story um do we want to respect privacy rights of course we do we absolutely do and world citizens worldwide have privacy rights that need to be protected but we also do not want to stifle the innovation because for every person whose privacy is inconvenienced you could save five lives through the use of a drone and I'm just making up that statistic but the point I'm making is that I do think it's a bigger problem in america I actually talk about that quite frequently that in america because of this ridiculous scenario that people have of their children swimming in the backyard and drones flying over I I mean and it's one that everywhere I go and talk about drones um I still have to dispel that notion that you can't just willy-nilly fly a drone over backyard and take pictures all you want that's not how

**[37:36]** it works but um I in my experience in some of the work I've done with other countries I've seen that that right of privacy is not as much of the focus but you do have public perception concerns no matter where you go so um I just think it's important for uh all of us to respect our own sense of privacy but at the same time to still fight for technological innovation thank you for addressing that um there's another question around with the increase in ai technology and processing technology do you think the long range autonomy drone flights are possible like more than six hours uh especially in in terms of deliveries healthcare deliveries um I believe that long-range autonomy drone flights here's where the challenge comes in the technology I believe will be there but the heavier the payload the heavier the drone is all together the more it weighs

**[38:39]** and working with clients my understanding is the more difficult it is to achieve a longer distance and that you sacrifice the power of the drone the life of the drone the further you extend it so when you're talking a six-hour delivery technologically is it possible perhaps I mean I know there are plenty of drones that can fly several hundred miles I mean one of the things that I work on with clients is inner island delivery in island nations how to deliver drones across buys of water so yes the the idea of being to able to extend the delivery time is critical and crucial how autonomy is going to play into that is going to be critically important because when you start talking long ranges of time bodies of water um certainly with no human eyes on unless you're in a speed boat next to it following it um those are regulatory hurdles that are going to have to be worked out but what I will say is that I do think once we are able to have more drone deliveries the focus will shift

**[39:42]** to longer range especially with medical deliveries as you mentioned and that um we are going to need to just make sure that we maintain the integrity of the operation in the aircraft and don't sacrifice that in the name of distance that addresses is very it very well grant um I think one popular question that we've gotten across the event where do you think since we are on the topic of what's trending in drone autonomy which industry do you think is going to you know benefit the most from drone autonomy or where do we see the maximum adoption of drone autonomy happening transportation and logistics the movement of goods for sure right now worldwide we're experiencing supply chain issues and I think um especially me in these island nations like I mentioned um and not just island nations in all areas of the world many of us live in countries that are broken up by water we have several states in america the united states of america are broken up by water being able to facilitate

**[40:43]** drone deliveries will go a long way in assisting with supply chain issues I also think transmission and power line inspections is your other key area those are areas where your economies of scale truly are especially more realized the further you can take the drone so I think I would say transportation logistics and then I would say um energy energy inspection thanks again for answering that uh so we are almost at the end of the session we are we we need to close I have a few more questions but I think uh everyone can reach out I'll just maybe change this light to share grant's coordinates so everyone can reach out to grant if you have any more questions on his website or over or write to him on his email and he he will be answering them there are three more sessions coming up so I would request you to head over to the sessions tab to check the upcoming sessions once again thank you grant for uh giving such an insightful presentation I'm sure the audience had a lot to gain and a lot to

**[41:47]** learn from it I definitely had a lot of you know statistics and insights that I drew out of it so thank you once again have a great day have a great uh of rest of your time at neston and even the audience thank you once again thank you and thank you again to the whole team of FlytBase you're doing a great job with this program and thank you to the audience I'll see you in the upcoming sessions all right bye you