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'Agriculture most relevant sector for India-Israel collaboration in drone tech'

“Flying cars are not far into the future”

jonathan-zadka Jonathan Zadka, consul general of Israel in Bengaluru

Jonathan Zadka, consul general of Israel in Bengaluru, sees exciting possibilities for drones, including their development as personal transport.

Excerpts from an interview:

What is your perception about the increasing use of drone technology for civilian applications?

Drone technology is very captivating. Applications around drones draw huge attention. But the question is: how to use this technology and make it economically viable? Drone applications should be affordable and relevant for the requirement on the ground.

In agriculture, drones can provide services related to fertiliser spraying on large farms, and can help in mapping agriculture plots if the drones have the right cameras and software. I recently came across a pilot project run by the company Tevel. It uses drones to pluck apples from an apple farm. Two drones fly from two sides, one with a cart and the other to identify apples and pluck them from the tree and then put them in the basket. Such tasks can be tedious, time consuming and expensive if done manually.

The fruit plucking drones need the intelligence to identify the condition of the fruit and pick only the ripe ones. Most farmers will not be able to work the drones on their own. They won't be able to analyse the data from drones, or fly the drones in the right direction so that they can be utilised to the optimum. All this will require end-to-end services of a drone service provider. The larger aim is to get the data from the drones; drone service providers can easily do that.

Are there any drone service providers in Israel or India?

I do not think that there are any drone service providers in India. As India has announced new drone rules, we are looking for collaborations in India for Israeli firms. On the one hand, a large number of Indian companies are working around drone technology. On the other, Israel is a leading provider of drone technology and manufacturer of autonomous drones and unmanned aircraft. Many of the drone technology applications in Israel came from the defence industry and were later used in civilian applications.

ALSO READ: Will ban on drone import make India a drone powerhouse?

What is the progress Israel has made in the drone ecosystem?

Israel is a leading developer of drones, unmanned aircraft and autonomous vehicles. It has versatile capabilities in this sector. It is using unmanned aircraft in the civilian sector. There is a strong linkage between unmanned aircraft manufacturing for defence requirements in Israel and the positioning of the civilian drone industry. A lot of technology has been transferred from the military to the civil drone ecosystem in Israel. There are more than a dozen drone related tech start-ups in Israel. Israel also has drone-based solutions and services that cater to services in agriculture, construction, transportation and e-commerce.

Any new initiatives in Israel in drone technology?

The Israeli National Drone Initiative started two years ago. Last year it undertook a very interesting project. It aimed at creating a “drone national network for deliveries”. It was the first pilot of its kind. It flew a large number of drones, built by different companies. The aim was to fly drones over urban centres and be managed by a unified central control system. Around 300 drones in the project performed a variety of tasks—food delivery, supply of drugs and medical equipment, and agriculture services. The flights were operated by five different companies and at any given time 20 real drones were recorded together with hundreds of simulated flights. The companies that took part in the pilot introduced a variety of technologies and abilities, such as BVLOS (beyond visual line of sight capabilities) that allows drones to operate remotely from any pilot or command centre, be it an autonomous or piloted operation.

What are the challenges for drones in urban space?

The urban space is one of the most complicated ones for drones. Flying drones over open spaces, such as a desert, is vastly different from flying them in the urban mobility space. Any urban space will have birds, buildings, helicopters, electric wires and a whole lot of other obstructions. Imagine multiple autonomous drones hovering over an urban area and not talking to each other. Within a few minutes there would be multiple accidents if drones are not controlled properly through a central command centre. Drones need to be managed properly. Many companies in Israel are working towards drone managing solutions. They are also working towards creating a control centre and are looking for international partners. Indian companies can very well be part of it.

Which are the areas where Israel and India can collaborate in civilian drone technology?

Agriculture is one of the most interesting and relevant sectors for collaboration. There is a great potential for use of drone applications in promoting precision based agriculture. It can help in the improvement of sustainable agriculture. Drones offer effective solutions to complicated challenges and allow use of innovative methods to reduce risk and uncertainty. Drones can be used for administering pesticides, dealing with specific pests, monitoring fields and detecting crop disease at an early stage. The development of high-resolution, low-distortion multi-spectral camera solutions for agricultural applications allows synchronisation of multi-camera imagery from fast-flying drones with a single camera, thus enabling advanced modelling. Data-driven solutions based on machine learning, and using artificial intelligence, are available for analysing tree health. These allow the users to identify weak trees in tree clusters.

What are the futuristic drone applications you foresee?

One of the most exciting futuristic drone applications is flying cars. Multiple companies are engaged in developing them. In fact the final products are being developed and may be out in the market soon. If all goes as planned, a major factor in reshaping the future of transport will be the introduction of an autonomous flying car. The urban mobility space is experiencing very interesting developments. A hybrid-electric vehicle that can do vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) may be available soon. Such a flying car may be able to work both as an aircraft and as a regular car—a vehicle that can ride on the road and fly autonomously in the sky.

A ban on import of drones was announced by the Indian Directorate General of Foreign Trade (Ministry of Commerce) recently with exceptions provided for R&D, defence, and security purposes. Do you see this move impacting Israel-India collaboration on drone technology?

No, I don't think so since Israel provides immense value when it comes to services, software, command and control systems and many other elements that relate to drone related activities.

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