Inside Unmanned Systems

AUG-SEP 2016

Inside Unmanned Systems provides actionable business intelligence to decision-makers and influencers operating within the global UAS community. Features include analysis of key technologies, policy/regulatory developments and new product design.

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47 unmanned systems inside August/September 2016 ugust/Septe August/September 2016 August/September 2016 be August/September 2016 0 August/September 2016 6 August/September 2016 ENGINEERING. PRACTICE. POLICY. sourcing of information during a humanitar- ian crisis. "During a disaster you can't use street ad- dresses," Jones told Inside Unmanned Systems, "the landscape may have completely shifted because there's been a f lood or an earthquake or hurricane. So often the only option really is coordinates. If you're in the field and you are getting coordinates over a radio, over a phone— even people sharing locations on social media— coordinates are very complex to communicate and so difficult and error-prone to use in that context. So UN-Asign integrated us into their app so in any disaster zone, when taking a pho- tograph to collect data, this photograph gets tagged with its three-word address—so every- body has a simple way to talk about location." Florida-based Altavian provides profes- sional-grade fixed-wing and rotary drones for data acquisition as well as a data system called Fetch. One application they are focused on is providing support during emergencies—and they have just begun introducing what3words. "At this point we see the most applicability in developing parts of the world and, in particu- lar, for unique humanitarian and natural di- saster type response applications," Perry said, "(in) parts of the world where you don't already have a good map that shows you where you are, where you need to go, or where you don't have a GPS device readily available to provide those latitude longitude coordinates." "The ability to very quickly and easily com- municate what three words are needed is a real operational benefit," Perry said. "That part of it has been what's impressed us the most. We are just starting to learn what kind of applications this enables." "DURING A DISASTER you can't use street addresses, the landscape may have completely shifted because there's been a flood or an earthquake or hurricane." Clare Jones, manager, global partnerships, what3words

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