Start Date:
-Summary:
On October 6th, 2016 at 1:30 pm EDT, a webinar will be held addressing CDOT’s recent field test of an FAA-approved commercial tethered Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) for traffic control and emergency management at the US Air Force Academy in Colorado. The webinar will address this case study, lessons learned and additional UAV applications for DOT’s.
The test was at a unique concert event in Falcon Stadium starring 3-time Grammy-award winning artist Tim McGraw and the event resulted in high traffic volumes, delays, and incidents. The test evaluated the use of the UAV and advanced optical systems to provide a consistent view of traffic conditions on the highway and major intersections impacted, helping to improve how traffic is managed. The traffic, road and incident locations viewed were directed by on site CDOT personnel, TOC traffic managers, and remote emergency service personnel.
The tethered UAV was flown with a video camera that delivered a real time high-definition feed to the cloud where it was viewed by CDOT personnel at the CDOT Operations Center, distributed from the TOC to a variety of emergency and law enforcement agencies, and watched locally from individual computers and smart-phones. The video stream was accessible by viewers and analysts to study traffic flow patterns, evaluate emergency service routes, and reconstruct traffic incidents. The UAV also had three quickly interchangeable payloads allowing for high resolution video, night time infrared imaging, and 3G/4G/wifi communications with satellite uplink.
The system was safely and easily operated by CDOT personnel on site, and during the webinar, we will be sharing portions of the video feed during the webinar and well as still pictures of the day’s activities.
Tethering the UAV provided reliable, consistent, high-speed data as well as continuous power, and erased the most formidable problems facing unmanned systems today – lack of power for sustained flight. And, with a microfilament tether impervious to jamming, communications can’t be intercepted, spoofed, or otherwise compromised, leading to world-class data security.
Speakers:
Ryan Rice, Colorado DOT, Director of TSM&O Operations
Dr. Andrew Palowitch, UAVu Flight Operations