City drones and smart cities

Now there are all available technologies to use quadrocopters to improve life in the city. As part of an online course on designing cities using video games, board games and films, I made a small selection of how to effectively use drones (comparable in size to the DRK-1 from Star Wars) in urban settings.

Under the cut, a description of 8 ways to make cities “smarter” using flying robots, many illustrations and examples.

First of all, we will limit the concept of “smart” city as a city that makes the lives of residents more comfortable and safe (including environmentally friendly), and also saves the time of citizens. By urban drones, it will mean quadrocopter robots and similar to them unmanned flying robots.

Citizens can launch a quadrocopter to inspect the further path, traffic jams and obstacles.



Example: Phil Dunphy ( Modern Family series, iSpy series ) operates a quadrocopter to inspect the area behind the wall, as well as to display real estate to customers.


Video broadcasting in busy places and at city events, including reports from various events, sports games or concerts.



Example: at the Olympic Games in Sochi , the performances of skiers and snowboarders were broadcast .


Drones will be able to arrive at the scene faster to illuminate the situation. They can be used when road cameras and CCTV cameras are no longer so effective.



Example: quadcopter Draganflyer X8conducts real-time video monitoring for shooting crime scenes and collecting evidence, investigating traffic accidents, controlling explosives, and preventing natural disasters.


Air delivery by moving drones through the air saves time, reduces traffic on the roads and air pollution.



Example: Amazon has announced Prime Air , a service for delivering packages by air directly to customers in less than half an hour.


Residents of the city can access high-speed Internet through flying Wi-Fi access points.



Example: DARPA launches a programcalled Mobile Hotspot, according to which obsolete military drones will distribute the Internet. The use of drones as Wi-Fi points was also expressed by Facebook.


Drones can act as a fire service, freely flying into burning buildings to find people and provide them with first-aid kits and further instructions.



Example: if we draw analogies with the film “Spider-Man” (2002) , then drones will be able to combine the ability of Spider-Man to get into inaccessible places and technical characteristics of the Green Goblin glider and its flying guns.


Drones can explore the roofs of houses and skyscrapers, thus finding people stuck on the roofs during floods and other incidents. So drones can fly up and provide communications, as well as the necessary food and medicine. In addition, conventional delivery is also greatly simplified for people living in multi-storey buildings and companies located on the top floors of tall buildings.



Example: Italian pizzeria Francesco's Pizzeria delivered an order in 10 minutes to the roof of a skyscraper in Mumbai. Another example is Coca-Cola delivering drinks with drones to skyscraper builders in Singapore.


Drones can be equipped with loudspeakers, flashing lights and sirens to assist rescue workers and law enforcement officials.



Example: British police have announced that they will use Aeryon Skyranger drones in West Sussex .

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PS Despite the fact that all 8 methods are technically feasible now, while the use of drones is faced with many problems (for example, legal).
PPS Especially for Russian-speaking students of the course , as well as for fans of games in the genre “Get out of the room” and urban planning simulations, an online graphic quest “Planet Escape: from the settlement to the cosmodrome” will be held (details: vk.com/coinop ).