{"id":375951,"date":"2020-10-20T05:25:02","date_gmt":"2020-10-20T12:25:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/?post_type=wherenext&p=375951"},"modified":"2024-05-10T05:51:03","modified_gmt":"2024-05-10T12:51:03","slug":"under-construction-drone-highways-over-detroit","status":"publish","type":"wherenext","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/under-construction-drone-highways-over-detroit","title":{"rendered":"Under Construction: Drone Highways over Detroit"},"author":501,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","castos_file_data":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1001,1561,369792],"tags":[472021,141,341,22772,1331],"department":[488812],"wherenext-category":[],"industry":[],"class_list":["post-375951","wherenext","type-wherenext","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commercial","category-economic-development","category-location-intelligence","tag-aerotropolis","tag-drones","tag-economic-development","tag-manufacturing","tag-supply-chain","department-emerging-technologies"],"acf":{"short_description":"As the business world embraces drone deliveries, Detroit plans intelligent drone highways in the sky to support new uses.","pdf":{"host_remotely":false,"file":"","file_url":""},"flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"Drones are proving their value in business by saving time and money and delivering on new customer expectations. As innovators map drone highways to support these activities, they\u2019re finding location intelligence an indispensable ally.\r\n\r\nWith the COVID-19 crisis, interest in drone use spiked<\/a> as companies sought ways to perform contactless delivery of food and medical supplies. Recent surveys show that contactless deliveries are just the latest in an already long list of drone uses ranging from just-in-time parts exchanges to the inspection of bridges, rail tracks<\/a>, power lines, tall buildings, and even crop and soil conditions<\/a>."},{"acf_fc_layout":"sidebar","layout":"standard","image_reference":null,"image_reference_figure":"","spotlight_image":null,"section_title":"","spotlight_name":"","position":"Right","content":"Article snapshot:<\/strong> At the dawn of the US interstate highway system in the 1950s, business innovators saw a world of opportunities. What will business leaders create as drone highways begin to emerge in the sky?","snippet":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"A survey released in September 2019 showed that 45 countries were using or planning to allow the use of drones<\/a> to deliver a wide variety of products and services, including pilotless air taxis<\/a>.\r\n\r\nOne of the early leaders exploring the business benefits of drone use is centered in Detroit. A development called the Detroit Region Aerotropolis<\/a> is testing the concept that convenient access to air travel\u2014by conventional plane and drone\u2014will stimulate economic activity.\r\n

Aerotropolis Concept Catches On in Detroit<\/strong><\/h3>\r\nWith 6,000 acres open for development between the Detroit Metropolitan and Willow Run airports, plus investments from public and private partners and a history of local automotive innovation, the aerotropolis concept found a welcoming home in the Motor City area. This partnership of Detroit-area counties, airports, economic developers, and private businesses is taking smart-city planning to a new level by using location technology<\/a> to create drone highways and drive further adoption of drones as business tools<\/a>.\r\n\r\n\u201cDetroit built the automobile, and it allowed people to move throughout the world,\u201d says Christopher Girdwood, executive director of the Detroit Region Aerotropolis Development Corporation. \u201cAnd maybe we'll be the first to build highways in the sky that allow people to move in new ways.\u201d\r\n\r\nThough still in early phases, the aerotropolis is attracting interest from several types of businesses, according to one of the people involved in the project. Peter S. Rogers, first vice president of CBRE\u2019s advisory and transactions services in Detroit, says he\u2019s met with third-party logistics companies about leasing warehouses and distribution facilities inside the aerotropolis region.\r\n\r\nRogers also notes that large open acreage is likely to draw manufacturing-related companies building factories to make parts or assemble products. Other observers suggest that those companies could add a new use case to the list of drone applications: just-in-time delivery of critical manufacturing equipment.\r\n

Motor City Drone Highways Could Change the Nature of the Supply Chain <\/strong><\/h3>"},{"acf_fc_layout":"form","form_type":"aside","form_position":"Right","form_title":"Tracking Important Trends ","form_desc":"The Esri Brief is a biweekly email connecting senior executives and business leaders with thought-provoking articles on location intelligence and critical business trends.","form_button_label":"Sign up now","form_content":"https:\/\/go.pardot.com\/l\/82202\/2017-10-12\/jw1bmb","form_tag":"low-commitment-form\/sign-up-form"},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"With a prominent ongoing role in automobile production, Detroit businesses have a special interest in using drones to strengthen supply chains by moving materials and parts via time-saving drone highways.\r\n\r\nFor instance, if a vital piece of manufacturing equipment breaks and must be replaced, drone highways could reduce downtime from weeks or days to a matter of hours or even minutes, minimizing lost production time.\r\n\r\n\u201cIn and around the Motor City in southeast Michigan, you have the Big Three automakers,\u201d Girdwood says. \u201cAnd the Big Three move a lot of just-in-time, high-value cargo in between plants, and then tier-two, tier-three suppliers need to move into other facilities. That movement of cargo must be managed efficiently. And if it's not in time, it can delay assembly lines. It can take supply chains to a halt.\u201d\r\n\r\nAs part of reimagining the B2B supply chain, Girdwood also proposes a scenario for the average consumer: grocery deliveries that arrive by drone minutes after they\u2019re ordered.\r\n\r\n\u201cWhat if there was an automated robotic<\/a> sorting facility that could pick all of your fresh, frozen, canned, and boxed groceries within 7 to 10 minutes, and then ship it out to you via a highway in the sky in another 7 to 10 minutes? [That] cuts an hour and a half of your time and gives it back to you,\u201d Girdwood says.\r\n

Drone Skyways Will Be Built on a Foundation of Location Intelligence <\/strong><\/h3>\r\nAs project leaders and partners build out the Detroit Region Aerotropolis on the ground, they\u2019re also advancing an innovative vision for the skies above. To incorporate drones into the region\u2019s transportation plans, these leaders are relying on the location intelligence and smart mapping capabilities of geographic information system (GIS<\/a>) technology."},{"acf_fc_layout":"sidebar","layout":"standard","image_reference":null,"image_reference_figure":"","spotlight_image":null,"section_title":"","spotlight_name":"","position":"Right","content":"Partnerships: Public-Private and County to County<\/strong>\r\n\r\nThe Detroit Region Aerotropolis is supported by companies such as CBRE and DTE Energy, which will provide services to manufacturers, distributors, and other businesses moving into the region. Also key to the partnership are area municipalities, which have contributed data to make drone highways in the sky possible.\r\n\r\nOver time, the municipalities have mapped their infrastructure, land, and even future land-use plans in GIS, creating a basemap for all that will transpire in the sky.\r\n\r\nChristopher Girdwood, executive director of the aerotropolis, says such partnerships provide needed space for drones to roam. \u201cMultiple communities are using the platform in a way that allows us to build highways that cross county lines, cross city lines,\u201d he explains.","snippet":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"Much of what will transpire in the air\u2014including the intricate flight patterns drones will follow and the real-time adjustments they\u2019ll make\u2014depends on what exists on the ground. Girdwood and the aerotropolis team are using location technology to coordinate that interplay and create new business opportunities.\r\n\r\n\u201cThe authoritative data that we\u2019re using is coming from a GIS platform that communities have been building,\u201d Girdwood tells WhereNext<\/em>. \u201cThe system includes their planning documents, their current land-use plans, [and] all of their infrastructure. All of that data has been built on a platform that now we're pulling from.\u201d\r\n\r\nSuch data reveals the height and location of power lines, buildings, event spaces, and cell towers, as well as restricted areas such as military installations, schools, and hospitals.\r\n\r\nThat information \u201cwill dictate where highways in the skies can and cannot be built,\u201d Girdwood says, and location technology will help planners create the airborne infrastructure. \u201cYou could not do what we\u2019re trying to do without a geographic information system that's tried, tested, true, and interoperable.\u201d\r\n\r\nIn the case of the Detroit Region Aerotropolis, the mapping and drone tracking system was created by Airspace Link<\/a>. The company\u2019s system uses GIS-based digital mapping to determine the safest, most efficient route for a drone to take on the way to pick up and deliver items.\r\n\r\nCompatible with systems used by local government, airports, and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the Airspace Link platform has been approved by the FAA for the authorization and notification of drone flights that go beyond the pilot\u2019s sightline. The new system passed an important test this summer in air space below 400 feet, where drones are allowed to fly.\r\n\r\nIn addition to facilitating long-term planning for drone highways, the system monitors information in real time and adjusts drone routes as needed. With the ability to quickly process changing information, GIS technology can automatically adjust a drone flight to weather conditions. Or, if a town in the Detroit area submits a real-time alert about a large gathering of people on the ground or police and medical helicopters flying at low altitudes, the system will automatically reroute drones away from the large-group event or crowded airspace, says Michael Healander, president & CEO of Airspace Link."},{"acf_fc_layout":"quote","image":375961,"text":"Everything we're doing\u2014from creating a drone to the GPS of your location, [to] what hazards are around you, what airspace is the president flying through\u2014it's all geospatial.","author_name":"Michael Healander, Airspace Link","author_profession_organization":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

Drone Usage Was Already Growing Quickly before Pandemic<\/strong><\/h3>\r\nEven though the aerotropolis concept is still relatively new, drone-based services have already impacted a wide variety of businesses.\r\n\r\nThe aforementioned survey<\/a> noted several accomplishments in 2019:\r\n