Food and packages will be delivered by drones in early 2024, municipal officials confirm
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The civic body is mapping airspace across the emirate to plan routes and designate landing sites for unmanned aerial vehicles.
Drone deliveries in Dubai could become a reality next year, according to Dubai Municipality (DM) officials. The civic body is actively mapping airspace across the emirate to strategically plan routes and designate landing sites for drones and unmanned aerial vehicles.
“This is a project in which we are working together with civil aviation,”
saying Wesam Lootah, CEO of DM Corporate Support Services Sector.
“We are zoning airspace in 3D and building airways. This will help accelerate drone adoption in many aspects.”
The project titled Dubai Horizon System is the second phase of the Dubai Digital Twin initiative that will create an accurate digital replica of Dubai, complete with all its assets, landmarks and services, in 2D and 3D maps.
It is expected to improve air navigation safety in the Emirates and ensure smooth operations.
“Based on terrain planning, 3D modeling and digital twin, we created similar zones of where to fly and where not to fly.”
saying Maitha Al Nuaimi, director of the Center for Geographic Information Systems.
“When mapping is complete, other government agencies will be able to use the service to make drone deliveries of packages, medicines and food.”
Challenges
According to Maitha, one of the most challenging things about the project was the rapidly changing nature of the city.
Emirates
Despite these challenges, he said mapping has already been completed in one location. “We have finished mapping at Dubai Silicon Oasis and are testing it,” she said. “Once all the tests are completed, we will expand it to other areas of the city. Residents of Dubai will soon be able to expect many drones flying in the air.”
Using drones and AI
Additionally, the DM has also been using drones and artificial intelligence (AI) to inspect construction violations.
“With drones we can detect both from a vertical aerial perspective and from a horizontal view if there is any violation,” says Maitha. “For example, if there is a crack in an air conditioning unit or the color of a building is not up to code, we use AI to help us detect them.”
The building inspection pilot project, which was launched in December last year, has delivered rapid results. “We can detect violations instantly,” he said.
“In addition to drones, we also use AI panoramic images to detect problems. This helps inspectors focus on problem buildings instead of doing random checks.”
News Source: Khaleej Times
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