Patchy 4G in rural areas casts doubt on safety of drone flights

Representative image.

Most unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) are radio-controlled (RC) aircraft, where the UAV is controlled remotely by an operator on the ground using a hand-held radio transmitter.

But recently there has been a spurt in the adoption of LTE/4G connectivity for drone operations in India as it is said to significantly expand the range of drones in areas covered by mobile Internet.

However, there is a problem.

Last month, during an inter departmental meeting, a senior government official flagged the problem arising in drone operations due to poor 4G connectivity in rural areas.

“4G connectivity is very important for drone operations, and since 4G connectivity can be patchy in rural areas, safety and reliability of operations can be in doubt,” the official said.

According to a report, more than 39,000 villages across India still await high speed mobile Internet through 3G and 4G technology. This includes 25,000 which are yet to have mobile network coverage.

The official asked stakeholders in the government to bring telecom service providers to the discussion table and ensure adequate 4G connectivity during operations and ensure safety.

Although, in the meeting, the government stakeholders did not address situations arising out of bad 4G connectivity, they did touch upon the larger issue of drone mishaps.

"We all know that not all drone projects go smoothly. We do see incidents now and then. But when the incident happens, who takes ownership?" another official said.

"Right now every incident points toward the drone operators (for taking ownership for any incident). But how do we address it? How do we get a library of issues that can happen that can be mitigated?" the official asked.

Bad connection

A loss of connection during drone operations can quickly turn dangerous.

Last year, during the Medicine in the Sky project in Telangana, there were four incidents recorded (out of 320 sorties) where the drones did not work properly during the pilots.

In fact, two drones carrying Covid-19 vaccines experienced communication loss for about 20 minutes. Another drone experienced a ‘rough landing’ during the pilot.

However, connectivity issues may soon take a turn for the better as the Union Cabinet recently approved a plan to provide network connectivity in 25,000 remote villages.

“ The (connectivity) problem isn't one sided. Everyone blames the government but I sincerely feel current software, firmware and technology on drones need improvement to pick up signals even from a distance which will ensure connectivity,” Agnishwar Jayaprakash, CEO and founder of Garuda Aerospace told Moneycontrol.

Jayaprakash said that the startup has been focusing on integrating semiconductors, processors powered by Intel, and sourcing parts from Wipro and other composite manufacturers to enable 4G and 5G into its drones.

For him, a solution in this regard would be adopting such technology in volume in the future. “Technology only gets better only when more people use it and more funding is pumped into product development,” he added.

5G beckons

Notwithstanding the complications surrounding adoption of 4G/LTE connectivity for drones, service providers are eagerly waiting for 5G as they hope it would streamline processes further.

“5G can be very helpful for the drone industry. The industry requires quick data transfer from drone to a computer, or into a cloud-based processing program,” Prem Kumar Vislawath, co-founder of Marut Dronetech told Moneycontrol.

“The technology will also be helpful in lowering latency in connection for live view or live streaming,” Vislawath added.