Companies will test how edge computing could help track thousands of drones at once
Elly Yates-Roberts |
Israeli start-up Vorpal is working with telco AT&T and Microsoft to make airspace safer for drones by testing how edge computing could help track thousands of drones at any given time.
According to a recent Microsoft article, The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) expects the number of drones to triple by 2023 as their commercial use increases. However, more drones in the air means that accidents are more likely. In 2017, the FAA reported an average of 250 safety incidents per month, in some cases affecting operations at airports.
Vorpal works to prevent these incidents using its drone detection and tracking solution, VigilAir. It uses a network of sensors to scan relevant frequencies that identify drone transmissions, allowing the firm to track drones and their operators in near-real time.
Vorpal’s sensors are equipped with computing hardware that process its location-tracking software. AT&T and Microsoft are now working with Vorpal to provide it with more compute power to process the increased volume of data from the growing number of drones.
The AT&T Foundry is testing how to bring network edge compute capabilities into AT&T’s network with Microsoft’s intelligent edge offerings, including Azure’s internet of things and artificial intelligence services.
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