The Department of Industrial Technology (DoIT), MOEA, commissioned MIRDC to host the 2021 Future of Drone Industry MOU signing and forum at the NTUH International Convention Center on March 10 to unveil the drones that can withstand the wind and rain with a Beaufort Scale of 7. By replacing the traditional method of hiring expensive helicopters to explore fish with these drones, 10% of operating time and at least tens of millions of operating costs per fishing boat could be saved. Also, these drones will reduce the risks of sea operations during hazardous weather!
To make the drones the best flight assistants for all industries, MIRDC signed a memorandum of cooperation with the Taiwan Drone Association, Taiwan UAS Development Association, Jong Shyn Shipbuilding, GEOSAT, Thunder Tiger, Coretronic Intelligent Robotics, and Taiwan UAV during the event to expand the application of drones. In the future, cooperation will be carried out on linking drones with innovation, innovative applications, and technology research and development. MIRDC hopes to establish win-win relationships through the partnerships.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs invested in the development of domestic drone technology with a technology development program, moving in the direction of high load, long endurance, and innovative applications. Currently, the domestic industry's average maximum load is about 15 kg. The program's technology has reached a load of 35 kg, endurance increased from 40 minutes to more than 180 minutes, and field applications include collaboration with the Keelung City Government to conduct inspections in the Keelung mountain area to improve the efficiency of inspections on hillsides to curb illegal development, and working with Thunder Tiger to use drones to carry communication base stations as a communication network demonstration to solve post-disaster communication issues and bridge inspections. Mr. Chyou-Huey Chiou, Director General of DoIT, said that in addition to continuously developing high-load and long-endurance drone technology in the future, DoIT will also combine the advantages of high 5G bandwidth, low-latency, and large connectivity strengths to provide overall solutions for the industry to help promote the application of drones in various fields faster, starting from pesticide spraying, courier logistics, fishing boat operation support, disaster relief, etc.
Dr. Chiu-Feng Lin, President of MIRDC, indicated that MIRDC has used technology development programs for researching and developing drone-related technology for many years, such using drones to inspect wind turbines without stopping operations. Currently, the market lacks highly stable and weather-resistant drones. The VTOL drones developed in collaboration with the industry that are unveiled this time are the first domestic drones to be used in fishery operations. With extremely fast airframe control software technology, the drones can perform even in the wind and rain with a Beaufort scale of 7. Moreover, through the active take-off and landing system, the drones can take off and land smoothly on ships at sea. The use of fast frequency hopping anti-interference technology can reduce frequency interference during fish exploration so that images can be sent back successfully. MIRDC hopes that through the forum and the signing of the memorandum, manufacturers in Taiwan can join together to create application scenarios for different industries, and through industry-academia-research collaboration, Taiwan's core competitiveness in the drone industry and the expansion of niche markets will be strengthened.