Industry Ambassador

Valued consultants

After realizing the process where a government entity has to sponsor a COA for any legitimate UAS/Drone operations I was looking for sources to help Dr. Jiri Hulcr from the University of Florida to fund his research on the Laurel wilt disease spread by the ambrosia beetle in the everglades and avocado orchards. I discovered that the Florida avocado Growers Association has lots of money and they turned me onto the National Parks Service and they are doing all kinds of research and collecting all kinds of data. Then I found out that they know nothing about Dr. Jiri Hulcr so I made an e-mail introduction to Dr. Jiri Hulcr. In order for Dr. Jiri Hulcr to obtain a COA and obtain funding we are going to have to convince the National Parks Service and possibly the Florida Avocado Growers Association the benefits collecting data with UAS/Drone technology. The data pertaining to cost for technology, pilot and sensors is a huge appeal for the use of UAS for these type of operations.

Finding panthers

I connected George Sigler from Sky Warrior Inc. and Ryan English of Skymotion Media to talk about George’s desires to incorporate UAS training with his courses for basic FAA ground school where he has been training navy pilots and NFOs since the end of Vietnam. He has a huge database of NFOs who hold their civilian pilots license but they won’t qualify for their commercial pilot’s license due less than perfect eyesight but they won’t have any problem flying a UAS/Drone. Then George started talking about how he gets requests to fly in the Everglades by the Florida Department of Fish and Wildlife and different colleges and universities. Then he started talking about one of his jobs is to track panthers in the everglades. They have radio collars, if a cat doesn’t show movement for a period of 18 hours it is an indicator of either the cat is dead or injured and they track young cats to put collars on them and using tracking dogs. After growing up hunting raccoons in Michigan I know that using a UAS/Drone with IR capabilities would be of benefit for these types of operations and save a lot of stress on the panthers.

Good content

These applications make for interesting content for the proposed UAS/Drone reality TV show. I am looking for similar application pertaining to the Amphibious Predatory Migrator with alligators and pythons crawling out of the Everglades into residential neighborhoods. I am also looking to connect with those operators who are inspecting oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.   

They have Nationalized the UAS/Drone industry

They have nationalized the UAS/Drone industry

Right away after being asked to find content for a UAS/Drone reality show I have noticed that some people are having no problem getting authorization and others are not. I heard James Williams the Manager of the FAA’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Integration Office  say “You can fly, it’s not illegal, you just have to follow the guidelines”  Then everyone is asking “What are these guidelines?” What I discovered it that those who submit for Certificates of Authorization and get approved are doing it on behalf of a government agency. If you want to get it funded either there has to be money from which ever government agency is sponsoring the COA or the private/commercial entity that desires the research has to fund it through which ever government agency that is sponsoring the COA. That in essence is Nationalization.

Making it rain

Finding the give points

While lining up interesting and viewer appealing applications to use UAS/Drones I have come across those who aren’t in compliance with the FAA, those who are but don’t want the public to be aware they are using the technology and college and universities who want to protect their proprietary technologies. Then there are those who can’t get the FAA to grant them a COA and then those who have current COAs and don’t have a problem obtaining new COAs. Why the inconsistencies?

 I need content

I have been hearing about oil companies using UAS for safety inspections on oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico that I would like to speak with. Then I’ve been hearing about the amphibious, predatory migration with pythons and alligators crawling out of the everglades into residential neighborhoods. The white nose bat disease, I meet this gentleman who knew a researcher and her husband who was a pilot, they would catch a bat and fasten a tracking beacon to it and her husband would fly after it, tracking the signal to the cave and his with would go there and estimate the number of bats in the cave and check to see if any were infected with the white nose bat disease. Then her husband died. The gentleman I talked with believed that UAS/Drone could be used to track the bats in the same ways as her husband did in the plane.

 Making opportunities

I began to analyze how the successful COAs come together. From my research, whenever there is a government entity sponsoring the COA they get approved. That doesn’t include colleges and universities unless the research is also sponsored by a government entity. I became aware of the Ambrosia Symbiosis that is destroying the oleander trees in the everglades. I found Jiri Hulcr and coordinated a conference call with Ted Batkin where they discussed the methodology of the insects that spread the disease and it is very similar to the way palm weevils and nematodes work together to breakdown palm trees, stressing them so the larvae can have a host. That made me think about the ECO-Agri Formula. I talked with Jiri Hulcr and informed him of George Sigler of Sky Warrior Inc. who has been training Naval NFOs since Vietnam and he also gets contracted to fly over the everglades for the Florida Department of Fish and Wildlife and Fly Motion Media and he was intrigued but he told me “My department doesn’t have the funding to pay for UAS/Drones for research”. That made me go after the Florida Avocado Growers Association and I was told that they have a lot of money and that they were given a demonstration on UAV/Drones less than two months ago. I will be speaking with them tomorrow.

The formula

 When there is an entity with a need or use for UAS/Drone, they sponsor research via a college or university through a government entity like the department of forestry or USDA.

Call today!

TODAY IS THE DAY

2:00PM CST

(605) 477-2100, pin#:262637#

This call is for professionals in the unmanned industry who are interested in getting exposure on an upcoming reality show about the beneficial use of unmanned technologies.

Statements of interest requested

Searching for content

In a week I have been able to get statements of interest from seven UAS/Drone professionals, manufactures, integrators and operators who have been working and have authorization and COAs for their project of systems.  There have been many others who have been flying with COAs and authorization and for one reason or another have declined to participate. I didn’t pry into their reasons for declining, even though it does puzzle me. Some are universities that do not want the competition or their donors don’t want the competition to know what or what they aren’t doing. Then there are others who are over the top enthusiastic about the potential to show the world what they are doing.

Content

There are cinematographers all over the place with some incredible imagery but there are more than enough of them and even though their product is awe-inspiring there needs to be something with suspense and drama involved to keep people watching and attract viewership and advertisers. That is why the producer specifically asked for search and rescue, firefighting and first responder applications but any crisis like the algae blooms in the Great Lakes, the white nose bat disease research, oil platform inspections in the Gulf of Mexico are going to make the show interesting and exciting.

Conference call Monday at 2:00PM CST

(605) 477-2100 pin#:262637# I will be requesting statements of interest to be e-mailed to me directly at reuben.lowng@gmail.com

It has to be interesting

Looking for more than cinematography

There are more UAS/Drone pilots doing aerial photography and video than there is need. The producer has requested search and rescue, firefighting and first responder applications that have the potential for suspense and enough drama to keep the audience engaged and attract eyeballs which will attract advertising and sponsorship dollars.

Leads for applications

I have been informed that UAS are being used for safety inspection on oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. There will be all kinds of cool cinematography and suspenseful situations that will create interest for an episode in the series.

I have also gotten wind of UAS operations in the mining industry. Other desired applications:

-High tension power-line inspections

-Great Lakes fly overs (Hopefully monitoring algae blooms)

-Following rock climbers

These are just a few I have heard about that have potential for exciting episodes.

***All applications must be authorized with the proper authorities.

All interested and qualified applicants dial into Monday’s conference call (605) 477-2100, pin#:262637#

NOTICE!

ALERT!

I have been approached about a Drone/UAS reality show emphasizing the beneficial aspects of commercial UAS applications. I was asked specifically for operators who are contract to agencies and legitimately authorized to fly. There will be a conference 2:00PM CST Monday August 25^th 2014. The call in number is (605) 477-2100 and the pin number is 262637#.

Video-walls with Drone imagery

Rocking with Drone video

I was promoting DX2 Broadcast in Arkansas today and I stumbled on Arkansas Aerials. I talked with Robert Davis who produces video and photography and is a UAS pilot. I was later on an appointment and driving through Dallas and I recalled the Texas Association of Broadcasters Expo in Austin last week and with all of the displays, none of them had UAS/Drone videos. It got me thinking of the imagery of the Dallas Skyline, the imagery from UAS/Drones is so much more compelling than anything else out there.

Commercials

There are many advertisers using UAS footage in their marketing. One that I see all of the time is the Base jumping off of windmills and antenas. Check out the Altitude Cam Demo Reel.

Video walls

There is nothing that gets the attention the way aerial footage using UAS/Drones do, especially on a video wall. Sony, Toshiba, Panasonic and Samsung should all have UAS/Drone footage playing in a loop and preferably of the area they are displaying in. Balboa Park, the San Diego Zoo, Wild Animal Park, Sea World, Disney, Six Flags should all have a video wall billboard with UAS/Drone footage of their facility playing.

New housing developments

If Coldwell Banker and the NRT will be sorry they banned Drone marketing. Some architect who loves the layout of their new development is going to want their prospective new residents to share in his vision of how beautiful their neighborhood is. I can see video wall billboards and flat screen TVs inside the show rooms displaying a panoramic aerial view with a close up or the community recreation area. Nothing showcases an area like the combined technology of a video-wall and UAS/Drone imagery.  

A clear path

A clear path

I was sitting at a bus stop shortly after my wife left me and I was contemplating how I had ended up in the spot I was in and a gentleman in his sixties asked me “How are you doing?” So I told him “I was making over $200,000 a year for five years in a row and now I no longer have a car or license, not a penny to my name, I am living in a beauty salon and riding the bus”. He replied “It’s happening to everyone, we are going through a global, secular reshuffling”. I said “What?” He replied “I’m sorry, I am a retired economist and sociology professor. All of the systems and strategies we have become used to have failed, they aren’t going to work anymore and everyone is scrambling to find the new path”.

I went from being a Navy SEAL, thinking I had reached the pinnacle, then I realized that bullets didn’t care how tough I was and neither did the military when they were downsizing. Then I got into sales, then the mortgage business when rates were at 7.5% and went all of the way to 9% before 9/11 and dropped to 4%. I had paid off all of my debt and socked away $50,000 in the bank but I knew that wasn’t going to get me to retirement. I started buying Real-Estate and trying to do what my clients were doing and take advantage of leverage and the unearned equity in the market. I realized that my niche was construction lending because of the kind of people I attract and that industry took its hit in 2006. I had already started to diversify into insurance and financial planning by this time.    

My wife had different plans, she divorced me and I did some contract work in the anti-piracy business and that brought me to the drone/UAS industry. I was promised the kind of money I was looking for, I suspended my licenses and tried to build a company and then I figured out after three months the guy I was working for was never going to do anything and he was just hyping the stock. I left him and went on my own and landed a consulting contract which paid me a base to live on but nobody closed any business. Partly because the FAA’s restriction on commercial unmanned operations but also because the person I was submitting my business to was holding onto them and pigeonholing them until he lined up his own investors and went on his own. The company figured him out and cut him loose and me with him.

I realized I was going to have to make a go of it on my own. I looked at what I had to offer the industry and the first thing was a financial strategy with self-insurance and I offered it to UAS manufactures recommended by Gene Payson.  I got the interest of a few connections with overseas ties and I also brought on an agricultural product, an all-natural colloid that separates the molecules in hydro-carbons, when mixed with water it softens the water and allows it to penetrate the exoskeleton of insects and disrupt their breathing systems and bursts their internal organs. I had to test it to satisfy everyone that it could kill the Red Palm Weevil. I tested it on the South American Palm Weevil which is basically the same bug and I did it, adults and larvae. This has garnered the attention of those at the highest levels of the agriculture industry. We had to go through a long process of certification with the California Department of Pesticide Regulation. Now we are waiting on the certification in the Middle East, specifically for the Red Palm Weevil.

While I was waiting on this certification I was working out the details for border security of a Latin American country putting together the process of managing all of the data and one of my partners introduced me to DX2 Broadcast, they rep for over 20 different manufactures of LED lights and DELEC and Intercom for voice over IP. While waiting for the certification for the colloid, the investors for the financing/insurance and foreign orders to come through I have been marketing LED manufactures to resellers, installers and architects in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana. The last time I sold anything that produced results as quickly was the end of 2000 when I made the switch from second mortgages to first mortgages and real-estate sales.

With my knowledge of Real-Estate, financing, life insurance and retirement planning, not just the strategies but implementation. For the first time in a long time I can see the path, it is like dominos falling, LED orders for video wall billboards, high-bay lighting, studio and stage lighting. By then certification for the colloid and orders to follow, then orders for unmanned systems for border and costal security from the foreign prospects. There are progressive steps to follow from here, business and personal.

   

How they are flyng commercial UAS now?

How are they flying commercial UAS?

I get to talk to UAS professionals across the country and I hear frustration from some about the FAA restricting their operations and then I her others that tell me that the FAA is leaving them alone. These are UAS professionals in agriculture, architecture and cinematography.  They are getting a pass from the FAA. Why is that? First off, they are getting permission from the land owners and business or civic authority that governs the property which data and imagery being collected. The problem comes in when there is flight over privet property without authorization. This is where there is a double standard, for example in the cranberry industry there is a high survey requirement, mostly for elevation and measuring water levels but these cranberry producers want production estimates on their neighbors and competing grows and they openly fly over their neighboring growers to get this data. I can’t imagine anywhere that would be authorized without prior notice. Is that right? Shouldn’t what is good for the goose be good for the gander? That is what those UAS professionals from the RC background are asking for. Before the FAA chimed in on the issues, hobbyist could flying in public areas, parks and open areas. There is an open area across from McDonalds locally where I see hobbyist flying RC planes all of the time. Now the way the FAA has interpreted the hobby rules, those hobbyist are going to need written permission.

What is the big deal?

It is privacy and safety, there is no expectation of privacy for satellites and aircraft that fly over and gather imagery and data right now but because they are either controlled by the government or they have a human being holding the camera that holds the camera? There is a trust issue a play. There is a certain sector of the population that doesn’t trust the government those same people along with others don’t feel comfortable having anyone else spying on themselves or their families on their back yard. This is where notice and permission requirements make sense. When it comes to geospatial data collection, almost daily there are manned aircraft gathering data and they aren’t required to give notice or get permission. This data is sold to civil engineers, surveyors and DOT. Is it safer because there is a person who is supposed to be exercising judgment? Is it because these manned aircraft are flying high enough that the people below them can’t see them flying over? These technologies that are used to gather this data weigh 120lbs to 350lbs for LiDAR and around 100lbs for photogrammetry which can get them accuracy within two centimeters. To get more accurate then that you need to get closer and which makes more sense to do with a UAS than a manned aircraft, the smaller size obviously makes it safer.

UAS design certification

Hoverfly has the LiveSky tethered quad-rotor up to 149 feet approved by the FAA, reinforced by the court but that opens the door to every other UAS manufacture who has the same capabilities, the FAA is going to have to authorize them too of face a law suit for undue favoritism. When you go to the FAA website and search for a list of COAs you will find hundreds or authorizations. If they are authorizing for one use, they are going to have to give authorization to all other similar applications. With authorization given the PUMA, RAVEN and SCAN EAGLE to fly, which opens the door to for other manufactures with similar capabilities demand approval to fly. The big argument is the combat flight hours logged by these systems but then there is Trimble/Gate-wing products that have been used commercially in Canada, Mexico and other Latin American companies. The FAA can’t very well stifle the commercial applications of their technology with significant hours of use for the commercial application for which it was designed. Tremble/Gate-wing is going to be the company which will keep the defense platforms from monopolizing the commercial UAS industry.

It’s not the flying but the product

Then there are those straddling the law by not paying for the piloting of UAS but charging for the imagery and they are getting away with it. What makes it difficult to crackdown on these professionals is when they have written permission of the property owner to gather imagery and data. So far these operators are getting away with these business practices because they are getting permission. It is also problematic for the FAA ho doesn’t have authority to govern commerce. It goes back to the cell phone industry where they give you the cell phones and charge for the services.

UAS the solution to algae blooms

UAS the solution to Algae blooms?

Before I ever even thought about the Drones, UAV/UAS in 2006 I ran into a women at the gym who introduced me to her husband who enlightened me of the evils of NPK, potassium as well as nitrogen and phosphorus. He explained to how after WWII the bomb makers sold the same stuff they used to make explosives as fertilizer. That is why you can make ANFO explosives just by adding fuel oil. He went on to explain how 50 years ago how farming soil was at 9% carbon content and now it’s under 1%. He explained to me that the run off causes dead zones in the oceans and lakes because the fertilizer causes the plankton to super grow and die, sucking the oxygen out of the water creating dead zones where nothing can live. At the time I was alarmed but I was in the mortgage, rea-estate, insurance and financial planning business. Then I stumbled into the Drone/UAS industry and began to learn about precision agriculture and he was sure that Drones would be the solution but I couldn’t figure out how to determine the carbon content of the soil from the air. I knew that with multi-spectral you can determine the chlorophyll content in leaves which would give you an indicator of the overall health of the plant but someone would have to get on the ground and get a soil sample. He did explain to me “Bugs don’t attack healthy plants! Plants need sun light, water and food or fertilizer. NPK sucks the nutrients out of the soil, and causes hard pan preventing moisture from penetrating the soil and causing erosion”. Then I stumbled on ECO-Agri Formula and realized the benefit of how it breaks down hydrocarbons and will remediate the effects of NPK and how microbes produce byproduct from digesting hydrocarbons that is a super nutrient filled fertilizer that replenishes the soil and plants not only perform well with its application but contain higher level of nutrients than those plants exposed to NPK.

What to do about the algae blooms?

There is a possibility of these microbes being able to counter the effects of the NPK but it has yet to be proven but we can prevent further damage. Crop scientist and ag-consultants have devised a method of farming where you do not till the soil but plant the seeds on the same rows as the stalks of the previous season’s crop and spay the fertilizer over it. The theory is that by not tilling the soil, it would prevent erosion and the effects of the Nitrogen based fertilizer running off into the oceans and lakes but it exacerbated the problem because the NPK just runs off with the rain and irrigation. The results is the algae blooms in the great lakes. It was all over the news about Toledo Ohio but my nephew lives in Easton Minnesota and they have the same problem.

GUTC has a relationship with a hydrologist who has sensors which can detect oils spills, salinity content or whatever you want with buoys that emit a Wi-Fi or Bluetooth signal that can be picked up by a UAS flying over and spectral imagery can detect algae blooms. By deploying these hydrology buoys a fly over with a UAS can determine where the NPK is draining into the water and  can be sprayed on the fields to breakdown the NPK and if it is proven to be effective microbes can be released into the lakes and streams and breakdown the algae blooms.

Safety is the key

This is a safety issue if there is any, these algae blooms are toxic and it is much safer to have a small UAS flying over collecting the data from the hydrology buoys and measuring the algae blooms with spectral imagery than a manned airplane.

A good story for John stossel

The market dictates

There is a lot of concern over how the commercial UAS industry is going to look after the FAA finally comes out with their guidelines. I am not so sure there is going to that much to worry about. They are really a fish out of water, when it comes it the law, president, property rights and commerce. Before this whole UAS, UAV/Drone situation came up the FAA’s primary concern was airport and runways. I talked to FAA officials in states all across the country. I had trainers for FAA pilot certification calling their FAA officials in their areas and nobody knew anything. Now they are trying to figure it out and they are up against sharks, experts in law and aviation. Have you seen Trey Gowdy skewering the IRS Director and the law professor? It will be that all over again with Brendan Schulman and Jim Williams or anyone else from the FAA when they try and dictate the use of technology and create a monopoly.

The Market is going to be the deciding factor and right now the US is under the FAA “No commercial UAS” mandate. Just like prostitution you can do it for fun but not to make money. There are inconsistencies across the board. There are these six UAS test sites who are going to need product competition and innovation to sustain. One hand doesn’t know what the other is doing it seems. The benefit is going to be with the companies who are already operating in the different disciplines, agriculture, geospatial, border and coast surveillance, oil and gas. A farmer or surveyor isn’t going to force to use an overpriced technology when there are equivalent or better technologies at a better price point. Especially when there are guys like me always on the hunt for just those new technologies. That is what a “Free Market Economy” is all about.

A lot of people aren’t going to like it but the Chinese understand “It’s all supply and demand”! The job market in the USA is screaming for this new industry to ramp up and they are going to be letting their voices be heard at the ballet box and those who are going to be running for office will hear them too! During a conversation about the bias and cronyism that is happening with the whole process, all I could think about was John Stossel, he’s not one of my contacts on LinkedIn but he is on Twitter. He loves to report on the Drone industry. Once he distinguishes the difference in the benefit to society in the areas of agriculture, geospatial, energy exploration, law enforcement, firefighting, SAR and government intrusion he is going to be all over the cronyism and conflict of interest going on in the FAA as it pertains to this industry. I can’t wait until he compares the Scan eagle, the Puma and Raven with the Cyclops in capabilities and price. I think I will hyperlink everything to make it easy for him. I can just imagine when he hears how the first judge ruled that Texas Equusearch being a non-for profit and the Spectra flying wing isn’t a drone so they don’t fall under the ban on commercial flight. I wonder if he’ll delve into the possibility of the Boy Scouts of America, FFA and 4-H creating and exemption under the same ruling. I want to hear him explain the Chevron-deference president under the guise of safety turning our legal system from Common law where activity is legal until there is a law passed by congress making it legal to Napoleonic law which makes thing illegal until a law is passed making it illegal. There is so much meat here for an investigative reporter to chew on. I can’t wait to see what they can do with thi