This document discusses the use of drones at Smith College and their potential applications in academia. It provides:
- A brief history of drone use at Smith College from 2011-2015, including initial fieldwork using drones in Belize and Massachusetts.
- Initial questions about using drones to map coral reef systems, spatial extent mapping, and correlating aerial imagery with underwater surveys.
- Opportunities that drones provide such as low-cost, high resolution imagery that can be acquired quickly and automatically.
- Plans to develop an AIRlab to transfer drone technology to local organizations and address ethics through principles like respecting privacy and individuals.
TeamStation AI System Report LATAM IT Salaries 2024
Drones in Academia: Challenges & Opportunities
1. Drones in Academia
Challenges & Opportunities
• Brief History of UAVs at Smith
• Role of Liberal Arts Colleges
• Observations on intersections with the GIS
community
2. History
• 2011 – Kite and Balloon Aerial Photography
• 2012 – Kite Photography in Belize
• 2012 / 2013 – Purchased our first DIY Drone Kit
• 2013-2014 – Develop Safety Framework
• 2014 – 5 College Proposal to develop the AIRlab
• 2015 – Fieldwork planned in Belize, MA, ME
3. Initial Questions
• Can we capture aerial imagery of coral reef systems
suitable for habitat mapping and classification?
• Is low altitude aerial imagery suitable for spatial extent
mapping?
• Can we correlate low altitude aerial imagery with
underwater surveys?
• Is it possible to add more fun to scientific inquiry?
8. New Opportunities
• Low Cost
• Simple Setup - capture images within minutes
• Timely Acquisition for areas of rapid change
• Imagery is High Resolution, Cloud Free
• Acquisition at “inaccessible” altitudes (~50-150m)
• Automate Process and Consistent Flight Parameters
• Transfer Technology to Local Organizations
9.
10.
11.
12.
13. AIRLab
make.alt.drone ~ drones for humanities
Jon Caris, Spatial Analysis Lab, Smtih College
Jeffrey Moro, Senior Post-Bac, 5 College Digital Humanities
Eric Poehler, Classics, Umass-Amherst
http://5colldh.org/current-
projects/airlab/
29. Ethics / GISP
• IV. Obligations to Individuals in Society
• 1. Respect Privacy
• Protect individual privacy, especially about sensitive information.
• Be especially careful with new information discovered about an individual through GIS-based manipulations (such
as geocoding) or the combination of two or more databases.
• 2. Respect Individuals
• Encourage individual autonomy. For example, allow individuals to withhold consent from being added to a
database, correct information about themselves in a database, and remove themselves from a database.
• Avoid undue intrusions into the lives of individuals.
• Be truthful when disclosing information about an individual.
• Treat all individuals equally, without regard to race, gender, or other personal characteristic not related to the task
at hand.
http://www.gisci.org/ethics/codeofethics.asp
x
Notes de l'éditeur
Began with Kite Aerial Photography or KAP
Planning a mission in Belize
http://saosafetycode.org/
I think it’s great to start the kickoff with a mild and uncontentious project
AIRlab = Aerial Innovations and Robotics Laboratory
Codenamed: make.alt.drone or drones for humanities
In short, the AIRlab will function as a makerspace or hackerspace for the Five College community.
This short video clip represent the genesis of our project.
Our focus is not be the first imagine that comes to mind when you hear the word “drone”. Most likely one thinks of what is shown here, a military predator drone.
Unfortunately, military drones and all they represent are conflated with our focus on civilian drones or UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles). Civilian drones are certainly not without debate, and we continue to sort out our levels of inquiring within the larger political framework.
The opportunities civilian drones or UAVs offer our community is the ability to design, build, modify, sense, project, and fly within our academic framework.
We began our project by defining terms and vocabularies that represent our inquiries viewed through a humanistic lens.
We also developed and continue to develop a corpus of all things drone. This corpus provides a framework on which several key themes become evident.
Let me circle back to this idea of the AIRlab, which represents the second phase of our project.
One of those themes: Who Owns the Sky?
Civilian drones are an emergent technology and in many ways we are reliving the tipping point experience with the dawn of aviation.
Where and how were all these aeroplanes going to fly? Maybe the should be regulated to public rights of way (or streets).
What about Privacy and Surveillance?
Imagine this is your backyard (mine actually)
And, all of a sudden…..
A drone appears. You don’t know who, if anyone is operating it and for what purpose.
What kinds of sensors are onboard. Is it trespassing or does it have the right of transit through my backyard?