The world's first drone superhighway will open in the UK between June and July. Critics say that increased drone flights creates a public privacy and safety risk. READ MORE:While a drone superhighway might sound better suited to a science-fiction blockbuster than the Midlands, it's set to become a reality this summer.
Speaking to MailOnline, Chris Cole, director of campaign group Drone Wars, said: 'While the drone industry are incredibly happy about this, for people who end up living under the drones it may well end up being super annoying and super intrusive.' Together, these towers will form a virtual highway that lets drones travel safely - without any need for a human pilot.
Each tower on the ground is equipped with powerful sensors that build a virtual map of everything within the airspace. Developed by drone software provider Altitude Angel, the 165-mile-long Skyway network will connect Coventry in the Midlands to Milton Keynes in the Southeast However, the company has now confirmed these extensions will not be constructed due to difficulty finding sites to build new towers.
However, an extension to connect Southampton and the Isle of Wight are planned as the technology rolls out more widely. While Altitude Angel maintains that the Superhighway will boost businesses and save lives by enabling medicine deliveries, the project is not without its critics.'Once drones are given free range to UK skies there is likely to be little public benefit in contrast to the large impact on quality of life for those who have to put up with drones above their heads,' he told MailOnline.
And, at a height of 400 feet, the developer claims that anyone on the ground will hardly be able to see, let alone hear drones overhead. He says: 'The bedrock of aviation safety - upon which all other safety measures are built - is having a pilot being able to look out of the cockpit window and taking avoidance measures if necessary.'
'If drones are given free reign to our skies, huge numbers of drones will be used for a whole range of surveillance tasks that will inevitably impact on the public's privacy.'Its main reason is that the majority of drones using the highway will not be equipped with cameras or other sensors, instead relying entirely on the ground towers for navigation. In fact, remote surveying for construction and ecological projects is one of the stated use cases for the highway.
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