Explores Urban Drone 2021 AND BEYOND

Cyberjaya - June 1

2020 - has been an unprecedented year for many reasons, but a particular one to dive into is the effect it has had on some of our country’s most traditional yet essential functions. Even as things shut down, essential industries like utilities, telecom, and oil & gas faced pressure to continue the same critical infrastructure operations without interruption.

Suddenly, drone technology that was previously met with hesitation and even dismissiveness was re-examined and quickly embraced as the ultimate tool to provide efficiency and worker safety.

Autonomous systems are no longer future concepts, they have become a reality. The technology continues to advance, drones are becoming smarter and more connected. They are software-defined systems that can collect data, connect to the cloud, analyze information, and inform outcomes. More and more of these processes and tasks are becoming automated.

Commercial usage of drones is gaining steady momentum and has become the talk of the hour, as multiple industries are working with drones as part of their daily regular business functions. The drone services market size is expected to grow from $4.4 billion in 2018 to $63.6 billion by 2025, and Insider Intelligence predicts consumer drone shipments will hit 29 million by the end of 2021.

The commercial drone industry is still young, but it has begun to see some consolidation and major investments from industrial conglomerates, chip companies, IT consulting firms, and major defense contractors. For now, the industry leaders are still a handful of early-stage manufacturers in Europe, Asia, and North America.

As it becomes cheaper to customize commercial drones, the door will be opened to allow new functionality in a wide array of niche spaces. Sophisticated drones could soon be doing everyday tasks like fertilizing crop fields on an automated basis, monitoring traffic incidents, surveying hard-to-reach places, or even delivering pizzas. At the end of the day, the impact of commercial drones could be $82 billion by 2025, according to AUVSI.


6 March 2021 - Malaysian consumers can look forward to a new shopping experience as Teleport, the logistics venture of airasia Digital today partnered with Malaysian Global Innovation and Creativity Centre (MaGIC), the Lead Secretariat of the National Technology and Innovation Sandbox (NTIS), to launch the Urban Drone Delivery Sandbox and develop a long-term viability of urban drone delivery service.

The pilot project for the delivery of goods from airasia’s e-commerce platforms including airasia shop using automated drones is set to be carried out through a 6-month phased approach at the third National Technology and Innovation Sandbox (NTIS) test site in Cyberjaya. The service is currently at testing stage with two local drone operators VStream Revolution Sdn Bhd and Meraque Services Sdn Bhd.

The first phase of the project in Cyberjaya seeks to assess the capability, experience, approval process, deployment readiness and service expansion of the drone operators. The service will be deployed upon a successful trial phase and might be expanded beyond the sandbox environment.

As a national solution coordination and facilitation centre, NTIS provides a critical step by eliminating all or selected processes and/or regulatory requirements to accelerate the development of innovative solutions from the R&D stage to being commercially ready.

Future Drone Technology

Here is the breakdown of the technology generations:

  • Generation 1: Basic remote control aircraft of all forms

  • Generation 2: Static design, fixed camera mount, video recording and still photos, manual piloting control

  • Generation 3: Static design, two-axis gimbals, HD video, basic safety models, assisted piloting

  • Generation 4: Transformative designs, Three-axis gimbals, 1080P HD video or higher-value instrumentation, improved safety modes, autopilot modes.

  • Generation 5: Transformative designs, 360° gimbals, 4K video or higher-value instrumentation, intelligent piloting modes.

  • Generation 6: Commercial suitability, safety and regulatory standards based design, platform and payload adaptability, automated safety modes, intelligent piloting models and full autonomy, airspace awareness

  • Generation 7: Complete commercial suitability, fully compliant safety and regulatory standards-based design, platform and payload interchangeability, automated safety modes, enhanced intelligent piloting models and full autonomy, full airspace awareness, auto action (takeoff, land, and mission execution)