What Makes a Drone Show System Safe?

1. Navigation Redundancy

Navigational redundancy is hands-down the #1 safety feature concerning drones and drone fleets. The Verge Aero system has adopted navigational redundancy from day one, and here’s why.

Redundancy is essential with all of aviation. Manned aircraft have multiple layers of redundancy with their avionics. Unmanned drones operated in environments close to people should as well.

Drones use something called an EKF estimator (an Extended Kalman Filter) to help them navigate with precision. Position, velocity, and orientation are calculated by combining data sensors like GPS and IMU (inertial measurement unit). The more estimators in use, the safer the drone.

The Verge Aero X7 has two independent sets of navigation sensors, enabling four estimators. (The X1 has three.)

Drones with only a single estimator are problematic. They have a single point of failure and are susceptible to improper performance in the event of collision or sensor failure, resulting in out-of-control drones that can breach the show safety perimeter. Unfortunately, this has been an ongoing problem with drones lacking navigation redundancy. Recognizing this, Verge Aero has been committed to holding our system to a safer standard.

Furthermore, to maximize safety, ongoing system development that incorporates the latest safety features is imperative. Things move fast in the drone world. Outdated autopilot software should not be used.

2. Multiple, Independent Geofence Systems

Geofences surround the area in which a drone show operates and, if working correctly, prevent drones from leaving the designated flight area. Utilizing multiple geofences increases redundancy and safety.

For this reason, Verge Aero utilizes a dual geofence system powered by two independent onboard computers for an additional level of redundancy. This ensures that drones stay within the safe operational area and prevents accidents caused by out-of-control drones.

The Verge Aero system consists of a soft geofence and a hard geofence. The soft geofence is a local radius around each individual drone as it travels along its respective flight path. If a drone deviates from its flight path enough to breach that radius, that drone will autoland. When autolanding, a drone will descend vertically from the position where the autoland was triggered. The drone will descend in a controlled manner until it reaches the ground and the motors turn off. The hard geofence encompasses the entire show airspace. If a drone breaches this hard geofence, its motors will cut immediately, and the drone will freefall until it reaches the ground.

3. Automation and Minimal Potential for Pilot/Human Error

People make mistakes. Drone show systems should automate processes prone to human error. Again, just like with manned aviation, you want the pilot focused on flying the mission and not distracted by mundane tasks which can be automated.

Our system is designed to maximize both safety and efficiency while making the show creation process as simple and user-friendly as possible. The underlying software calculates flight paths for the entire flight sequence—from props spinning to landing—and mathematically validates them to ensure that drone flight paths do not intersect. This is all done in a unified software package, which eliminates the need for handoffs between software packages and minimizes the potential for human error.

4. Safety Culture In Operations

Safety assurance for players in this industry goes beyond following the above safety requirements and utilizing up-to-date technology; it must be a top priority for system developers and users. Verge Aero and its Verge Powered Network partners maintain a culture that prioritizes safety at every level of operation. Through comprehensive training programs, rigorous protocols, and continuous improvement processes, we are committed to ensuring that every show performed with the Verge system maintains the highest standards of operational excellence.

How to know if your drone show system is safe?

Here are some questions to ask your provider:

• Does the system have true Navigational Redundancy? How many estimators are there?
• Two independent sets of navigation sensors is a minimum requirement for redundancy. This allows four estimators to operate, as is the design for Verge Aero’s X7 drone.
• Is the control software up to date?
• If the PX4 autopilot is used by the drones, is it version 1.15 or newer? This version of the PX4 autopilot incorporates multiple safety enhancements.
• How does the geofencing system work?
• Having multiple geofences maximizes safety and redundancy. Do separate processors power each one?
• How experienced is the pilot, and what’s the pilot training process like?

Once again, a critical concern for safety in drone show systems is necessary for the continued success of the drone show industry. By utilizing navigational redundancy, tight hardware/software integration, a unified software platform, and regular updates to our tech package that incorporate the latest safety features, Verge Aero’s system minimizes the potential for human error while maximizing efficiency, performance, and safety.