Rules preventing drone collisions drawn up by Subaru have become the global standard, with the Japanese company building relationships through the approval process to attain that distinction.
Subaru first received the news last October that the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) accepted its proposed anti-collision standards for unmanned aerial vehicles.
Commonly accepted rules would speed up the spread of commercial drone operations. But why would Subaru, a major automaker, be concerned with that sector? The answer lies in the company’s history.
Subaru’s roots trace back to Nakajima Aircraft Co., which came to being in the pre-war era. During World War II, the company was known as the top aircraft manufacturer in Asia
The company, since reorganized and rebranded as Subaru, has been involved in UAVs for the Japan Self-Defense Forces since the 1970s. Some company facilities continue to produce parts for aircraft.
Subaru launched a full-fledged push into drones in 2017 by answering a call from Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) to run a pilot project. The undertaking focused on collision avoidance technology, in response to near misses between drones and piloted aircraft.
One set of field tests sought to prevent crashes with drones flying at relative speeds of 100 kilometers an hour. Subaru teamed with Japan Radio to equip drones with sensors.
Once a piloted aircraft is detected, the drone system would quickly calculate a route to evade collision. After repeated trials, the tech was determined to be feasible in 2019.
However, there were no internationally accepted protocols for preventing drone collisions. Without such standards in place, drones will still face the risk of accidental crashes due to the lack of coordination among avoidance systems.
In short, drones need safety rules for widespread adoption, just like automobiles needed traffic regulations. Akihiro Yamane, general manager of Subaru’s aerospace engineering development department, sought to fill that vacuum and create the rules.
“Someone needs to do it,” said Yamane.
For such rules to be globally accepted, they needed to go through ISO’s multistep approval process that takes three to four years to complete. Subaru banded with Japan Radio and NEDO to submit the proposal at ISO’s international conference held in London in June 2019.
Subaru’s collision avoidance procedures work in six stages. They include constantly checking for potential obstacles, detecting an aircraft, taking evasive maneuvers, checking to see if there are other aircraft approaching, returning to the original route, and proceeding along that route.
Subaru’s proposed rules went through an international working group where they were exposed to parties with competing interests. According to the company, South Korea introduced its own draft rules that had more granular procedures in avoiding collisions.
The Japanese side believed it would prevail, considering that adding more detailed steps to the rules would pose challenges to technological development. The Subaru-led team argued their case to members of the working group, which led the way to the group adopting the Japanese proposal.
The next hurdle was a subcommittee that decided whether a full vote should be taken on the proposed rules. Experts from China, South Korea and the U.S., among other places, would make that key determination.
Subaru’s team had been working behind the scenes in advance. When the chair of the ISO subcommittee visited Japan for a separate matter in 2019, Subaru used the opportunity to invite the chairperson to witness a drone test.
The chairperson was impressed by the display, with the chair advocating for Subaru’s rules. The proposal passed the subcommittee, and voting by the full ISO membership began in 2022.
The rules eventually received majority approval and were officially recognized as international norms last October.
“We’re finally standardized,” said Yamane.
With the safety rules in place, drones like the ones used for package deliveries have drawn nearer to mainstream application. Subaru looks to capture demand and sell its collision avoidance technology worldwide.
Subaru unveiled a flying car prototype last year. Yamane believes the same standards for anti-drone collision could be applied to air mobility vehicles.
Source: NIKKEI Asia