Treggon Owens: UAS Set to Transform Aerospace and the World Written 8 January 2016
Speaker: Treggon Owens, founding partner and CEO, Aerial MOB
by Lawrence Garrett, AIAA Web Editor
Unmanned aerial systems – drones – soon will transform the aerospace industry and the world, and will one day be everywhere, predicted Treggon Owens, founding partner and CEO of Aerial MOB, an unmanned aerial services company.
While Aerial MOB is best known for making movies with drones through its unique ability to connect many elements in 3-D space in one continuous shot, Owens explained, the company has recently been expanding beyond film and tv productions.
In 2015, he said Aerial MOB participated in an unmanned military training exercise at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, that demonstrated the capturing of a forward operating base.
As Owens explained, a drone was used for initial reconnaissance, and that data was used to make a 3-D model of the target area in real-time. Then, another ground-based robot was sent in to look for bombs, and a bomb-diffusion robot was sent in to disarm all explosives so that people could go in and take the base.
Owens said this is the direction his company is headed.
“I think that’s the future of aerospace … a collaboration between ground, air, sea [and] humans,” he said. “We’re all going to be coming together [from different disciplines], and that’s what’s going to create the beauty with drones.”
We’re sure to see other aspects of life affected by UAS, Owens said. Since drones allow for closer data collection, they could do power station inspections and power line surveys. Drones also could perform delivery services and aid in construction planning.
“I don’t think that you’ll see the hub and spoke model that everyone’s conceptualizing out there, of delivery drones, but it’s going to happen, and it’s going to happen quickly,” he said. “You’re going to see mail trucks that have drones coming out of them.”
The fastest-growing segment in the drone world and where most of the innovation is happening, according to Owens, is drone racing. In these races, drones can reach speeds up to 90 mph. He said this segment of the industry needs help and that there’s huge market opportunities for aerospace companies.
“There’s continuous need and a beautiful new opportunity for all of you guys to break out of the big aerospace and go and start your companies,” he said. “I highly encourage you guys to go take giant risks and have a lot more fun.”