Unmanned aerial vehicles also are called drones.
The five-year, $2.2 million federal grant will allow the college to buy fixed-wing aircraft and one additional rotorcraft, said program director Pat Ford. The college will receive $550,000 per year.
Ford updated the BBCC board of trustees during their last meeting.
College officials are converting an old, unused tennis court to serve as a flight range, with the space surrounded by a fence and covered with netting. Construction is expected to begin about Aug. 22, pending approval from the Federal Aviation Administration.
Ford said the UAV business is growing, especially as automation continues to change other businesses. He cited farming as an example, and the possibility of driverless combines and other farm machinery. A farmer could use drone technology to survey fields, Ford said, and in turn use the information to program equipment.
Surveying is only one of many applications for the UAV technology, he said. "The business is there." In addition, unmanned aerial vehicle technology is advancing, and drone capabilities are increasing. The capabilities are "incredible," he said.
Trustee Jon Lane asked about privacy issues, since drone technology -- especially drones with cameras -- have the potential for abuse. He asked where people would go if they had concerns that one of the college's drones had violated their privacy. Ford said the drone program will include policies to protect privacy, and a mechanism where people can complain if they think those rules have been violated.
Lane also asked about other colleges, and where drone training programs might be available, both in the Pacific Northwest and around the country. Ford said Big Bend is the only program in the Pacific Northwest funded through the Title 5 grant. "In the Northwest, it's us."
Big Bend currently has 12 rotorcraft.
Ford brought one -- a four-rotor craft with a camera -- to the board meeting and intended to demonstrate it, but the drone couldn't launch due to BBCC's proximity to Grant County International Airport. There are protocols that will allow the two to coexist when the drone program is up and running, Ford said.
©2016the Columbia Basin Herald, Wash., distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
