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In 2019, more than 70 million passengers used Incheon Airport in a single year, showing just how popular flying has become. While aviation is now a familiar technology to the public, drones and UAM still feel like something from the distant future. Conceptually, the main difference between conventional aircraft and drones is that drones are operated unmanned. Although this may seem like a minor difference, it leads to increased economic efficiency, allowing aviation technology to be used by the public for a much wider range of purposes than before. That’s why drones’ core strength is often called the 'Democratization of Flying.'
On the flip side, these very advantages force drones to face a trade-off: the challenge of ensuring safety and reliability. The traditional aviation industry has also dealt with stability issues, but these were managed through strict regulations. Only a small number of approved manufacturers and operators could participate under these complex regulatory frameworks. However, if we stick with the current structure, we'll lose the core value of drones. In the end, the real key to advancing drones and UAM lies in solving the issue of 'how to ensure the same level of trustworthy airworthiness (the ability to fly safely) when large numbers of people operate small unmanned aerial vehicles.'
This time, Weplo—a company Base is now joining—makes it possible to ensure drone airworthiness while achieving the Democratization of Flying. In the traditional aviation industry, securing airworthiness meant carrying out countless complex inspections by hand. But performing checks and maintenance on huge numbers of drones in the same way isn't just inefficient; it also doesn’t suit the increasingly small and sophisticated nature of modern drones.
Weplo is the world's first to automate diagnosis and care for drones and UAM, addressing previous inefficiencies head-on. Their solution uses a range of non-contact sensors to gather physio-mechanical data from aircraft, predicting and assessing potential risks for each drone. On top of that, they provide MRO (Maintenance, Repair, and Operations) services based on this diagnostic data, establishing trust and enhancing efficiency across all areas needed to maintain drone airworthiness.
While there are fewer than 1,000 registered aircraft in Korea, over 30,000 drones have already been officially reported. With the drone market growing this rapidly, ensuring airworthiness is quickly becoming a real-world challenge. Drones may still feel like technology from the future, but we hope that Weplo will tackle the problems facing the drone industry so that one day, all of us can truly become participants in flight.
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