The evil FAA has gone into action. FT's Izabella Kaminska explains:
The proposed rules, published by the FAA on Sunday, limit commercial drone use to a maximum of 150 metres above ground level and stop them being flown over people’s heads or in the dark. Most importantly, they limit drone use to so-called “line of sight” operation, meaning operators must be able to see their unmanned aircraft in the air to be compliant with US law. That’s the part of the ruling that’s likely to inhibit remote package delivery for the likes of Amazon.
"operators must be able to see their unmanned aircraft in the air" is ambiguous - maybe we can have a camera network on the ground watching the drones?
ReplyDeleteSo basically, they've reduced civilian drones to stringless kites.
ReplyDeleteI could understand (grudgingly) that they would require sort of a pilot's licence with mandatory training and safety equipment on the drone. Hell, I don't want some bozo dropping one of these on MY head. But this sounds like USEFUL drones are for OFFICIAL (i.e. police) use only. Oh, Freedom, where have you flown?
How many different ways can one see ones drone in the air? Ambiguous means a multitude of interpretations or methodologies. Either you can see the drone with your own eyes or you can't.
ReplyDeleteIt is rather peculiar that the FAA would allow drones to fly at 150 metres (about 450 feet) without restraint when towers can't be more than 200 feet tall without having obstruction marking, such as strobes or lights. Flashing red LEDs wouldn't add much of a load to a vehicle flying on battery power. Maybe Amazon could use something similar to the petrochemically-fuelled engine-powered pre-drone military vehicles, which would make more than enough noise to attract attention. Collision avoidance systems are cheap. The government is probably just trying to avoid the competition of private owners watching them in the same way that they do us.
500ft AGL is the normal minimal altitude for piloted fixed/wing aircraft. So 450ft as the ceiling for drones is not surprising.
DeleteRe: flashing LEDs... It is surprisingly hard to see even bright aircraft beacon and navlights against a sunlit terrain.
The only realistic collision-avoidance solution which would allow drones and piloted aircraft to share airspace is something similar to ADS-B with full "In" capability, and with glass-panel avionics with synthetic vision allowing the drones to be prominently painted against a display which does not cause cognitive disconnect between what's seen outside and what is seen on the panel. Needless to say that vast majority of aircraft is not equipped so, and won't be for at least 15-20 years more. This is mostly FAA's fault, for making certification process so slow and costly, so a typical glass panel installation in a small plane costs around $30k-$50k for, basically, a pair of PCs with GPS and a few other sensors. (You cannot permanently mount non-certified equipment without a/c losing it airworthiness certification).