Tag Archives: Commercial Drone Alliance

300 It’s Called a Drone

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The Commercial Drone Alliance wants to see regulations for large drones, sUAS are vulnerable to impacts, using AI-enabled drones to identify specific individuals (human and otherwise), drones donated to universities for precision ag, and BVLOS for the UAS Integration Pilot Program.

UAV News

DON’T SAY ‘DRONES,’ Beg Drone Makers

This is the first story we covered, from Episode #1.

Commercial Drone Alliance calls for focus on large UAS in letter to new FAA administrator

The Commercial Drone Alliance sent a letter to the new U.S. chief technology officer and to the new FAA Administrator. The letter notes that the FAA has mostly focused on sUAS and the Alliance wants to see regulators look at large UAS. Lisa Ellman, executive director of the Commercial Drone Alliance and partner at Hogan Lovells, said: “The Commercial Drone Alliance looks forward to working with newly sworn-in FAA Administrator Stephen Dickson and recently confirmed U.S. CTO Michael Kratsios to develop common sense and business-friendly regulations for large UAS.”

Lessons for drone defense from a tennis ball

XKCD cartoonist Randall Munroe asked Serena Williams to try and take out a DJI Mavic Pro 2 with a tennis ball. She did. On her third serve, Serena nailed the quadcopter. Consumer drones are not very hardened against impact.

Little Ripper deploys croc-spotting AI drones

In Episode 287 we talked about Little Ripper drones being used in New South Wales and Queensland to spot sharks. Now the same drone technology is being used to spot crocodiles in Queensland.

Drones that recognize you? Amazon has a patent for that.

This article describes two patents granted to Amazon.com: One includes launching unmanned aircraft from freight cars and the other utilizes one or more drones to locate the delivery customer.

In other package delivery news:

Video: Bell Autonomous Pod Transport 70 Achieves First Autonomous Flight

AeroVironment Donates 87 Quantix Drones and AV DSS Ecosystems to 35 U.S. University Agriculture Departments to Advance Drones in Farming

The AeroVironment 2019 Quantix and AV DSS University Collaboration Project seeks to advance academic research, applications, and crop production practices through the use of UAS and advanced data analytics.

Video: The Next Generation of Quantix & AV DSS

https://youtu.be/_Qpxhokc2Ok

Drones on the farm: Using facial recognition to keep cows healthy

An automated drone system that can monitor the health of cattle in the pasture is being developed by a team of professors and student researchers in the UK. Testing is being conducted with 3DR Solo drones modified with a Raspberry Pi. The autonomous drones could identify each animal, determine its location, and measure health information like weight, size, facial features, and physical activity.

FAA OKs Airbus Aerial UAS Operations in North Dakota

The FAA authorized Airbus Aerial to operate UAS at the Grand Forks, North Dakota, test site under the UAS Integration Pilot Program. Airbus Aerial will use a SenseFly eBee drone to survey power distribution lines, BVLOS. Press release: Airbus Aerial Receives Waiver for Urban BVLOS UAS Flight Operations Over Populated Areas in North Dakota.

GA-ASI Receives FAA No-Chase COA for Unmanned Flights in North Dakota

The FAA also granted General Atomics Aeronautical Systems a Certificate of Waiver or Authorization (COA) for BVLOS. They will use a Ground-based Sense and Avoid (GBSAA) system that incorporates the Grand Forks Air Force Base Air Surveillance Radar (ASR) and the L3Harris Technologies VueStation and RangeVue systems. These meet the “see and avoid” requirements over large airspace.

Videos of the Week

Video of man fishing while dangling from drone under investigation by CASA

The man posted a video on social media showing him fishing, drinking beer, and even catching a fish. Now the Civil Aviation Safety Authority is investigating.

Your new best travel buddy is this autonomous suitcase that’s always by your side

“Self-driving technology allows the Ovis Suitcase to follow alongside its owner, while computer vision tech lets it see and avoid obstacles.” Ovis is equipped with GPS location tracker, smart alarm, embedded weight sensor, TSA-approved digital lock and removable airline-compliant LiPo battery that doubles as a charging station.

Video: Introducing Ovis by FowardX, the World’s First Vision-Powered Side-Follow Suitcase

UAV240 Calls to Repeal Section 336

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The Commercial Drone Alliance seeks to repeal Section 336, the FAA Reauthorization ACT of 2018 is introduced, Apple might not like drone flights over its new corporate headquarters, Temple University students build an autonomous drone for campus tours, and the DARPA Gremlins drone swarm program.

UAV News

Commercial Drone Alliance Calls for Section 336 Repeal: ‘Times Have Changed’

The FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 prohibits the FAA from regulating model aircraft flown as part of a community-based organization. The Commercial Drone Alliance wants Congress to repeal Section 336 of the Act because all drones need “rules of the road.” Lisa Ellman, co-executive director of the Commercial Drone Alliance says the alliance “understand[s] why model aircraft proponents want to remain exempt, as they have been flying safely for decades. However, times have changed, and hobbyists are no longer flying alone.” Gretchen West, co-executive director of the Alliance, says, “Technology has improved. To promote innovation and the budding commercial drone industry, we need to enable the FAA to craft some common-sense rules around remote identification and more.”

FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, Sec. 336 (in part):

(a) …the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration may not promulgate any rule or regulation regarding a model aircraft, or an aircraft being developed as a model aircraft, if–

(1) the aircraft is flown strictly for hobby or recreational use;

(2) the aircraft is operated in accordance with a community-based set of safety guidelines and within the programming of a nationwide community-based organization;

(3) the aircraft is limited to not more than 55 pounds unless otherwise certified through a design, construction, inspection, flight test, and operational safety program administered by a community-based organization;

(4) the aircraft is operated in a manner that does not interfere with and gives way to any manned aircraft; and

(5) when flown within 5 miles of an airport, the operator of the aircraft provides the airport operator and the airport air traffic control tower …with prior notice of the operation…

(b) Statutory Construction.–Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the authority of the Administrator to pursue enforcement action against persons operating model aircraft who endanger the safety of the national airspace system.

(c) Model Aircraft Defined.–In this section, the term “model
aircraft” means an unmanned aircraft that is–

(1) capable of sustained flight in the atmosphere;

(2) flown within visual line of sight of the person operating the aircraft; and

(3) flown for hobby or recreational purposes.

Brief Summary of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018

Rupprecht Law provides a good summary of the drone-related items in the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 introduced on April 13, 2018, by Representative Shuster. The Act addresses the roles different government levels, user fees, unmanned air traffic management, recreational and commercial drones, registration, and other topics.

Petesch: Drone regulations make investments difficult

Missouri State prohibits the use of UAS systems on campus without specific permission from the university.

Drone Videographer Duncan Sinfield: ‘Only a Matter of Time’ Until Apple Park Shuts Down Drone Flights

Duncan Sinfield uses a drone to creates videos of Apple Park. He thinks “it’s only a matter of time until the campus becomes shut-off to drones completely… with a geo-fence, or something similar.”

APPLE PARK: A Very Private Corporate Campus | mid-April 2018

Students make drone for campus tours

A group of senior electrical engineering majors from Temple University are building an autonomous drone for their senior design project. The drone would give self-guided tours of the campus to prospective students. The team is utilizing two types of machine learning: a convolutional neural network and imitation learning.

DARPA Will Reel-In Its Gremlins Drones and Pluck Them Out Of The Sky Like Flying Fish

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is proceeding to the third phase of its Gremlins drone swarm program. Dynetics has been awarded a contract for the system which envisions a C-130 Hercules aircraft towing a docking system behind it that the unmanned Gremlins can latch onto for retrieval. Ground and limited flight tests will begin in 2018, and flight tests of the system should be completed by January 2020.

UAV Video of the Week

Top 5 Drone Fails

 

UAV233 Drone Legislation Priorities for 2018

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Drone legislation priorities for 2018, UAVs and university research, Piaggio’s latest P.1HH HammerHead, unmanned vehicles from Turkey, the drones made by DJI, drone applications in Maine, and hydrogen fuel cells for drones.

Commercial Drone Alliance drone legislation priorities

UAV News

Commercial Drone Alliance: Legislative Priorities for 2018

Founded in 2016, the Commercial Drone Alliance is an independent non-profit organization led by members of the commercial drone industry. They “…advocate for the commercial use of drones by reducing barriers… creating value for commercial enterprise end users to facilitate adoption of drone technology… [and] educate on the benefits of drone technology for various end user communities.”

The Alliance has eight drone legislation priorities [PDF] they feel the U.S. Congress should support in the FAA Reauthorization bill or other relevant legislation:

      1. Eliminate (or at the very least amend) the Section 336 hobbyist loophole, which endangers the safety and security of the airspace and slows innovation.
      2. Require the FAA to require remote identification for all drones over 250 grams, including hobbyist drones.
      3. Direct the FAA to swiftly implement a rule authorizing low-risk operations over people.
      4. Direct the FAA to allow safe operations beyond visual line of sight in a timely way.
      5. Direct the FAA to streamline and improve the operation waiver process.
      6. Direct the FAA to implement a “Trusted Operator” program that establishes streamlined permitting and operational procedures for authorized commercial UAS operations.
      7. State the sense of Congress supporting the industry-driven Unmanned Aircraft Traffic Management (UTM) System and its timely implementation.
      8. Ensure that UAS programs, and relevant agency offices, are adequately funded and staffed to accomplish these priorities and support existing programs in a timely way.

Additionally, the Alliance wants Congress to pass appropriately-tailored UAS threat mitigation legislation as part of an FAA/DOD/DHS reauthorization, and design certain tax incentives.

UAV-ersity Research: The Soaring Rise of UAV’s and University Research

Researchers have found that UAVs represent a new tool for professional data collection applications. Plus, university-level unmanned aerial vehicle programs are widely available. Mike Hogan, Microdrones’ Sales Director for the Americas, recommends that a basic needs analysis is performed to understand what the researcher’s goal is, what data they are trying to collect, and how they are going to apply it.

P.1HH HammerHead Unmanned Aerial System to enter in service with UAE armed forces

Piaggio Aerospace P.1HH HammerHead

Piaggio Aerospace P.1HH HammerHead

Piaggio Aerospace showed its latest P.1HH HammerHead at the International Unmanned Systems Exhibition in Abu Dhabi. The HammerHead is derived from the P.180 Avanti II commercial aircraft, and is designed for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions. The UAV can be fitted with communications intelligence (COMINT), electronics intelligence (ELINT) and signals intelligence (SIGINT). According to the Defense Industry Daily website, Piaggio has eight orders to be delivered to the UAE from 2018, is an expression of interest from the Italian military.

Turkey May Try to Build an Unmanned Tank

Turkey has been building unmanned aircraft for some time, but now Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan says, “We will carry it a step further [after domestically produced unmanned aerial vehicles] . . . We should reach the ability to produce unmanned tanks as well. We will do it.”

All 39 DJI drones ever made!

According to We Talk UAV, DJI has made 39 different drones since the company started in 2006, and they have a video illustrating the different models of the Wind series, Flame Wheel series, Phantoms, Mavics, Inspires, the Spark, Agras series, Matrice series, and the Spreading Wing series.

DJI has made 39 drones already!!

Drones that reconstruct accidents, monitor crops could put 800 Mainers to work

Drone use by first responders and others is increasing across the country. The State of Maine provides some good examples of the value they can add, including the  creation of new jobs.

HES Energy Systems Announces Smallest and Lightest Hydrogen Fuel Cell For Drone Applications

Hydrogen fuel cells offer the prospect of longer flight times, with a Wh/kg energy density 2 to 5 times higher than lithium batteries Singapore-based HES Energy Systems announced they now manufacture the world’s smallest and lightest hydrogen fuel cell for drones. With previous applications for the defense industry, HES is now deploying their technology for commercial applications. Their Aeropack Series is intended for drone manufacturers to integrate into their products. The Aerostak series is available for more advanced applications.

UAV Video of the Week

Drone vs Piper Cub, via Dave Homewood on the Flight – Audio & Video Facebook page.

Mentioned

David will be attending the 3rd annual FAA Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Symposium at the Baltimore Convention Center March 6th and March 7th, 2018. The event is cosponsored by the FAA and the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI). He hopes to see you there!