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FAA issuing new rules to allow drones to fly over people and at night

reuters.com

31–40 of 283 posts

Re: FAA issuing new rules to allow drones to fly over people and at night

#31

I was about to have a knee-jerk reaction to this, but I just realized I may misunderstand what the rules actually allow. My worst-case scenario, perhaps totally unrealistic, is that this allows a drone with a camera to hover over my property, peeping in through the windows. Are there any current / upcoming rules that prevent that?

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Re: FAA issuing new rules to allow drones to fly over people and at night

#32

This is odd: night would be the time when I would think people don't want to hear "whirrrrrrr...' of drones flying over their houses.

Yeah, even if all of the logistical and technical issues of drone delivery make it economically viable for Amazon (or whoever) - I think I might boycott Amazon as a company if they started using drones for any deliveries. They are just so obnoxiously loud I would probably welcome people shooting them out of the sky (or if you're awesome you can use an eagle). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8v5hCxBZTh0 https://www.bb…

Plenty of companies hard at work on making anti-drone tech consumer friendly. Rejoice!

Re: FAA issuing new rules to allow drones to fly over people and at night

#33
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> drones ladden with deliveries could dispatch from the top of a central tall structure Wouldn't the cost of elevating the loaded drones to the rooftop of that tall structure negate any monetary gains? Wouldn't the cost be exactly that of simply using grounded vehicles that elevate themselves? (edited for clarity)

lifting those payloads up the tower would just use the commerical power grid and not batteries that you also have to carry up. cables and motors are much more efficient than propellers.

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Re: FAA issuing new rules to allow drones to fly over people and at night

#34
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

RF can still be expensive depending on how it needs to be implemented. As a casual drone pilot I’m still concerned about how this is going to effect cost, existing equipment in the field and hobby/home-built uSAS’s. I’ll still take it over the internet mandate, however - so it’s a step in the right direction.

No matter what, there will be consequences for DIY/hobby aircraft, just because cost/weight/complexity are critical factors in a small drone. Most of the planes I fly now are wood/cardboard with a few dumb electrical components. Adding any component will make it harder for newcomers to enter the field. The FAA has decided that unregulated drone flight is an issue, and no matter what, they're going to tackle it. So I'…

I’ve already had a drone hovering outside Daughters bedroom window.

Some people have very different concerns about accountability of drones.

Re: FAA issuing new rules to allow drones to fly over people and at night

#35
Whenever I encounter people flying drones - for example at the park - I find it highly obnoxious. The buzzing of their rotors is noise pollution that ruins the peace of a park/natural area, and while I recognize the right to record in public spaces, there’s something especially creepy about a drone flying along a jogging path near you armed with the latest 4K cameras. I think drone enthusiasts don’t understand how that can impact women especially. I also think it would be incredibly annoying to have drones constantly in the sky above you if our current volume of deliveries is moved from ground to air. I hope both are heavily regulated and curbed.

Re: FAA issuing new rules to allow drones to fly over people and at night

#36
post #30
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I could see automated license plate reader and facial recognition use cases for sure. Depending on how high the drone flies FR may or may not be feasible.

Do automated license plate reader work via night vision systems? Could they be made to work?

Lots of license plates these days have high contrast between the letters and the background. These license plates are often usually covered in retroreflectors such that the high contrast is accentuated with any kind of light. A strong IR light source from an IR camera can probably read most clean license plates driving by without being obvious to the people being viewed. Remember that light follows the inverse square law, so if you're far away you'll probably need a pretty bright IR source to get a good high contrast read from a far away license plate, along with pretty good optics/sensor to reliably read the plate.

Re: FAA issuing new rules to allow drones to fly over people and at night

#37

This will revolutionize the delivery industry. I imagine trucks will become mobile drone carriers with drones landing and taking off with packages as they travel through the city.

This is what I have been thinking but I would personally prefer they use trebuchets and launch the packages onto your porch (instead of using drones). Not because it would be practical but because it would be cool.

Re: FAA issuing new rules to allow drones to fly over people and at night

#39
post #20
post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had the crazy thought that drones ladden with deliveries could dispatch from the top of a central tall structure (like a skyscraper or antenna), take advantage of the height differential to efficiently glide toward their delivery destination, and then make their return with less weight to carry. Probably very few locales where this could make sense compared to automated sidewalk deliveries like Starship. The speed…

>> drones ladden with deliveries could dispatch from the top of a central tall structure Wouldn't the cost of elevating the loaded drones to the rooftop of that tall structure negate any monetary gains? Wouldn't the cost be exactly that of simply using grounded vehicles that elevate themselves? (edited for clarity)

An elevator?

Re: FAA issuing new rules to allow drones to fly over people and at night

#40
post #8

Anyone want to bet in what capacity this will be used for (police) surveillance ? Especially since Alphabet and Amazon are involved.

Police forces have been using drones for surveillance since at least 2017, including beyond line of sight flights at night.

https://whitmancountywatch.com/2019/11/07/pullman-police-fli...

It seems that these regulations are focused on permitting private commercial flights similar rights.

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