IANAL, but can we get a reading of the actual decision? As much as I'd like to take this on face value, dronehire.org may have a bias.
The article linked has a link to the actual decision:
Model aircraft operators free to operate commercially in US, rules federal judge
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Re: Model aircraft operators free to operate commercially in US, rules federal judge
#12Huh, so if Amazon really wants to start sending out those drones they no longer have any legal hurdles? I expect to hear stories of college kids capturing them before EOY.
Im certain amazon is not living under the assumption that people capturing them won't be a problem, and I think its safe to assume they aren't going to release a bunch of easily stolen drones without coming up with a way to make it more difficult (much like the UPS driver who takes the keys out of his otherwise easy-to-steal truck).
Re: Model aircraft operators free to operate commercially in US, rules federal judge
#13Without a law that gets passed otherwise, this also opens up the floodgates to full law enforcement use of drones in public/private airspace. If the sky's open for for commercial use, it's automatically available for law enforcement as well. I had hopes that there would be some rules/regulations in place first... edit: assuming the decision allowed use in populated areas, full disclosure that I haven't had a chance t…
edit: this was an administrative law judge's decision from the national transportation safety board
aka not set in stone
Re: Model aircraft operators free to operate commercially in US, rules federal judge
#14YES! I have several business ideas that I've been sitting on because of the restrictions.
Is there a good source someone here can hook me up with already made drones? I can do software, but i'm not really a hardware guy.
Re: Model aircraft operators free to operate commercially in US, rules federal judge
#15After reading the pdf, I'm still not clear: does this mean UAVs can operate in regular airspace (above 400 ft) with proper licensing, or are they still (for now) limited to under 400 ft, and away from populated areas?
It just means we have to be selective about applications, but this sounds like a great starting point.
Re: Model aircraft operators free to operate commercially in US, rules federal judge
#16YES! I have several business ideas that I've been sitting on because of the restrictions. Is there a good source someone here can hook me up with already made drones? I can do software, but i'm not really a hardware guy.
I would reach out to a local makerspace. There is a ton of DIY drone enthusiasts in the commumity.
Re: Model aircraft operators free to operate commercially in US, rules federal judge
#17YES! I have several business ideas that I've been sitting on because of the restrictions. Is there a good source someone here can hook me up with already made drones? I can do software, but i'm not really a hardware guy.
http://3drobotics.com has a number of options with open source autopilots
Re: Model aircraft operators free to operate commercially in US, rules federal judge
#18YES! I have several business ideas that I've been sitting on because of the restrictions. Is there a good source someone here can hook me up with already made drones? I can do software, but i'm not really a hardware guy.
DJI and 3DR are two of the most popular manufacturers of RTF (ready-to-fly) drones. If you don't have much experience with flying model aircraft, I'd definitely recommend that you practise with a micro multicopter such as the Hubsan X4 H107C. You could also join a drone user group - see dugn.org - there's a group in San Francisco that is focused on startups.
Re: Model aircraft operators free to operate commercially in US, rules federal judge
#19Huh, so if Amazon really wants to start sending out those drones they no longer have any legal hurdles? I expect to hear stories of college kids capturing them before EOY.
I don't think that's a hurdle. I imagine that would be some form of trespassing onto amazon's very expensive property.
Yep, and college students have no historical record of law breaking or vandalism in the name of entertainment whatsoever.
Re: Model aircraft operators free to operate commercially in US, rules federal judge
#20Okay, time to build drones full of atmosphere sensors! The weather forecast is about to get a lot better....this is excellent news for crowdsourcing remote data about the atmosphere. I've been pulling pressure measurements from smartphones for a while, but a core problem is that a lot of weather develops over areas of low smartphone density. Sending out drone fleets will be a most excellent solution; they're reusable…
Out of curiosity, how do you power them? I'm assuming solar isn't enough. Do they have to continually come down to re-charge?