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Model aircraft operators free to operate commercially in US, rules federal judge

dronehire.org

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Re: Model aircraft operators free to operate commercially in US, rules federal judge

#41

Post by swalsh »

dronehire wrote: post #18
swalsh wrote: post #14

YES! 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.

Thanks, i'm actually based out of Boston. I'll try to find some groups here.

Re: Model aircraft operators free to operate commercially in US, rules federal judge

#42

Post by jccooper »

cryptoz wrote: post #6

Okay, 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…

Unless you're collecting your data under 400 feet, this ruling isn't going to enable such a system. Only "model aircraft" operation is involved.

Re: Model aircraft operators free to operate commercially in US, rules federal judge

#43

Post by cryptoz »

jccooper wrote: post #42
cryptoz wrote: post #6

Okay, 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…

Unless you're collecting your data under 400 feet, this ruling isn't going to enable such a system. Only "model aircraft" operation is involved.

Actually I'm exclusively interested in data under 400 feet! Surface-level pressure observations are my target; recent research suggests that a dense network of atmospheric pressure observations (taken on the surface) will produce a significantly higher accuracy forecast. Smartphones work nicely for this except for their lack of even geographical distribution.

Re: Model aircraft operators free to operate commercially in US, rules federal judge

#44

Post by cryptoz »

fnordfnordfnord wrote: post #39
cryptoz wrote: post #6

Okay, 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…

Wouldn't balloons be better for atmospheric pressure sensors?

Perhaps but I don't think so. I want surface-level observations, or as close to the surface as possible. Also, the drones will be most useful if they can fine-tune their route and quickly go to a specific place to join a swarm of others measuring forming stormclouds.

Re: Model aircraft operators free to operate commercially in US, rules federal judge

#45

Post by fnordfnordfnord »

SpacemanSpiff wrote: post #31

So as a pilot of a manned aircraft what does this mean for the safety of my flights? Do I need to start trying to avoid unlicensed, unlit, and unannounced drone aircraft whenever I'm below 400ft AGL? Edit: Thanks to everyone below for your thoughtful comments. My replies are as follows: 1) Regarding model aircraft - I would argue that the low density of these operations at the moment is what has prevented an incident…

Nothing changes for you. Also continue to avoid flocks of birds, which by all appearances are oblivious to FAA directives.

Re: Model aircraft operators free to operate commercially in US, rules federal judge

#46

Post by Lexarius »

cryptoz wrote: post #24
d23 wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

Well, I do have a vision where solar power is actually enough, but that's certainly not possible today. This might work in 3-4 years, depending on what happens in battery tech and solar efficiency. Otherwise, I think you might have to build a network similar to Matternet [1] / Tesla Supercharger; making a ground-based charging infrastructure investment might be necessary to get started, even if that tech isn't necess…

Have you considered buying solar-powered drones from Titan Aerospace before Facebook snatches them up? Probably a bit pricey, but they are marketed as atmospheric satellites.

Re: Model aircraft operators free to operate commercially in US, rules federal judge

#47

Post by jccooper »

chrisa wrote: post #7

After 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?

UAVs (UASs) can operate above 400 ft with a Certificate of Airworthiness (or similar.) However, the FAA will not yet issue you one, as they don't yet have to rules to do so.

UAVs that qualify as "model aircraft" can operate in that domain, as they always could. But now commercial use doesn't automatically turn them into license-requiring UAVs.

Re: Model aircraft operators free to operate commercially in US, rules federal judge

#48

Post by fnordfnordfnord »

cryptoz wrote: post #44
fnordfnordfnord wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wouldn't balloons be better for atmospheric pressure sensors?

Perhaps but I don't think so. I want surface-level observations, or as close to the surface as possible. Also, the drones will be most useful if they can fine-tune their route and quickly go to a specific place to join a swarm of others measuring forming stormclouds.

I think you'll have to be clever to get good data, some of these things are pretty sensitive (BMP085, SCP1000, etc). What will you do, cut the power and stall the craft to take the measurements? Sounds like fun.

http://www.bosch-sensortec.com/en/homepage/products_3/enviro...

Re: Model aircraft operators free to operate commercially in US, rules federal judge

#49

Post by jccooper »

cryptoz wrote: post #43
jccooper wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unless you're collecting your data under 400 feet, this ruling isn't going to enable such a system. Only "model aircraft" operation is involved.

Actually I'm exclusively interested in data under 400 feet! Surface-level pressure observations are my target; recent research suggests that a dense network of atmospheric pressure observations (taken on the surface) will produce a significantly higher accuracy forecast. Smartphones work nicely for this except for their lack of even geographical distribution.

That may be useful then. I don't think there's any specific rule against a fully-autonomous system, though it would certainly raise some eyebrows. If you do it with enough safeguards and in a safe area, you might get away with it.

Re: Model aircraft operators free to operate commercially in US, rules federal judge

#50

Post by SpacemanSpiff »

fnordfnordfnord wrote: post #45
SpacemanSpiff wrote: post #31

So as a pilot of a manned aircraft what does this mean for the safety of my flights? Do I need to start trying to avoid unlicensed, unlit, and unannounced drone aircraft whenever I'm below 400ft AGL? Edit: Thanks to everyone below for your thoughtful comments. My replies are as follows: 1) Regarding model aircraft - I would argue that the low density of these operations at the moment is what has prevented an incident…

Nothing changes for you. Also continue to avoid flocks of birds, which by all appearances are oblivious to FAA directives.

And every year there are numerous incidents where a bird strike inflicts significant damage to a manned aircraft. Just because a risk already exists doesn't mean that it's acceptable or wise to increase this risk arbitrarily IMO.
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