Drones set to share sky with domestic air traffic

Drones set to share sky with domestic air traffic

Kind of old news but this is the first time I've read a date for full implementation: "Politicians have given the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) until 2015 to prepare its air traffic systems for the use of drones, both commercial and military, over US territory."

 

In a related note, I am rereading 1984 again for the first time since, well, 1984.

Fookin crazy to see just where we're at in comparison to where we were then. I'm pretty sure I'll be dirt napping before it gets anywhere close to Orwell's vision, but damned if there aren't aspects of it getting very close to reality.

Go give it a read... even if you have before.

 

That's kind of misleading. The Sep 30, 2015 date was established in the FAA Reauthorization Bill for the regulations for full integration into the NAS. Full integration, meaning aircraft operating in the Victor and Jet routes at medium to high altitudes will not happen until closer to 2020. There is still quite a bit of technology that has to be developed for routine operations in the NAS to happen. Most immediately and pressing is "sense and avoid". The TCAS system is not the solution, just a step.

We hope to be operating STAUS (small tactical aerial unmanned systems) or Tier I for commercial purposes by 2014 in the US. We can currently operate outside of the US in other markets that permit operations legally. Depending on the country, we can operate Medium Altitude Long Endurance aircraft as well in the commercial market or for humanitarian purposes.

 

Are you that worried about manned aircraft? Because there really isn't much difference. Actually, for intel gathering purposes, the manned aircraft have greater surveillance capabilities. Specifically electronic surveillance. The same laws that prohibit the military and limit the police from using aircraft to "watch" everyone apply to UAS's also.

 

Doug, which industries are eyeing unmanned aircraft for commercial use? Oh, and thanks for the info. Why am I not reading more about this? I worked on F15's way back when and this technology is interesting to me.

 

I will get several drones for lease, equipped to take care of 'problems' for prospective clients. It will be much better, and more satisfying, than hiring attorneys.

 

Now this is a superb example of the ingenuity that made this country great. Kudos, Sir Charles.

 

The first commercial market that will open will be first responders. That is primarily for manufacturers of STAUS type of aircraft. Per the FAA Reauthorization Bill, the FAA was directed to establish a plan for public agencies to have immediate access to these aircraft, they were given 6 months as of Feb 14, 2012. Those plans are still not finalized. They were supposed to have identified 6 test sites by 15 Aug 2012. Those will not be identified until after the election (I was told that during a conference call with the FAA last June). Anyway, market wise, first responder will be the first and a fairly large marker initially for manufacturers and leasing providers. The problem with the public first responder market is that it prohibits the service providers from operating.

The next market once the STAUS can operate commercially will be pretty wide spread. But agriculture and infrastructure inspections will be large as well as imagery for various industries and reasons. Home inspections, photography, cinematography, construction, etc. As higher operating aircraft are integrated the commercial applications change to having unmanned cargo aircraft flying transoceanic to communication applications.

What my company is doing is working on higher level autonomy to remove the human from the loop and incorporating human skill sets into the software to perform specific missions or tasking independent of human interaction. We are using proprietary software to develop higher levels of intelligence allowing multiple vehicles to work together. air/air, air/ground, air/marine, air/ground/marine in various combinations and numbers. Our first market is agriculture for precision inspections to identify stressors in high margin crops.

 

Amerika is a fascist shit hole.

 

Welcome to 1984, knock knock at your front door.

 

You are now written into all of our code.

 

uber alles Mr. K.

 

I wish....Would probably get funding from Stanford and the valley for that project.

In reality they look more like this,

http://news.discovery.com/tech/firefighting-robot-120308.html

I've seen these units in testing. Very neat stuff.

 

Robotics!! Killing American jobs one task at a time!

ok, just kidding. that shit is actually ultra cool. How long before you guys can make one that is bangable and can cook?

 

The humanoid stuff is kinda out of our realm. The core algorithm can be applied to that, hence why we met with them. But the specific use has many more I/O's than a vehicle does. The API development would be a very big and expensive project.

 

yet the mission seems so easy.

vagina: check
no vocal cords: check
can cook a mean chicken friend steak: check

 

It all works great, until you add the vagina. Then it all goes downhill. It won't work right, breaks down for no apparent reason, can no longer drive a car, and it starts to leak hyd fluid every month on a regular basis. It gets even worse when we put a metal clasp onto it's ring finger as it refuses to do anything it's programmed to do.

 

Joe, one industry that I left out is mining. Mining is going to be a large user of air and ground systems working in conjuction to perform certain tasks.

 

Thanks for all the info Doug. I'm jealous you're working on this and I'm not.