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At the recent Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Drone Symposium (co-hosted by AUVSI), FAA Deputy Regional Administrator Deb Sanning discussed the impact of autonomy and AI, human/machine integration, and the strategies for gaining public trust in autonomous systems, like drones. Sanning discussed this topic along with Brendan Groves from Skydio; Taylor Lochrane, the Deputy Director for…

The Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI), the world’s leading trade association for drones and other autonomous vehicles, announced a collaboration with the Department of Defense’s (DOD) Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) to further commercial cyber methodologies to design a shared standard. AUVSI’s effort is meant to expand the number of vetted drones that meet…

Today, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigates accidents involving manned aircraft and other major transportation accidents. However, there was a new Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) released by the NTSB which seeks to revise the agency’s authority to include investigations related to drone accidents. The NTSB is only authorized to investigate drone accidents…

The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) released its comments on the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) proposed Remote Identification Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Rule, emphasizing the importance of remote ID for expanded UAS operations, and also encouraging the FAA to explore ways to incentivize early, voluntary compliance with remote ID prior to the implementation…

Last week, on the two-year anniversary of the small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) rule (or Part 107), a report was released by the Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) stating that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has granted approximately 2,000 waivers since the inception of Part 107. Part 107 sets forth certain parameters and…

At the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) co-hosted Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS or drones) Symposium in Baltimore, Maryland last week, all speakers agreed on one thing: safety is the primary concern. Michael Kratsios, Deputy Assistant to the president and Deputy U.S. Technology Officer, said that while “we’ve never…

As a farmer, you likely need to keep a close eye on the growth of your crops or survey hundreds of acres of crops after a storm or other natural disaster. Agriculture experts now say that farmers should look to the skies for some help in doing so. John Perry, President of the Coastal Plains…

Yet another piece of drone legislation is in circulation; the Safe DRONE Act of 2017 was recently introduced by U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner, John Hoeven, Catherine Cortez Masto, and Dean Heller. The Act proposes the following for unmanned aerial systems (UAS or drones) in the U.S.:

  • Develop a trained UAS workforce: Directs the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) secretary to designate a consortium of community and technical colleges to expand the capacity of those colleges to train students for career opportunities in the UAS industry.
  • Coordinate federal UAS spectrum policy: Establishes an interagency working group – with a broad array of stakeholders who will be tasked with developing a cohesive federal policy to address communications needs to facilitate safe integration of drones into the National Airspace.
  • Advance unmanned traffic management (UTM): Directs the DOT secretary, in coordination with NASA, to develop an implementation plan within one year to achieve full operational capability of UTM.
  • Enhance UAS safety and security: Establishes an interagency working group involving relevant federal security agencies to develop recommendations for enhanced safety and security of expanded small UAS operations beyond visual line of sight and over people. It requires that the FAA release rules within one year of enactment.

Continue Reading U.S. Senators Introduce the Safe DRONE Act of 2017

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), along with a group of universities, conducted a study to determine the risks associated with flying unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) over people. The group of universities included the University of Alabama-Huntsville; Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University; Mississippi State University; and the University of Kansas, through the Alliance for System Safety of UAS…