Drone ethics

[Jay]

Yo' video is private.

[blackie]

fixed. I forgot to make it public when I re-uploaded with audio.

The controller software has an option to live stream to youtube, but I haven't tried that yet.

[Jay]

Which model is that? Great quality video.

I dream of using a cell network connected drone to input GPS coordinates to live stream yard sale previews so I don't have to drive all the way there if they ain't got shit.

[blackie]

DJI Phantom 3

The video downlink to the controller is 720p, the same quality that i posted. Most video downlinks had been 640x480 until about a year ago. I was waiting for afordable HD video downlinks to hit the market.

[blackie]

No Flying in national parks
http://www.nps.gov/fire/aviation/safety/unmanned-aerial-systems.cfm

Registration will be required
http://www.faa.gov/news/press_releases/news_story.cfm?newsId=19856

Registration is a statutory requirement that applies to all aircraft.  Under this rule, any owner of a small UAS who has previously operated an unmanned aircraft exclusively as a model aircraft prior to December 21, 2015, must register no later than February 19, 2016. Owners of any other UAS purchased for use as a model aircraft after December 21, 2015 must register before the first flight outdoors. Owners may use either the paper-based process or the new streamlined, web-based system.  Owners using the new streamlined web-based system must be at least 13 years old to register.

Owners may register through a web-based system at www.faa.gov/uas/registration

Registrants will need to provide their name, home address and e-mail address. Upon completion of the registration process, the web application will generate a Certificate of Aircraft Registration/Proof of Ownership that will include a unique identification number for the UAS owner, which must be marked on the aircraft.

Owners using the model aircraft for hobby or recreation will only have to register once and may use the same identification number for all of their model UAS. The registration is valid for three years.

The normal registration fee is $5, but in an effort to encourage as many people as possible to register quickly, the FAA is waiving this fee for the first 30 days (from Dec. 21, 2015 to Jan 20, 2016).

[blackie]

The government put out an RFP for anti drone defense.

https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=7495ac616b40525dfbb5c9840a89a726&tab=core&tabmode=list

AFICA - Portable Anti Drone Defense
Solicitation Number: FA6800-16-Q-S005
Agency: Department of the Air Force
Office: AFICA
Location: AFICA- CONUS

Synopsis:
Added: Dec 22, 2015 2:46 pm

The Air Force Global Strike Command is requesting three (3) systems to counter unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), also commonly known as personal drones. There are three main areas in counter UAS (cUAS): detect, identify and defeat. This system should address the defeat portion. This portion needs to disrupt the control link between a commercial UAS and the pilot causing the UAS to fall into its preprogrammed "lost link" protocol. The system should  provide the additional ability to disrupt the UAS's ability to receive and use satellite navigation signals (GPS and GLONASS) for navigation purposes. The satellite navigation disruption should be  engaged with a separate trigger to allow for different CONOPs. The key aspects of this system is that it must be portable in its effectiveness across a wide range of UAS targets. This system must allow the operator the opportunity to quickly deploy a cUAS system and be effective all while reducing negative effects on friendly assets.


The system must have the below attributes:


•   Small:  handheld component less than 54" x 12" x 6"


•   Light:  less than 40lbs


•   Portable:  all electronics and antennas inclusive, either in a backpack or on the unit allowing   detached use by a single operator.


•   Intuitive trigger-operated:  familiar operation to a shooter


•   Long standby time:  greater than 1 month


•   Low complexity:  no software, no firmware


•   Effective on a majority of Group 1 and Group 2 commercial UAS that could be sold in the United States


•   Must be able to disrupt communications on 2.4 and 5.8 GHz ISM bands, Stop autonomous waypoint flights


•   Disrupt satellite navigation on GPS L1 and GLONAS L1


•   Common battery: use of a common lightweight rechargable battery for all power


We require a quantity of three (3) systems to be delivered to the address below  no later than (NLT) 30 days after contract award.  We request training on these systems to take place at this same location. Training will include use, service, maintnenance, and basic repair. It will be in a format of "Train the Trainier" and include information and handouts that can be duplicated for the local security forces trainers to use in training other security forces personnel. This training should occur NLT 50 days after contract award.

[Tom Sawyer]

See what you've done. they're on to you and now we all must suffer!

[Silent_Bob]

[Tom Sawyer]

Drone Registration: Researchers Say Benefits are Questionable

Researchers at the Mercatus Center of George Mason University have published public comments to the FAA on the drone registration program, calling the benefits "questionable" and proposing an alternative.

Eli Dourado, Director of Technology Policy Program of the Mercatus Center, which studies the impact of regulation on society, and Samuel Hammond, an MA Fellow at the center, were authors of the study.  While the researchers have laid out compelling facts and figures to support their analysis of the costs of drone registration, the message of the piece is clear: the registration program as it stands is not backed by law, the purported benefits of the program are low, and there is an obvious alternative.

The document makes a new argument against the legality of drone registration.  While other parties have protested that Section 336 of the FMRA prohibits new regulation, Dourado and Hammond have a new take:

We agree with the FAA that "the prohibition against future rulemaking is not a complete bar on rulemaking." Instead, our position is that although the FAA may have authority to require non- commercial UAS operators to register their aircraft, it most certainly does not have authority to do so in the context of its plans and policies relating to its required integration of UAS ...Congress clearly intended that FMRA not be used as a pretext to diminish the freedom from regulatory burdens that modelers have heretofore enjoyed.

Moreover, while the FAA has existing authority to register aircraft, 14 C.F.R. part 48 requires registration of drone operators effective December 21, 2015. Registration of operators has no basis in existing law, underscoring the IFR as a new regulation regarding model aircraft...