I, for One, Welcome Our New Drone Overlords

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Last Thursday, March 6, the National Transportation Safety Board dismissed a 2012 Federal Aviation Authority fine levied against model aircraft hobbyist and photographer Raphael Piker. The $10,000 fine resulted from Piker flying his radio-controlled Zephyr II aircraft over the University of Virginia campus. Piker used the flight to record photos and video with a camera mounted to the Zephyr, and then sold the works to the university.

The dismissal acknowledges the evolution of drone technology application as it moves from the realm of hobbyists and into the commercial world.

Present FAA guidelines allow Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) – popularly called drones — flights in civil airspace by private operators for recreational use, and for “important missions in the public interest, such as firefighting, disaster relief, search and rescue, law enforcement, border patrol, military training and testing and evaluation.” Guidance for recreational use is covered by FAA Advisory Circular 91-57, dated June 9, 1981. A 2007 update clarifies that the circular “only applies only to modelers, and specifically excludes individuals or companies flying model aircraft for business purposes.”

But in their motion to the NTSB – which serves as the court of appeals for FAA civil penalties – Piker and attorney Brendan Schulman questioned the FAA’s authority over drones. NTSB Administrative Law Judge Patrick Geraghty answered by ruling that “(at) the time of Respondent’s model aircraft operation…there was no enforceable FAA rule or FAR Regulation, applicable to model aircraft or for classifying model aircraft as an UAS.”

Last December’s Amazon Prime Air video (over 14 million You Tube views to-date) illustrates the FAA’s conundrum regarding commercial drones.

Video:

In it, the online marketer boasts possible order delivery times of 30 minutes or less using unmanned aerial vehicles – following, of course, the “wait for the necessary FAA rules and regulations.” Another example: Arial footage or photographs like that obtained by Piker. Commercial video producers are increasingly able to capture similar shots using lightweight, high-resolution cameras like the cheap and popular Go Pro Hero mounted to low-cost quadracopter drones, such as the DJI Phantom 1 (under-$500 when purchased, ironically, on Amazon). Up ’til the last couple years, these sort of visuals were possible only by employing prohibitively expensive helicopter- or airplane-mounted cameras. (Expect aerial footage to soon be de rigeur for any applicable website/training or marketing video/local cable commercial.)

So what’s the FAA to do? On March 7, they filed an appeal to Geraghty’s ruling. And in their UAS Fact Sheet, now dated January 6 of this year, the FAA characterizes the introduction of UAS into the nation’s airspace as “challenging”, noting that they’re “currently developing a future path for safe integration of civil UAS into the NAS (National Airspace System).” To that end, in a December 30, 2013 press release, the agency announced “the selection of the six public entities that will develop unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) research and test sites around the country.” The purpose of these according to the release is “critical research into the certification and operational requirements necessary to safely integrate UAS into the national airspace over the next several years.”

Last week’s Chaotic Moon video, shot in a closed-door demo as part of the 2014 SXSW music/film/interactive conference in Austin, TX, might have furrowed the FAA’s brows further. In it, the design studio’s prototype Chaotic Unmanned Personal Intercept Drone (CUPID) zaps a hapless intern with 80,000 volts of electricity, dropping him like a sack of potatoes and aptly demonstrating the “stun copter” as a viable tool for law enforcement or personal security clients. Based on a Tarot Hexacopter — a drone designed to carry a camera – CUPID is outfitted with a Phazzer Dragon taser-like stun weapon. A camera is retained, allowing operators to fly and fire. Chaotic Moon notes that CUPID could be quickly brought to production.

I, for one, welcome our new drone overlords.