FrozenNorth, post: 339743, member: 10219 wrote: Likewise, a drone does not "randomly" hop a curb and mow down an entire family.
No, they have to fall out of the sky to do that.
Cars and trucks do it occasionally, but then are are maybe 200 million of them in regular operation in the U.S. How many drones are currently in the sky on a daily basis?
Jim Frame, post: 339746, member: 10 wrote: No, they have to fall out of the sky to do that.
Cars and trucks do it occasionally, but then are are maybe 200 million of them in regular operation in the U.S. How many drones are currently in the sky on a daily basis?
Agreed, the fact that vehicles are used en mass means we have actual hard data to play with instead of the speculation of what a free market drone world would be like. My point is that the company is providing a SAFE beneficial function to society and will likely be put out of business by a government that feels it necessary to use excessive fines to prove its self worth.
Take the statistics out of it. Which would you feel more comfortable doing - standing under a drone performing an aerial topo (hell make it 50 drones), or on a busy highway locating white stripes with RTK. A $2million dollar fine seems like an over reaction to me.
Come to think of it, we could take a look at the drone-related fatalities in Australia and parts of Europe where the scaremongering has failed. Any Aussies care to weigh in? Can you scarcely leave the house without a drone looking down your blouse or a quad-copter crash-landing in a kindergarten playground?
The "drone industry" is brand new and there are a lot of unknown risks and concerns. The technology is changing rapidly as well. Add to that with the fact that most people have a much greater fear of plane accidents than they do automobile accidents. And that's because if one car gets out of control, it can kill a few dozen people. Maybe more, but not likely. And typically, it will only kill about 4 people, assuming the auto accident involves a fatality. When a plane crashes, it potentially kills 200-300. And so that puts a different level of concern in the minds of a lot of people.
As for what I'd feel safer doing? I wouldn't intentionally stand directly under a drone. And a cluster of drones would make me even more nervous. But I also wouldn't stand on the highway locating stripes without a lane closure either.
surveyor85, post: 339753, member: 9748 wrote: Which would you feel more comfortable doing - standing under a drone performing an aerial topo (hell make it 50 drones), or on a busy highway locating white stripes with RTK. A $2million dollar fine seems like an over reaction to me.
I don't think the $2M fine will stand -- I expect it'll get negotiated down considerably -- but I think the FAA is using it to put everyone on notice that they're not fooling around: drone operators who choose not to play by the FAA rules risk being put out of business.
Did anyone watch The Adventures of Laura on TV last night? A dead guy is found in his home, sliced up like crazy. The tool used was a drone that was able to enter the house through an opening that was opened daily between certain times and controlled by a timer. Think I'll keep all of my doors and windows closed tight to prevent some irritated former client from doing me in with a drone coming into my home and slicing me up.
[MEDIA=youtube]O1Hhvdpvp5o[/MEDIA]
You never really think of it much but you still have to remember Helipads usually at hospitals ( which is way more a pain when it comes to the metro area )
FrozenNorth, post: 339757, member: 10219 wrote: Come to think of it, we could take a look at the drone-related fatalities in Australia and parts of Europe where the scaremongering has failed. Any Aussies care to weigh in? Can you scarcely leave the house without a drone looking down your blouse or a quad-copter crash-landing in a kindergarten playground?
To be honest you never see drones at all, last week was the first time i saw one used at a music festival. And apart from that people will usually go to one specific park to fly their quads which is allowed by the local council as it is flat grassed land with no play ground.
At Satlab Geosolutions, we are preparing to enter into the UAV marketplace, at Intergeo 2015 in Stuttgart, Germany we introduced two new UAV's, the SLA-1 Fixed Wing UAV and the SLM-2 Rotocopter UAV, both have onboard RTK Rover, (Sponge RTK) and Sony 20Mp digital camera with interchangeable lenses. Ground control station with PC, flight controller, RTK Base station and telemetry. The plan is to partner with excisting Flight Planning software and image proccessing software providers.
Both are really cool, IMHO, the Rotocopters UAV's are going to be more practical for project sites with restrictive airspace considerations.
I can email you guys links to the Satlab UAV data brochures.
-BbB B-)
Current use of drone in VT.
Letters from the SAL: UAS team deployed to aid in train derailment
