23 Shooting Video from UAS

This Episode: Commercial use of drones, what the FAA plans to deliver by 2015, sites developing UAS technology other than the selected six, and a common operating system for drones. The News: Federal ban on drones doesn’t stop photography The FAA has a ban on commercial use of use of unmanned aircraft. Yet some people seem to be pulling it off. How? According to the website of Phoenix real estate photography company Aerial Raiders , they “fly for free.” They do, however, charge for editing and consulting. FAA: ‘Demonstrations,’ Not Integration of Unmanned Aircraft in U.S. Skies in 2015 The U.S. Congress mandated that the FAA fully integrate unmanned aerial vehicles into the national airspace by 2015. When asked by the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee if the FAA would meet that date, FAA chief Michael Huerta didn’t exactly say “yes.” Weeks After FAA Test Site Designation, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Conducts Drone Research The FAA picked the six UAS test sites, and activity is starting right away. Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi is testing the American Aerospace RS-16 UAV over ranchland. New UAS testing, training facility proposed But others are also taking action. The Arizona Sierra Vista Economic Development Foundation (SVEDF) says they will provide a 160-acre testing and training facility to businesses for commercial UAS applications. The Tucson-based Cyclone Autonomous Design Group is one of the companies planning to test its UAS ISR product (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) for safety applications, to assist firefighters, police, soldiers, etc. Ohio, Indiana push for place in drone industry Duane Embree, the executive director of the Indiana Office of Defense Development, says “Companies and others will need places where they can test a little, design a little, and then test more. We can essentially do everything we were going to do — just without the FAA designation.” US Army to install ground-based UAV radar at five sites by 2016 The Ground-Based Sense and Avoid Network or GBSAA is designed to meet the FAA requirements for full size drones in domestic airspace. The sites (at Army installations) were chosen were because they currently have a mission using MQ-1C Grey Eagle , the largest UAS currently operated by the US Army. Windows for drones? One start-up is dreaming big The Defense Department would like to see some standard, cross-platform, off-the-shelf software. LA-based DreamHammer has created the open Ballista OS . From the Listeners: Drones Monitor Student Exams as Campus Sky Spies First weekend in May 2013 (Eric’s video from a DGI Phantom and GoPro)