7 ms·

Lots of safety concerns are brought up, but I'm really curious how drones will play out in conjunction with noise and NIMBYism. Drones are loud, so I can't imag

Lots of safety concerns are brought up, but I'm really curious how drones will play out in conjunction with noise and NIMBYism. Drones are loud, so I can't imagine that commercial drone activity (Especially at night) will happen without heavy pushback from locals. NASA did a study and found that the noise drones make is perceived to be more annoying than those from cars [1]. They acknowledge noise-based pushback as an issue, even if they're no louder than cars. [1] https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20170005870.pdf https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/201700...

golemotron 8y ago
They are loud for now. That will change.
- threeseed 8y ago
  Fans, helicopters etc have been around for decades and are still mostly loud. You can't escape the physics that moving air causes noise.
  - chaostheory 8y ago
    Energy efficient buildings tend to handle noise pollution better with their extra insulation. Not ideal, but there's always a solution.
    - eftychis 8y ago
      I don't think it is a good idea for the sanity of people to tell them to stay inside and have really good sound insulation. We have to remember that sound pollution is a health issue and impacts people's lives. I have my doubts how efficient insulation one can get against air traffic -- from personal experience, it doesn't work.
      - chaostheory 8y ago
        I'm speaking from experience, and I didn't intend to sound patronizing. I live really close to an airport. Have been for years. Lived in my home both before and after energy efficient improvements e.g. triple pane windows, more insulation, roofing, stormdoor, ... It works. If NIMBY lobbying fails, you have to take into account all tools available including smart earphones.
        test1235 8y ago
        as if you're going to go put in earphones everytime someone flies a drone around your property ...
        chaostheory 8y ago
        No, when you’re inside your energy efficient home, it’s fine; you are insulated from sound and even rumbling from airplanes (assuming you have good insulation on top of your house as well). Earphones are for going out and about. Wearing earphones all the time also has already become a trend...
    - reaperducer 8y ago
      Energy efficient buildings tend to handle noise pollution better with their extra insulation. Not ideal, but there's always a solution. Translation: "You go inside if you want peace and quiet. The outside is only for the self-entitled now."
      - chaostheory 8y ago
        I'm speaking from experience. I live next to an airport. Also unlike an airport, if drones are being used for deliveries to residences, only hermits will be 'entitled'.
  - gweinberg 8y ago
    Sure but size matters. A helicopter that can carry a person weighs 1000 pounds or more. A drone can be less than 1 one thousandth the weight.
    - daliusd 8y ago
      There are no cameras that would weight less than a pound (0.5kg) and be good at night at the same time.
      - snovv_crash 8y ago
        Look up the Runcam Micro Eagle. It costs $35 and has a 1/4" low resolution sensor and is commonly used for night flying of FPV drones.
        daliusd 8y ago
        It does not look like something what would be suitable for surveillance. Quality is only good to catch that something is happening on the ground but I doubt that this is suitable to be reliable source of truth and I don't even speak about this being used as evidence in the court.
    - darkpuma 8y ago
      Just put wings on the damn thing and you can cut your power requirements down by an order of magnitude.
- maxxxxx 8y ago
  How? Helicopters are still obnoxiously loud after decades.
  - StavrosK 8y ago
    We'll all eventually go deaf from all the noise.
taneq 8y ago
You can barely hear (or even see) a small drone above about 100m.
- Forge36 8y ago
  It's like a bee. You know its there, you can barely hear it. I can see why people get annoyed by them
  - kuhhk 8y ago
    Not really. I have a drone, and if it's high enough, I can't hear it, and have trouble even seeing it.
  - taneq 8y ago
    I don't mean "barely hear" as in it's quiet, I mean "if you didn't specifically know where and when to look for it you'd never know it was there."
- cronix 8y ago
  multiply that by many, many drones. Those "small" drones aren't what they will use for delivery services. They are not nearly powerful enough to carry more of a load much more than it's own weight. They are even louder taking off and landing. I own 2.
  - _xerxes_ 8y ago
    Larger drones tend to be more quiet, or at the very least are perceived to be so due to the lower pitch sound made by larger, more slowly rotating propellers.
    - cronix 8y ago
      Helicopters have lower pitch and larger, slower rotating blades as well. They're not quiet, and they've had a lot longer to perfect the blade tech. My block gets about 15 deliveries per day from UPS/USPS/FedEx/Amazon/etc. Have you been near a drone, of any size, taking off and landing? It's quite loud. They're not just going to drop the package from the sky. They're going to be constantly landing and taking off to deliver the package, right near you.
TomGullen 8y ago
I don't think that's a NIMBY - pretty sure people not into drones will just be against the noise in their backyard or other peoples backyards.
- baroffoos 8y ago
  Its such a minor and rare sound though. A car driving past you is so much louder and more annoying as well as being more common. In fact I can think of countless common and accepted sounds that we find acceptable.
  - vkou 8y ago
    A car driving past me doesn't sound like someone trying to destroy a power tool. [1] Unless it's driven by one of those jerks who mod their exhaust, that is. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5DYre_EZKU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5DYre_EZKU - I've heard more annoying sounds, but this is probably in my top ten, or fifteen.
  - toper-centage 8y ago
    Cars are becoming very quiet, especially electrical cars. But drones are basically flying vuvuzelas. They are not just loud - their sound is insufferable.
  - alistairSH 8y ago
    I live next to a fairly busy road AND under the approach to Dulles Airport (not the final, but what is effectively the "right pattern"). To my ears, drones are far more annoying than either the constant whoosh-whrrr of the road, or the occasional rumble of a heavy airliner (narrow bodies and GA planes make way less noise - it's the A380s and 747s that make enough noise to make me look up). The pitch of the quad rotors is higher, which to most people, is a more invasive sound.
superfrank 8y ago
No way drones are louder than cars, so worst case scenario, they get restricted to flying over already established roadways. Not a brilliant solution, but better than nothing. That being said NIMBYism isn't always logical. Even if you presented a plan that proves their would be no increase in noise, I could see a lot of people not believing it.
- deanCommie 8y ago
  Yes way, and it's not the volume it's the pitch. Drones emit a high pitch whine that is annoying and irritating, and ruins plenty of quite natural viewpoints with assholes trying to get that pullback shot for their vlog. This isn't NIMBYism or Ludditeness - I'm pro drones for practical uses. I'm anti Drones X Instagram Influencer culture that permeates hikes, and stresses out my dog (who is even more sensitive to high pitched noises than I am)
ams6110 8y ago
In my neighborhood, a noisy drone would get shot out of the sky pretty quickly. Or even a not-so-noisy one, if it were spotted over someone else's property.
- NikolaeVarius 8y ago
  No they wouldn't. Have fun sending rounds into the sky hitting nothing but air. You can hit a randomly moving target at 1000 feet consistently?
  - craftyguy 8y ago
    It's probably not so hard to hit with a shotgun for someone used to dropping fast, randomly moving birds (doves) out of the sky. And even if it takes a couple shots, who's counting?

golemotron 8y ago

They are loud for now. That will change.

threeseed 8y ago
Fans, helicopters etc have been around for decades and are still mostly loud. You can't escape the physics that moving air causes noise.
- chaostheory 8y ago
  Energy efficient buildings tend to handle noise pollution better with their extra insulation. Not ideal, but there's always a solution.
  - eftychis 8y ago
    I don't think it is a good idea for the sanity of people to tell them to stay inside and have really good sound insulation. We have to remember that sound pollution is a health issue and impacts people's lives. I have my doubts how efficient insulation one can get against air traffic -- from personal experience, it doesn't work.
    - chaostheory 8y ago
      I'm speaking from experience, and I didn't intend to sound patronizing. I live really close to an airport. Have been for years. Lived in my home both before and after energy efficient improvements e.g. triple pane windows, more insulation, roofing, stormdoor, ... It works. If NIMBY lobbying fails, you have to take into account all tools available including smart earphones.
      - test1235 8y ago
        as if you're going to go put in earphones everytime someone flies a drone around your property ...
        chaostheory 8y ago
        No, when you’re inside your energy efficient home, it’s fine; you are insulated from sound and even rumbling from airplanes (assuming you have good insulation on top of your house as well). Earphones are for going out and about. Wearing earphones all the time also has already become a trend...
  - reaperducer 8y ago
    Energy efficient buildings tend to handle noise pollution better with their extra insulation. Not ideal, but there's always a solution. Translation: "You go inside if you want peace and quiet. The outside is only for the self-entitled now."
    - chaostheory 8y ago
      I'm speaking from experience. I live next to an airport. Also unlike an airport, if drones are being used for deliveries to residences, only hermits will be 'entitled'.
- gweinberg 8y ago
  Sure but size matters. A helicopter that can carry a person weighs 1000 pounds or more. A drone can be less than 1 one thousandth the weight.
  - daliusd 8y ago
    There are no cameras that would weight less than a pound (0.5kg) and be good at night at the same time.
    - snovv_crash 8y ago
      Look up the Runcam Micro Eagle. It costs $35 and has a 1/4" low resolution sensor and is commonly used for night flying of FPV drones.
      - daliusd 8y ago
        It does not look like something what would be suitable for surveillance. Quality is only good to catch that something is happening on the ground but I doubt that this is suitable to be reliable source of truth and I don't even speak about this being used as evidence in the court.
  - darkpuma 8y ago
    Just put wings on the damn thing and you can cut your power requirements down by an order of magnitude.
maxxxxx 8y ago
How? Helicopters are still obnoxiously loud after decades.
- StavrosK 8y ago
  We'll all eventually go deaf from all the noise.

taneq 8y ago

You can barely hear (or even see) a small drone above about 100m.

Forge36 8y ago
It's like a bee. You know its there, you can barely hear it. I can see why people get annoyed by them
- kuhhk 8y ago
  Not really. I have a drone, and if it's high enough, I can't hear it, and have trouble even seeing it.
- taneq 8y ago
  I don't mean "barely hear" as in it's quiet, I mean "if you didn't specifically know where and when to look for it you'd never know it was there."
cronix 8y ago
multiply that by many, many drones. Those "small" drones aren't what they will use for delivery services. They are not nearly powerful enough to carry more of a load much more than it's own weight. They are even louder taking off and landing. I own 2.
- _xerxes_ 8y ago
  Larger drones tend to be more quiet, or at the very least are perceived to be so due to the lower pitch sound made by larger, more slowly rotating propellers.
  - cronix 8y ago
    Helicopters have lower pitch and larger, slower rotating blades as well. They're not quiet, and they've had a lot longer to perfect the blade tech. My block gets about 15 deliveries per day from UPS/USPS/FedEx/Amazon/etc. Have you been near a drone, of any size, taking off and landing? It's quite loud. They're not just going to drop the package from the sky. They're going to be constantly landing and taking off to deliver the package, right near you.

TomGullen 8y ago

I don't think that's a NIMBY - pretty sure people not into drones will just be against the noise in their backyard or other peoples backyards.

baroffoos 8y ago
Its such a minor and rare sound though. A car driving past you is so much louder and more annoying as well as being more common. In fact I can think of countless common and accepted sounds that we find acceptable.
- vkou 8y ago
  A car driving past me doesn't sound like someone trying to destroy a power tool. [1] Unless it's driven by one of those jerks who mod their exhaust, that is. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5DYre_EZKU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5DYre_EZKU - I've heard more annoying sounds, but this is probably in my top ten, or fifteen.
- toper-centage 8y ago
  Cars are becoming very quiet, especially electrical cars. But drones are basically flying vuvuzelas. They are not just loud - their sound is insufferable.
- alistairSH 8y ago
  I live next to a fairly busy road AND under the approach to Dulles Airport (not the final, but what is effectively the "right pattern"). To my ears, drones are far more annoying than either the constant whoosh-whrrr of the road, or the occasional rumble of a heavy airliner (narrow bodies and GA planes make way less noise - it's the A380s and 747s that make enough noise to make me look up). The pitch of the quad rotors is higher, which to most people, is a more invasive sound.

superfrank 8y ago

No way drones are louder than cars, so worst case scenario, they get restricted to flying over already established roadways. Not a brilliant solution, but better than nothing. That being said NIMBYism isn't always logical. Even if you presented a plan that proves their would be no increase in noise, I could see a lot of people not believing it.

deanCommie 8y ago
Yes way, and it's not the volume it's the pitch. Drones emit a high pitch whine that is annoying and irritating, and ruins plenty of quite natural viewpoints with assholes trying to get that pullback shot for their vlog. This isn't NIMBYism or Ludditeness - I'm pro drones for practical uses. I'm anti Drones X Instagram Influencer culture that permeates hikes, and stresses out my dog (who is even more sensitive to high pitched noises than I am)

ams6110 8y ago

In my neighborhood, a noisy drone would get shot out of the sky pretty quickly. Or even a not-so-noisy one, if it were spotted over someone else's property.

NikolaeVarius 8y ago
No they wouldn't. Have fun sending rounds into the sky hitting nothing but air. You can hit a randomly moving target at 1000 feet consistently?
- craftyguy 8y ago
  It's probably not so hard to hit with a shotgun for someone used to dropping fast, randomly moving birds (doves) out of the sky. And even if it takes a couple shots, who's counting?