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What they're proposing is illegal in Australia too. There's really strong regulation about what you can and can't do with a drone and this falls strongly into t
by zik 13y ago
What they're proposing is illegal in Australia too. There's really strong regulation about what you can and can't do with a drone and this falls strongly into the "can't" category. I know this because I've tried.
All drones have to be human piloted under our current regulations. So the autonomous thing is illegal for a start. Secondly flying aircraft of that size at low altitudes over populated areas is also illegal. And flying them at high altitudes without a transponder is illegal, and they're too small to carry a transponder.
I bet someone from CASA (our FAA equivalent) sees this article and gives them a nice little visit.
- tomhoward 13y agoIt's not mentioned in the Pando piece, but in coverage in the SMH in Australia, they state they're seeking CASA approval and will not start operating until they have it. http://www.smh.com.au/technology/sci-tech/push-for-liftoff-on-drone-deliveries-in-australia-20131014-2vixx.html http://www.smh.com.au/technology/sci-tech/push-for-liftoff-o...
- bigiain 13y agoAnd they won't get it. Not a hope in hell. But this has been a spectacularly well played (and lucky) marketing campaign for their regular textbook sales business...
- tlb 13y agoDo transponders have to be large? Obviously most current ones are made to fit avionics racks, but is there a reason why one couldn't be made as small as a cell phone?
- zik 13y agoThis is one of the smallest transponders on the market. It still weighs much more than a textbook and requires an even larger power supply. http://www.garrecht.com/index.php/en/mode-s/vt-01-uav http://www.garrecht.com/index.php/en/mode-s/vt-01-uav
- jjwiseman 13y agoThat weighs 800 grams, the TT21 Mode S transponder is 440 grams: http://www.trig-avionics.com/press081127.html http://www.trig-avionics.com/press081127.html
- leoedin 13y agoThe principal issue appears to be broadcast power. The smallest one linked below (weighing ~400g without a power supply) has a burst power output of 130W (compared to a cellphone which might have an output power of ~2W). The actual amplifier itself wouldn't be huge (although heat dissapation could be), but there's a lot of capacitors and power supply circuitry needed to deal with that sort of power output. The size of all the components basically depends on what the duty ratio is - if it's a few uS every second, then it would be much easier to shrink than if it has to broadcast ten or hundreds of times a second.
- hornetblack 13y agoFrom memory it's very hard to fly anything over Sydney City unless your the military.