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The first step would be to define "drone." Hobbyists have flown RC planes for decades, with little regulation, and haven't been bothering anyone. That hasn't ch

The first step would be to define "drone." Hobbyists have flown RC planes for decades, with little regulation, and haven't been bothering anyone. That hasn't changed. What did change is the use of drones by governments. Regulation will probably be sold as protecting people from government drones, but I have a feeling those regulations will apply to everyone except the government.

ams6110 13y ago
Next: rooftop auto-targeting anti-drone lasers.
flyinglizard 13y ago
R/C airplanes were pretty limited by three factors: 1. Mostly fixed wings airplanes, these needed dedicated airfields to operate. You wouldn't see them in NYC streets; 2. Hobby grade equipment meant you actually needed to know what you were doing to fly these. The barriers to entry were high enough to keep the average joe out of flying; 3. Most importantly, all piloting was done using simple radios with limited range and line of sight requirement. Now all of it changed. We have aircraft which are not exactly R/C anymore; a 3DR Iris is a fully autonomous vehicle that can go anywhere you tell it, within few miles. A DJI Phantom Vision is something you can buy on Amazon or B&H that you fly using a video downlink to your mobile and it can go far beyond where you'd normally fly an R/C airplane. Both are multirotors that take off vertically and anywhere, and both of these aircraft can take high resolution, stabilized videos of anything in their path. I agree with you that any regulation will only burden individuals and not the government; I also think that this regulation will be proven ineffective as consumer drone technology of today mostly originates in China. Also, this area is simply too intriguing for many people to just regulate away.
- eaurouge 13y ago
  A few corrections: - Yes, airplanes need more room for takeoff, but you don't need a dedicated airfield. Most streets would do fine, provided you don't have to scale nearby structures, such as tall buildings in NYC. - You can fly airplanes autonomously too. In fact, because airplanes can coast without expending energy, they can fly much higher than multicopters which need constant power output to remain aloft. - Tighter control of multicopters means they are easily maneuvered, but you can also take high-resolution images with airplanes. - US regulations would restrict what a pilot can do in the US; regardless of where the craft was designed or manufactured. - DJI appears to be based in China, but Parrot SA (AR Drone) is French and 3D Robotics (the company behind the open-source ArduCopter) is based in San Diego. So it's wrong to say the tech originates mostly from China.

ams6110 13y ago

Next: rooftop auto-targeting anti-drone lasers.

flyinglizard 13y ago

R/C airplanes were pretty limited by three factors: 1. Mostly fixed wings airplanes, these needed dedicated airfields to operate. You wouldn't see them in NYC streets; 2. Hobby grade equipment meant you actually needed to know what you were doing to fly these. The barriers to entry were high enough to keep the average joe out of flying; 3. Most importantly, all piloting was done using simple radios with limited range and line of sight requirement. Now all of it changed. We have aircraft which are not exactly R/C anymore; a 3DR Iris is a fully autonomous vehicle that can go anywhere you tell it, within few miles. A DJI Phantom Vision is something you can buy on Amazon or B&H that you fly using a video downlink to your mobile and it can go far beyond where you'd normally fly an R/C airplane. Both are multirotors that take off vertically and anywhere, and both of these aircraft can take high resolution, stabilized videos of anything in their path. I agree with you that any regulation will only burden individuals and not the government; I also think that this regulation will be proven ineffective as consumer drone technology of today mostly originates in China. Also, this area is simply too intriguing for many people to just regulate away.

eaurouge 13y ago
A few corrections: - Yes, airplanes need more room for takeoff, but you don't need a dedicated airfield. Most streets would do fine, provided you don't have to scale nearby structures, such as tall buildings in NYC. - You can fly airplanes autonomously too. In fact, because airplanes can coast without expending energy, they can fly much higher than multicopters which need constant power output to remain aloft. - Tighter control of multicopters means they are easily maneuvered, but you can also take high-resolution images with airplanes. - US regulations would restrict what a pilot can do in the US; regardless of where the craft was designed or manufactured. - DJI appears to be based in China, but Parrot SA (AR Drone) is French and 3D Robotics (the company behind the open-source ArduCopter) is based in San Diego. So it's wrong to say the tech originates mostly from China.