Month: August 2015

Senator to introduce proposal for mandatory drone geofencing

Posted on by mecicon

By John Ribeiro

CMU Crossmobile drone

CMU Crossmobile drone
Credit: Carnegie Mellon University
Schumer is concerned about so many near-collisions of drones flying into planes

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) is to introduce a proposal soon that aims to make geofencing of drones mandatory, following a number of reports of close shaves between the unmanned aircraft and regular planes.

The geofencing of drones would use GPS and other technology to impose geographical limits on their movement.

Schumer said Wednesday he would propose an amendment as part of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization Bill that must move through Congress this fall, to require manufacturers to have in place geofencing technology “or other similar solutions” on all drones to prevent them from flying in prohibited zones like airports.

The amendment is necessary as reports suggest that the FAA’s current policy will be extended through at least 2016 without a provision for geofencing, Schumer said.

The technology already exists for preventing drones from flying into unauthorized areas. DJI, the manufacturer of the drone that crashed on the lawn of the White House in January, announced soon after that it would release firmware that would add a no-fly zone around much of Washington.

Concern has been increasing about possible collisions between rogue drones, flown by hobbyists and enthusiasts, and traditional aircraft. By FAA rules, hobbyist drones cannot weigh more than 55 pounds (25 kilograms), and have to be flown at below 400 feet (about 122 meters), within visual sight of the operator, and 5 miles (8 kilometers) away from airports.

But the FAA rules have often been breached. Data released by the FAA last week said that pilot sightings of drones have picked up from 238 throughout 2014, to more than 650 in a little over seven months of this year. And 138 pilots, flying a variety of aircraft including large commercial air carriers, said they had seen drones at altitudes of up to 10,000 feet during the month of June, and another 137 pilots had similar experiences to report in July. The corresponding numbers for June and July last year were 16 and 36, respectively.

Last month, drones were found obstructing the fighting of a wildfire in California, to apparently shoot videos. As of July 31, there were nearly 10 reported near-collisions involving drones and airplanes in the New York metro area, according to Schumer. Three of these incidents happened at John F. Kennedy International Airport, four were at Newark Internation Airport and all involved passenger jets carrying hundreds of people, he added.

The FAA proposed rules earlier this year that could allow programs like those of Amazon.com for the commercial delivery of packages by drones to take off. But the drones will still have to operate under restrictions such as a maximum weight of 55 pounds and follow rules that limit flights to daylight and visual line-of-sight operations.

 

http://www.computerworld.com/article/2973953/emerging-technology/senator-to-introduce-proposal-for-mandatory-drone-geofencing.html

 

 

How to Officially Report Your Drone Flight Plans to Nearby Pilots

Posted on by mecicon

Let other pilots know where you’re gonna be in the air up there.
By Chris Clarke

U.S. pilots are lucky enough to have free access to an abundance of flight information via Flight Service Stations since the 1920s. This service is generally used to check weather along a desired route and to file and close flight plans. Now with the proliferation of drones flying in the same airspace as regular airplanes, the service is integrating information on unmanned flights as well, and you can participate.

For the majority of its existence, Flight Service for pilots was accessed by a phone call to your local station. You’d be connected with a local briefer who would have intimate knowledge of local weather patterns and airport procedures, and could inform you of any closed runways or inoperative approach lights. After you were satisfied that you’d received enough information pertaining to your flight, you could then file a flight plan while you were still on the line. It was very common to call hours before your flight to get an outlook briefing and then again right before departure to check if any major changes might have popped up.

In more recent years, this job has been handed over to Lockheed Martin, who has been hard at work consolidating information into a nationwide system to more quickly and automatically disseminate information to pilots. To accomplish this, Lockheed Martin has implemented an Adverse Conditions Alerting Service to automatically send pilots alerts for things like newly forecasted severe weather, newly restricted airspace due to government or military activity, or things like a high density of aerial firefighting activity. In the wake of rising reports by pilots of drone sightings, Lockheed Martin has added Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS or drones) flight areas to this alerting service as well.

If you happen to be one of the roughly 1,200 commercial drone operators to receive an exemption from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to fly in the national airspace system, then you are required by law to declare your intended flight by filing a plan with Flight Service. The “hobbyist” and fly-by-night drone operators are also encouraged to participate in the system too, hopefully limiting the chances of a mid-air collision.

U.S. pilots are lucky enough to have free access to an abundance of flight information via Flight Service Stations since the 1920s. This service is generally used to check weather along a desired route and to file and close flight plans. Now with the proliferation of drones flying in the same airspace as regular airplanes, the service is integrating information on unmanned flights as well, and you can participate.

For the majority of its existence, Flight Service for pilots was accessed by a phone call to your local station. You’d be connected with a local briefer who would have intimate knowledge of local weather patterns and airport procedures, and could inform you of any closed runways or inoperative approach lights. After you were satisfied that you’d received enough information pertaining to your flight, you could then file a flight plan while you were still on the line. It was very common to call hours before your flight to get an outlook briefing and then again right before departure to check if any major changes might have popped up.

In more recent years, this job has been handed over to Lockheed Martin, who has been hard at work consolidating information into a nationwide system to more quickly and automatically disseminate information to pilots. To accomplish this, Lockheed Martin has implemented an Adverse Conditions Alerting Service to automatically send pilots alerts for things like newly forecasted severe weather, newly restricted airspace due to government or military activity, or things like a high density of aerial firefighting activity. In the wake of rising reports by pilots of drone sightings, Lockheed Martin has added Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS or drones) flight areas to this alerting service as well.

If you happen to be one of the roughly 1,200 commercial drone operators to receive an exemption from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to fly in the national airspace system, then you are required by law to declare your intended flight by filing a plan with Flight Service. The “hobbyist” and fly-by-night drone operators are also encouraged to participate in the system too, hopefully limiting the chances of a mid-air collision.

 

http://www.popularmechanics.com/flight/drones/a16987/how-to-officially-report-your-drone-flight-plant-to-nearby-pilots/

Knock, Knock. Your UAV Was There

Posted on by mecicon
If technology can make it possible to catch irresponsible drone operators in the act while improving flight safety for manned and unmanned aircraft, shouldn’t we be using it?
By Patrick C. Miller

Normally I don’t like to visit the same subject two weeks in a row, but a brief conversation with the FAA this week and a couple interviews for an upcoming article got me to thinking about drone safety once again.

I called Les Dorr at the FAA to ask him about the agency’s recent warning to drone operators. Because of a large spike this year in the number of pilots who’ve reported seeing UAS near their aircraft, the agency wants drone operators to know that flying too close to manned aircraft can result in the FAA levying civil and criminal penalties.

The FAA’s concern is understandable, although it begs the question: How successful has the agency (or anyone else, for that matter) been in catching and taking action against reported violators? After all, in 2014 and this year, there have been nearly 900 pilot reports. But after saying that the FAA has initiated more than 20 enforcement cases, Dorr added: “Several of the cases involve UAS operating near other aircraft.”

Dorr explained how difficult it is to actually catch a drone operator flying in restricted airspace, even when a pilot report is fairly specific. By the time the FAA notifies the proper local law enforcement agency and an officer can be sent to the area, there’s a good chance the offending party will no longer be there. And even if he or she is, it’s often difficult to spot the drone pilot from the ground.

So the likelihood of a UAS airspace violator getting caught and suffering the consequences is quite low. As with Internet communications, anonymity has a tendency to cause people to say and do things that they usually wouldn’t. As long some—probably a few—UAS pilots know that there’s little chance of getting caught, they don’t feel compelled to observe airspace restrictions.

And that leads me to another discussion I had this week with Paul Jauregui of the Praetorian Group and Chris Eyhorn with DroneSense. Praetorian—a security firm—and DroneSense—a UAS startup company—partnered on a project to survey how many electronic devices in Austin, Texas, are connected to the Internet. A sensor developed by Praetorian was installed on an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) owned and operated by DroneSense, which flew it over sections of Austin.

Essentially, the drone-mounted sensor interrogated the Internet-connected devices through the ZigBee Wi-Fi standard they use. Using this data, Praetorian created a map showing the types of devices and where they’re located. This data can help Praetorian develop better methods to keep Wi-Fi networks secure.

What does this have to do with UAS safety and catching irresponsible drone pilots in the act? If an airborne sensor light enough to be carried by a small UAS can obtain information from an Internet-connected device the size of a lightbulb in a building on the ground, why can’t similar technology be used to link a drone to its owner?

It occurs to me that we have the technology to help solve the UAS safety problem. Every UAV sold should be equipped with an embedded chip that contains an electronic ID number registered to the aircraft owner. The information should be uploaded to an FAA database.

A sensor similar to the one Praetorian has developed could be installed on commercial aircraft operating in high-traffic areas or be made available to law enforcement agencies. At the touch of a button, the sensor would record the UAV’s ID number, as well as the time of the contact and the GPS coordinates of where it occurred.

Would UAS operators be as bold about pushing the regulatory envelope if they knew there was a good chance the FAA or a law enforcement operator might coming knocking on their doors? I think not.

http://www.uasmagazine.com/blog/article/2015/08/knock-knock-your-uav-was-there

FAA warns UAS operators to stay away from manned aircraft

Posted on by mecicon
By Patrick C. Miller | August 20, 2015
  • Because of an increase in drone sightings by pilots, the FAA is warning UAS operators that flying drones near manned aircraft is dangerous and illegal.
    PHOTO: UAS MAGAZINE

Concerned about an increase in pilots reporting encounters with unmanned aerial systems (UAS), the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) wants drone pilots to understand that operating their aircraft around manned aircraft is dangerous and illegal.

While the FAA said unauthorized UAS operators can face stiff fines and criminal charges, including possible jail time, catching them remains problematic.

FAA spokesperson Les Dorr told UAS Magazine: “As you can appreciate, it’s a challenge when we get a pilot report and sometimes the report is not very specific. Even when it is specific—say the pilot says ‘I saw a quadcopter 200 feet off my port wing and I was 3.5 miles from the end of the runway’—that’s still a pretty big area in which to try to identify the operator.”

Dorr described the action the agency takes in such circumstances.

“What we would typically do is notify the appropriate law enforcement organization and have them try to see if they could identify the operator—but it is a challenge,” he added.

Brian Wynne, president and CEO of the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI), said the organization supports enforcement action against careless and reckless UAS operators who violate restricted airspace.

“Stricter enforcement will not only punish irresponsible operators, it will also serve as a deterrent to others who may misuse the technology,” he noted.

Last year, the FAA said it received a total of 238 UAS sightings from pilots, but this year had received 650 such reports by early August. The agency said it has levied civil penalties for a number of unauthorized flights in various parts of the country, and has dozens of open enforcement cases.

Asked how many and what types of penalties the FAA has levied, Dorr checked with the FAA’s general counsel, and responded: “We have initiated more than 20 enforcement cases. We have settled five cases in which operators paid civil penalties. We have proposed penalties in at least five other cases. Several of the cases involve UAS operating near other aircraft.”

The FAA said pilots reported seeing 16 unmanned aircraft in June of 2014, and 36 the following month. This year, 138 pilots reported seeing drones at altitudes of up to 10,000 feet during the month of June, and another 137 in July.

In addition, the agency said firefighters battling wildfires in the western U.S. have been forced to halt operations on several occasions for safety reasons when they spotted one or more unmanned aircraft in their immediate vicinity.

Wynne called on the FAA to finalize its small UAS rules, which would require all UAS operators to follow the safety programming of a community-based organization or abide by new UAS rules for commercial operators.

“Once the rules are finalized, consumers will no longer be able to fly without any oversight or education,” he said.

The FAA said it will continue to work closely with industry partners through the “Know Before You Fly” campaign to educate UAS users about where they can operate within the rules. The agency is also supporting the National Interagency Fire Center’s “If You Fly, We Can’t” efforts to help reduce interference with firefighting operations.

The agency also said it’s working closely with the law enforcement community to identify and investigate unauthorized unmanned aircraft operations. The FAA encourages the public to report unauthorized drone operations to local law enforcement and help discourage dangerous, illegal UAS activity.

http://www.uasmagazine.com/articles/1210/faa-warns-uas-operators-to-stay-away-from-manned-aircraft

Falling drone hits two in downtown Buenos Aires

Posted on by mecicon

phantomstatue

Two women, aged 40 and 48, were injured on Saturday after they were hit by a drone that fell from the sky in the Buenos Aires City neighbourhood of Constitución. A 20-year-old man seen controlling the devise was detained briefly by police.

The peculiar incident occurred close to Constitución station on Saturday afternoon, but only came to light yesterday. Both women when sent to Argerich Hospital for treatment.

Drones have become a growing problem in public areas, with many novices operating them with little or no experience. They are very popular at football matches, outdoor concerts and rallies.

Just a month ago an airline pilot reported seeing a drone flying close to his plane as he was coming in to land at the Jorge Newbery Metropolitan Airport in Buenos Aires City

SAME director Alberto Crescenti said yesterday that both women are still under observation in hospital.

Until recently, the drones fell into a legal loophole in Argentina as there was still no legislation to control who could use them and where. The National Administration of Civic Aeronautics (ANAC) then changed resolution 527, later published in the Official Gazette, stating that from January of next year users will need to have a licence to use drones in public.

The new rules also forbid flying any Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) at night.

Moreover, those who wish to use drones for recreational purposes will be required to get insured.

The drone involved in the weekend’s accident was reportedly being used to film a television commercial.

“Remotely piloted air vehicles or systems cannot be used over densely populated areas or crowds of people,” says the new ruling.

The drones will not be allowed to “operate within a lateral distance less than 200 metres from residential areas, housing developments, detached houses, roads and/or highways and public or private meetings outdoors, and less than one kilometre from towns or cities.”

http://buenosairesherald.com/article/196773/falling-drone-hits-two-in-downtown-ba

Drone used to drop contraband onto prison yard

Posted on by mecicon

CollinsBay

By Ian MacAlpine, Kingston Whig-Standard

Contraband seized inside the medium-security unit at Collins Bay Institution earlier this month was dropped into the prison courtyard by a drone, the Whig-Standard has learned.

Correctional Service Canada sent out a media release on Aug. 7 saying that unauthorized items including a cellphone and 180 grams of tobacco were seized at the medium-security unit of Collins Bay Institution on Aug. 5.

Institutional value of the seizure was $13,500, according to the release.

A lockdown was ordered for an exceptional search of the institution, which lasted almost a week.

The Joint Forces Penitentiary Squad was investigating the incident, according to the release. But what wasn’t revealed was that the contraband was delivered via a drone, or an unmanned aerial vehicle.

According to sources inside the prison, the drop happened in the evening hours of Aug. 5 during a changeover of inmates in one of the prison yards.

Sources said that when the contraband was dropped, correctional officers got to it right away.

Sources also said some narcotics were included in the drop.

A search was ordered of the institution because correctional staff were concerned over the cellphone, which did not have a charger with it. Officials feared the charger was either already in the institution or another drone drop was being planned.

Sources said the phone charger, and an equal weight of tobacco and narcotics, were found in a prisoner’s cell on Aug. 11.

The Whig was also told that the prison yard is searched every morning by correctional staff to find any items that may have be thrown over the walls of the institution overnight.

On Thursday, CSC would not confirm or deny that the contraband came in via a drone drop when asked by the Whig.

“For safety and security reasons, CSC cannot disclose which technology and design features are in use at any specific facility.” wrote Jon Schofield, an assistant media adviser, communications and engagement sector of CSC, in an email to the Whig-Standard. “CSC regularly reviews the use of innovative security tools that enhance its capacity to limit security incidents and prevent security breaches,”

Drones are becoming a source of concern for correctional institutions as the only access to walled prison yards being from the sky above.

In late July, a drone dropped a package containing 144.5 grams of tobacco, 65.4 grams of marijuana and 6.6 grams of heroin into the prison yard at the Mansfield Correctional Institution in Ohio.

The drop caused a fight among 75 inmates over the contraband. Guards had to use pepper spray to quell the skirmish and inmates wern’t allowed back into their cells until they were strip searched.

Drones have also been a concern following incidents in the last two years at prisons in Quebec.

Correctional officials in Australia are asking for new laws to restrict the airspace over prisons, a law that already exists in Canada.

Derek Cooper, the director of photography for Kingston Aerials, said it would be very easy to make a drop over prison walls.

“Anyone who’s familiar with radio-controlled vehicles, cars, boats, whatever … applying that to drones is a fairly straightforward thing,” said Cooper, who’s one-year-old company provides aerial video and photography for a variety of businesses.

Kingston Aerials also uses its drones for sports photography, construction site planning, urban planning, natural resource management and surveying.

In May, the company partnered with Cataraqui Cemetery to map the 40-hectare site and its 15,000 graves.

Hobby drones are pretty easy to fly, he said.

“You don’t need any training.” he said. “How good you are at flying them is variable, but you can get up and fly these things pretty quickly.”

“Our pilots are different, they’ve gone through ground school for UAV training and they’ve got 400 to 500 hours of experience before they fly our big industrial drones.”

Cooper said drones can be operated from as far as two kilometres away, which would make it easy to drop contraband over the prison wall from a distance.

“They could have what’s called first-person view on the drone so they could actually see what the drone is seeing and that alleviates the problem of the drone flying into things from a distance when you can’t actually see the drone.

“You can pretty much fly anywhere you want.”

But according to Transport Canada, the operator of a drone over a prison is violating several laws, flying in restricted airspace and operating a drone without having the drone in sight.

“The pilot always has to have his eyes or her eyes on the vehicle,” said Cooper.

“If you break the rules, Transport Canada will fine you $5,000. If a corporation or business owns the drone and violates the rules gets fined $25,000.”

Another illegal activity is dropping contraband onto a prison yard.

Against the law, yes, but easy to do, said Cooper if the operator has a view from the drone on their controller.

“You could have a little hook on the drone and basically flick a switch on the radio control unit and it triggers the motor on board to open the hook and down it goes.”

Hobby drones are gaining popularity at a high rate, according to Cooper, who said about 200,000 units were sold per month worldwide in 2014, a number that could double this year.

“It’s something that’s out there, the technology is certainly there.”

Cooper said the technology can be used both within the law, or for sinister purposes.

“You can do what we’re doing, which is awesome applications in industrial settings, or you can break the law and those people are going to get caught.”

ian.macalpine@sunmedia.ca

http://www.thewhig.com/2015/08/20/drone-used-to-drop-contraband-onto-prison-yard

As use of drones takes off, so will risks, says Lloyd’s of London

Posted on by mecicon

oldold3drquad

A sharp escalation in the use of drones will bring increasingly complex risks from cyberattack, reckless pilots and privacy issues, a new report from the Lloyd’s of London insurance market has warned. Spending on unmanned aerial vehicles is likely to double to more than $90bn by 2024, Lloyd’s predicted, but makers and users of the machines, as well as insurers, are relatively unprepared for the emerging consequences.

“Drone technology has significant potential, but is a particularly novel – and controversial – emerging technology. Insurance is expected to be a key component in the risk-management framework that will need to be developed for the systems to operate safely and with due regard to third-party interests,” it argues in the report “Drones take flight”.

“As the market for drones continues to expand, manufacturers can expect to face increasingly complex and high-value risk exposures. Protection of intellectual property and the management of product liability will also likely need to be considered in the scope of insurance cover.”

Drones have a controversial image because of their use by the military, but the technology is increasingly being expanded into a number of civil and commercial uses.

Put simply: drones sound like fun gizmos, until they’re falling on our heads or spying on us.

“This technology has immense power, but it has developed faster than regulations,” says Nick Beecroft, Lloyd’s of London’s manager of emerging risk and research. “Regulators and insurers don’t yet have comfort and clarity here. And no one wants a free-for-all.”

Beecroft says the explosion in drone is largely the result of huge drops in the cost of such tech. An app-controlled quad-copter capable of shooting 1080p video is $1,000, a fraction of what such machines cost even five years ago.

“The growth in maturity and affordability is incredible,” says Beecroft. “What’s needed is a sensible debate on the risk management of drones.”

Drones have quickly mushroomed from backyard hobbyist toys to powerful commercial tools. Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) expenditures over the next 10 years are expected to total $91 billion, according to the Teal Group. But  the sector remains largely unregulated and potentially dangerous.

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/aug/20/as-use-of-drones-takes-off-so-will-risks-says-lloyds-insurers