Illegal Drone Use

Illegal Drone Uses

     The FAA says predicts that 700,000 new drones will be used after the holidays. The CEO of Drone University says that it is one million drones. Either way drone users are getting more careless. They have started flying too close to police helicopters. On Saturday, a drone almost hit a CHP helicopter while it was searching for a stolen car. They tracked the drone back to its owner a quarter mile away. There was another close encounter with drones and helicopters but the drones owner wasn't found because the drone disappeared too quickly.

     These close encounter show that people are being irresponsible with drones. They are flying there drones way above 400 feet and are flying there drone out of eyesight.

     Earlier in the year, lawmakers passed a bill that wouldn't let drones fly over wildfires, schools, or prisons. This was vetoed by Governor Jerry Brown who thought that this would create too many new crimes.

    

FAA Wants Drones Registered

Drone Registration Yes or No?

     The FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) wants drones to be registered as a precaution. They think that if drones are registered then it will be easier to find out who crashed this drone and who flew that drone.

     The FAA is asking the people for there opinion. They are asking about: 1.When should drones be registered? 2.Who should register it the person who buys it or the person they gift it to? 3.Should you pay to register (currently you would have to pay $25)? 4.Should certain drones not need to be registered? 5.What should drones be registered for? 6.Who has access to data collected when a drone id registered?

     You could have told the FAA what you think by online, mail, or fax before November 20. Do you think that drones need to be registered? Why should they be registered? That was pretty much what the FAA wants to know.

Shark Tank History

xCraft Makes History on Shark Tank 

     XCraft came onto Shark Tank introducing there new drone. It got the attention of all the sharks and they made the legendary deal. They got everyone on board for $300,000 and 5% per shark. This, all from a tiny little drone.

     First xCraft introduced there regular sized drone that has two sets of wings and comes up to a point, it kind of looks like a deformed jet. It can fly forward quickly or hover in place. It can also be used to scan large areas. For instance, a farmer could use it to quickly check over all his crops to see if any need more water instead of looking at acer after acer of land by foot.

     After they introduced that drone, they introduced another. It was a small box that could fly, it was a mini drone. But it wasn't just any mini drone, it was built to carry your phone. XCraft hinted on how most phones have reasonable to fantastic cameras on them. Then they said how you could hook your phone up to the drone and use it as the camera.  

     This got the sharks hooked.They all wanted in on this deal and wouldn't allow another to have it. Eventually they got every shark to agree to one set price and made the legendary deal. This goes to show how much drones are influencing our lives, enough to get the attention of more than a couple millionaires.   

       

Drone Delvivery

Drone Delivery Sooner or Later?

     We have known for a while that Amazon has been thinking about using drones to deliver packages (Amazon Prime Air). We have also known that Walmart wants to use drones to deliver too. There is a problem with this though, there are no rules or regulations set up for this particular activity. Amazon has proposed a plan to designate pieces of airspace for fast and slow drones. There is one problem with this, what if the customer lives near an airport? Drones aren't allowed to fly near airports in fear of messing with the planes.

     Some people think that drone delivery is unneeded. That it will ruin shopping experience. Others think that it will help a lot. Amazon says that they will deliver in 30 minutes or less. They also predict that they will start delivering in 2017. This shows that drone delivery is a long time away, but it when it happens it will change the way people shop. 

Trouble in the FAA

The FAA Misses its Regulation Deadline

     In 2012, Congress sent an aviation funding bill to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). On that funding bill was a deadline that stated that by September of 2015, there has to be "drone laws" set for drone users. It is now October 27, 2015 and there are not any regulation set forth by the FAA. Michael Huerta, the chief of the FAA, is going to testify before THUD (Senate Appopriations Committee's Transportation, Housing and Urban Development) on Wednesday.

     This hearing is like a check-up. Lawmakers will be there to see what the FAA has done to add drones to the National Airspace System. From the looks of it, not much. Really all that has been done is creating the idea to register all drones (even the ones that are already out) so that there will be less interference with airplanes. Well, that and approving a little more than 1,700 drone flights below 200 feet. 

Michael Huerta, the FAA chief

     The FAA had about three years to set restriction on drones and they haven't really done anything. Even worse, people are complaining that making rules for drones is more important then issuing devices.  

Drone Defence

Drone Defense

     Drones are constantly invading peoples privacy and going were they aren't suppose to go. The only thing that we can do to stop them is throw rocks in there general directions. Or is it? There soon might be another way. The army has been tinkering with Wi-Fi antenna and Raspberry Pi (a $35 computer). They have put them together in the shape of a gun and pointed it at a drone. The results are hijacked drones. This could be the future weapon for defense against drone attacks.

     The army is not the only people to try creating a anti-drone weapon. The Battelle Memorial Institute have created a gun that they call the DroneDefender. The gun is made out of a giant antenna attached to a rifle stock and the maker of the DroneDefender (Zack Epstein) claims that it will let you mess with the controls and GPS signal of the drone and take control of it. This weapon is meant for government uses and has not been legalized yet. Which ever gun works better and if the DroneDefender will ever be used is yet to be seen, but we know one thing. Soon there will be a way  to take down drones and protect your privacy.

Disappearing Drones

Disappearing Drones

     Icarus was a boy in a Greek myth. ICARUS also stands for "Inbound, Controlled, Air-Releasable, Unrecoverable Systems." DARPA believes that they can make one-use drones that collapse when needed. They are investing $8 million to create a drone that can be used to bring people supplies in a natural disaster or war zone and, of course, fall apart when needed.

     The requirements for the drone is that it has to be able to carry a three pound package, drop that package gently within 32 feet of targeted area, have a wingspan of less than 10 feet, and be able to fly in a straight line for 90 miles when released at 35,000 feet. DARPA wants the drone completed in 26 months (a little over two years). The collapsing part of the drone has to happen within four hours of delivery or within 30 minutes of civil twilight. My guess is that it will either collapse when hit with water, or it will have to be activated.

                                     

New Drone Restrictions?

Drones For Christmas!

     In 2012, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was ordered by the US Congress to have regulations for flying drones in US airspace by September 30, 2015. The FAA still hasn't made any official rules. The worst part is, they predict that over one million drones will be sold at Christmas. This isn't good because the only proposals for any kind of rules is that the drones have to be in sight of the operator, flown under 500 feet, and not to fly your drone over public areas.

     There have been many different times when drones have been used "dumbly". For instance, they have been flown too close to airplanes, crashed into the US open, and even bothered firefighters trying to put out fires! These dumb acts will only increases when children get there hands on some drones. Not knowing whet to do with them and causing a craze. This is worrisome knowing that there aren't any rules and barely any rule proposals. 

A drone hooked up to an iPhone set up with a GoPro attached.

A Good Use of a Drone

Drones Fight Fires

     Drones can be used for bad things. For instance, a drone crashed in at the U.S. Open. They can also be used for good things taking extraordinary photos. But they can also be used for great things, including there new uses of which include helping fight fires. Engineers at MIT and Olin College are creating a drone that can help firefighters. It will not replace them by putting out the fires, but it will aid them in seeing where the fire is or how bad it is. Systems that track fires alert people are 12-24  hours after the fire starts. Drones will alert people a couple minutes after the fire starts. A big improvement if you ask me.

     As I said before, drones won't replace firefighter. They won't replace them because for one thing they aren't fire resistant. I'm pretty sure that they also aren't water resistant though I may be wrong about that.

     The reason that we are using drones to assist in firefighting is because they are easy to get them started up and also because they are easy to build. If a drone gets damaged or broken, we can just quickly make a new one. How? Because they are based off of already existing models so that all we have to do is tinker with it. Do you think that using drones will help enough for them to make a difference, or will they just break down if they get too close to the flames?

NFL Gets Drones

NFL Gets Permission For Drones

   The NFL has finally gotten permission to fly drones in there stadiums. There is only one catch, they can only fly them when the stands are empty. This means that they still cannot use drones to capture shots of games. They got this much approved by the FFA (Federal Aviation Administration) on September 17. The NFL is the first major league to be able to fly drones.

   The reason the FFA gave the NFL permission to use drones is because it thinks that drones are safer to use then other flying machines. They think this because they don't carry flammable fuel or a passenger, so there is a smaller chance of people getting hurt or places getting damaged. Also, they gave the NFL permission to use drones because the people liked the idea of it.

   There are still other rules that the NFL has to follow as well as any other FFA approved drones. They have to fly there drones lower than 400 feet, they have to weigh less than 55 pounds, and they have to be in sight of the operator at all times. So far 1,400 companies have been legally approved to fly drones, but how many fly them and are not approved? 

Unexpected Visitors

Extra Visitors at Sporting Events

    Normally you have to pay to go to a baseball game. Also, you normally have to be at the actual field to see it. But there is on exception that is a problem. What if someone flew a drone in? How could you stop them from watching the game? Well, you can't. The Federal Aviation Administration just decided to put a ban on drones attending most major sporting games and auto races. But will that be enough to stop these illegal drone users from watching in the sky?

    So far there have been 31 drone sightings last year at baseball games and 9 this year so far. The government tried to stop this last year by using "Operation Foul Ball" to try and spot drones at games. It sort of worked, but as you can see some still got in. ESPN had permission to use drones to capture amazing angles at the Winter X-Games. This could be a big step forward in using drones correctly for good purposes. The only thing that ESPN had to do, was keep there drones away from the fans. This gave some people the idea of having security drones keeping other drones away from stadiums. Would this really work, or end up backfiring and causing more problems? 

  

Drone sits on step while security officer walks by on his phone.