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by AUVSI Since late May 2014, the Federal Aviation Administration has been accepting petitions for exemption to fly unmanned aircraft systems commercially in the National Airspace System, which is allowed under Section 333 of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012. The agency granted its first exemptions on Sept. 25, 2014. Since the onset, the FAA has received over 1,000 petitions as of the end of April 2015 and granted about 250. As of April 24, the comment period on the FAA’s proposed rules for commercial operation of small UAS in the NAS ended. The FAA is in the process of drafting a final version of the rules. Until they are finalized, access ...
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We are often asked to compare the hourly cost of manned flights with the equivalent cost of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). This is not an easy question to answer because there is not a standardized and accepted protocol for calculating costs per flight hour. Further, there are numerous ways that costs per flight hour may be calculated because of the varying metrics that may be included in such a calculation. And, most importantly, when upgrading operations, it is often not just the platform that is upgraded but the entire operation is overhauled and the UAS is used differently than its manned predecessor. Nonetheless, this is an important question ...
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by AUVSI News Mid Atlantic Aviation Partnership Instrumental In Passing Pro-UAS Bill An effort that began as a brainstorming session with Senator Jim Rosapepe (D-21st) and his staff in July 2014, ultimately resulted in the passage of pro-UAS bill in the Maryland General Assembly. Matt Scassero, director, University of Maryland Unmanned Aircraft Systems Test Site, associate director for Maryland Mid-Atlantic Aviation Partnership (MAAP) and Anthony Pucciarella, director of operations, University of Maryland Unmanned Aircraft Systems Test Site, approached AUVSI on taking an active role and advancing pro-UAS legislation that would incentivize users and ...
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For Immediate Release: Feb. 3, 2016 Contact: Tom McMahon, tmcmahon@auvsi.org, (571) 255-7786 (571) 255-7786 ARLINGTON, Va. – Brian Wynne, president and CEO of the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI), today issued the following statement on the introduction of the Aviation Innovation, Reform, and Reauthorization (AIRR) Act, a six-year reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The legislation was introduced by Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Bill Shuster (R-PA) and Aviation Subcommittee Chairman Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ). “While we are still reviewing the specifics of the FAA reauthorization ...
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We get a lot of calls from companies and groups looking to purchase a small UAS for various purposes. Many of these groups know very little about UAS so our discussions focus on education and better understanding and articulating their needs so they can find a matching system. Using data from the robotics directory , we’ve compiled a list of statistics and graphs of hand launched and small VTOL UAS to give prospective users an idea of the state of practice of these systems. For the world’s largest list of all UAS including searchable details on specific systems to help with your selection we recommend you subscribe to the robotics directory . Have a robot ...
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ARLINGTON, Va. – Brian Wynne, president and CEO of the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI), today issued the following statement on the passage of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization bill (S. 2658) by the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. “Today’s passage of an FAA reauthorization measure by the Senate Commerce Committee is an important milestone for accelerating the civil and commercial use of unmanned aircraft systems, as well as expanding collaborative research and operations. We look forward to continuing to work with the Senate as the FAA reauthorization moves through the legislative ...
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VDOS Global is already approved to use the Aeryon Skyranger UAS pictured here for flare-stack inspections. The Michigan State Police has also elected to use the system to aid in search-and-rescue operations and situational awareness in emergencies. Photo. Aeryon Labs. AUVSI News The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has released a proposed rule for small unmanned aircraft systems that would allow “low-risk” small UAS that weigh less than 55 pounds to be used for commercial purposes. Wrapping up a process than began in 2005 — but which will now continue through a 60-day public comment period and public meetings — the FAA has decided to allow commercial ...
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Screenshot of SkyPan International website. by AUVSI News Today, the Federal Aviation Administration announced its harshest civil penalty against a UAS operator for alleged illegal drone flights over some of the U.S.’s major aviation hubs. The $1.9 million penalty is against SkyPan International Inc. , a Chicago-based company the FAA says flew 65 illegal flights between March 21, 2012, and Dec. 15, 2014, over Chicago and New York, in addition to other locations. “Flying unmanned aircraft in violation of the federal aviation regulations is illegal and can be dangerous,” says FAA Administrator Michael Huerta. “We have the safest airspace ...
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Part of the Northern Virginia Connected Vehicle Test Bed, on of the most congested corridors in the U.S. Photo: Virginia Tech Transportation Institute. by AUVSI News This week, Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe announced the Virginia Automated Corridors, a new initiative for researching, developing and testing automated vehicles in the Commonwealth. “The next generation of vehicle technology—from connected to automated vehicles—holds great potential to enhance the transportation system,” says Tom Dingus, director of Virginia Tech Transportation Institute. “With support from Virginia and in coordination with partners who are pioneers in their ...
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The K-MAX and Stalker worked together to image and put out the fire. Photo: Lockheed Martin. by AUVSI News Lockheed Martin announced it had demonstrated how it could use unmanned aircraft in tandem to put out a fire, all while operating as a part of the UAS Traffic Management system being established by NASA. Operating in Rome, New York, the demonstration used a Stalker XE UAS to supply data and geolocation to an unmanned K-MAX helicopter, which performed a water drop over a small, contained fire. During the operations, the UTM tracked the UAS’ operations and relayed them to air traffic control in real time. “This demonstration represents ...
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New AUVSI interactive analysis of more than 3,000 FAA exemptions finds almost 40 types of different uses approved; waivers granted in all 50 states and Puerto Rico ARLINGTON, Va. — The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) today released an interactive analysis that finds 38 types of business operations have been approved by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to fly unmanned aircraft systems commercially in the National Airspace System (NAS). According to the report that analyzed more than 3,000 FAA exemptions, aerial photography received the most, followed by real estate and aerial inspection. The report also finds that ...
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By Matt Vance The first article in this two-part series explored seven suggestions for consideration in your first UAS purchase: clarity of ownership objectives; vehicle performance requirements; propulsion system; runway independence; additional system components; budget, and value of a market survey. Part two explores considerations in selecting a UAS supplier and issues associated with taking ownership. The first consideration in choosing a supplier is, how much risk are you willing to accept? Brand-name recognition in an entrepreneurial environment is more challenging than in an established market where dominant players are well known. Lack of brand ...
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Australia Proposes to Allow Commercial Unmanned Aerial Systems to Fly Without an Operator’s or Remote Pilot Certificate Under Certain Conditions Comment Period Extended Until June 30, 2014 The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) in Australia is the equivalent of the Federal Aviation Administration in the United States (U.S.) and is responsible for regulating the civil use of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS). Australia was the first country to regulate remotely piloted aircraft (RPA), publishing regulations covering the operation of unmanned aircraft in Part 101 of the Civil Aviation Safety Regulations in 2002. At the time of drafting these regulations, ...
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By Matt Vance Are you thinking about buying an unmanned aircraft system for research in your academic program? I’ve been there. This two-part series builds on lessons learned from purchasing three different classes of UAS. The first question you need to ask is, what do I want or need to do with it? Identifying the objective of ownership is the most important consideration because all other considerations will be subtended to the question. If the objective of the purchase is clear, then the purchase can be focused around meeting the objective and the supplier/UAS decision space will likely significantly narrow. If, however, the objective is not clear, ...
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The WATT commercial grade unmanned aircraft system will be used for newsgathering, industrial and emergency response applications. Photo: Drone Aviation Corp. by AUVSI News Drone Aviation Corp. released its WATT commercial-grade electric tethered unmanned aircraft system for use in newsgathering, industrial, agricultural and emergency response applications, the first in its new line of commercial UAS. The high strength armored tether provides power for flight durations that significantly outlast manned aircraft or free-flying UAS. WATT supports 360 degree day/night video monitoring with up to 10 pounds of payload capacity. The system will hover ...
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It has been a couple of months since the President released his 2014 budget submission to Congress (PB14). With the Unmanned Systems and Robotics Directory Launched, we’ve finally had some time to do some analysis on the Defense budget. This is the same analysis we did for PB13 last year. Raw data (Excel format) is available for PB13 and PB14 . This analysis does not include effects of sequestration or other Congressional changes as the budget is approved. View our webinar here that went through the analysis and walk through how to access detailed information relevant to you. Update 10/24: The Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments published a good ...
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Sample aerial imagery of fields from an eBee ag unmanned aircraft system, which Pravia has been approved to use. Photo: senseFly. by AUVSI News Today the FAA posted two grants of exemption for Niceville, Florida-based Pravia LLC to operate the eBee Ag and E384 small unmanned aircraft systems for precision agriculture applications for a domestic agricultural seed company. “We are excited to be among the first to receive FAA approval to operate commercial UAS in the United States national airspace system,” says Pravia Managing Partner Tim Ray in an email to AUVSI. “Pravia will now be able to bring precision agriculture imagery and automated analysis services ...
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AUVSI’s Unmanned Systems Program Review is a great three days to get up to speed on the major happenings in unmanned systems. A major part of this program is updates from major government program officers from the US military. The US Army recently sent us an update to their slides to share. For completeness, we are also sharing US Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force presentations, all linked here . Air Force (from AUVSI Unmanned Systems 2013) Army Marine Corps Navy If you missed USPR or Unmanned Systems, access to all videos from USPR can be purchased here ( video , download proceedings if you attended) and Unmanned Systems here ( ...
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Image: NASA. by AUVSI News NASA is seeking breakthrough airspace designs and concepts of operations that will enable a variety of aircraft, including unmanned systems, to navigate the friendly skies in the near future. The new Sky For All challenge is intended to generate ideas for a day about two decades from now, when 10 million manned and unmanned vehicles fly in the National Airspace System every day. The top three winners will split a cash pool of $15,000. “Given the great complexity and scale of the of the overall objective, NASA is reaching out to the problem-solving community, asking innovators to cast aside the restraints of the ...
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