
A Silicon Valley for Drones, in North Dakota - kloncks
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/26/technology/a-silicon-valley-for-drones-in-north-dakota.html
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jmspring
I think a serious benefit ND has, aside from the established reputation and
money put in is _space_. I can't really think of somewhere in Silicon Valley
(or near by) that has the lack of population, lack of airspace traffic, and
lack of local / state / federal ordinances that would allow this degree of
freedom.

Silicon Valley has it's strengths, but it can't be ground zero for everything.

Honestly, if the NUMI plant wasn't in Fremont, I could see the majority of
Tesla being not in the bay area (one could argue the battery plant in NV is
such a shift).

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bkjelden
Nevada is closer and seems to have most of North Dakota's benefits?

I also wonder if Nevada's climate would make it a better choice too. The
Dakotas have some of the most extreme weather in the US - hot summers, frigid
winters, severe thunderstorms, and wind - there were _a lot_ of windy days
when I lived in North Dakota. Would days with subzero high temps and 30 MPH
sustained winds be a useful environment for drones?

One thing that really seemed to help the Silicon Valley get started was how
_away_ it was from everything - particularly the establishment on the east
coast. I do wonder if the next big thing will be started somewhere that is
similarly away from Silicon Valley - somewhere no one would expect, like North
Dakota.

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tillinghast
One could argue that extreme climate swings might make for an _ideal_
development environment. Environmental extremes would better model real-world
conditions.

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digi_owl
I have sometimes wondered if where a company is based forms their products.

While wikipedia now says that Subaru has their HQ in Tokyo, i could have sworn
they were initially based on Japan's northern island. And they seem to make
some damn fine cars for winter roads.

Similarly both Korea and Finland gets damn cold during winter, and thus both
Samsung and Nokia may have ignored capacitive touch screens since they don't
work too well with thick gloves.

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rebootthesystem
Stupid behavior like this is the reason for which drones will find
progressively more regulation and resistance:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmD3rXUR1Tw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmD3rXUR1Tw)

The supply of idiots seems limitless.

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protomyth
The aviation school at Grand Forks, ND is well known and the article is not
kidding about the number of countries it attracts. It was a natural fit to
move into drone piloting.

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Animats
That aviation school appears, in detail, in _Miss Pilot_ , the Japanese drama.
Episodes 5 and 6 are set there.

(That drama was made with the total cooperation of ANA, and the aviation
details are accurate.)

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modfodder
Maybe Stillwater, OK with the first UAS graduate program will vie for that
title.

[https://unmanned.okstate.edu](https://unmanned.okstate.edu)

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wtvanhest
Embry-Riddle in Daytona Beach Florida seems far more likely.
[http://daytonabeach.erau.edu/](http://daytonabeach.erau.edu/)

Also tons of near by land and open ocean, as well as NASA and government
contracting engineers already co-located and a bunch of other great
universities nearby or with satellite campuses in and around Orlando /
Daytona.

Being able to fly 365 days a year helps too.

Realistically, the Pacific Ocean and insanely high concentration of engineers
in sv seems like the most likely place for long-term drone innovation.

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jokoon
Weren't quadcopters formerly developed by boston dynamics ?

Article is behind paywall.

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evv
To get around the paywall, tap the "web" link under the article title, then go
through to the first result

