
Drone Developers Consider Obstacles That Cannot Be Flown Around - evilsimon
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/01/technology/as-drone-technology-advances-practical-obstacles-remain.html
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lotsofmangos
_" Drone technology has not been thoroughly tested in populated areas"_ \-
Except by tens of thousands of hobbyists over many decades, with apparently
nobody in the press really noticing until recently when cameras got added to
the RC loop, which surely makes it less risky as it is much easier to fly, so
I am sure it can't be that bad.

 _" and commercial use of drones is not allowed in the United States."_ \-
Although the only legal ruling so far for the first person taken to court by
the FAA says that commercial drones are completely legal and that the FAA is
talking crap. FAA has asked for an appeal and the NTSB has kicked it into the
long grass since March. - [http://blogs.findlaw.com/decided/2014/03/faas-
commercial-dro...](http://blogs.findlaw.com/decided/2014/03/faas-commercial-
drone-ban-shot-down-by-admin-law-judge.html)

This is really shitty journalism.

~~~
Retric
I have read a few cases of drones killing people so it's not exactly
unnoticed. The difference is their calling it a model aircraft or Toy vs
drone.

EX: [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-177139/Teenager-
kill...](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-177139/Teenager-killed-hit-
model-plane.html)

[http://nypost.com/2013/09/05/man-decapitated-by-remote-
contr...](http://nypost.com/2013/09/05/man-decapitated-by-remote-controlled-
toy-helicopter/)

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pan69
What is the proposed usage for these drones if I may ask? I don't want to be a
pessimist but if these drones are supposed to be transporting anything of
value wouldn't that encourage shooting these things out of the sky?

~~~
TheCoreh
Considering these drones have GPS and Celular connectivity built-in, shooting
them down would not be a very good idea, since the owners would quickly take
notice. The built-in video camera can also be used to record and transmit
images of the robber.

I can see this being used for items with value high enough to justify the
drone delivery costs (say, > $20) but not too high to the point where having a
drone deliver it would be too risky.

The exact values are certainly being worked out by actuarial scientists. There
will be some sort of insurance involved, inside the delivery cost.

Even if the urban delivery application doesn't materialize in the near future,
I see this being very useful in a rural setting. Or to deliver emergency
supplies to hard to reach locations.

~~~
thewarrior
What if mischief makers start shooting them down just for the thrills ? Since
drones are unmanned there is no equivalent situation we can compare it to.

~~~
SEJeff
Of course it can be done, but I think you fail to realize that something the
size of a dinner plate travelling upwards of 50mph in the sky is going to be a
whole hell of a lot harder to shoot than say a clay pigeon. I say this as
someone who built and flies a quad-rotor UAV (look up the QAV400 frame for an
idea) and used to fly the Shadow 200 in the military (with 480 combat flight
hours over Iraq).

I'm not saying you can't shoot these things down, but people that think it
will be easy have a lot to learn about this technology. Also, when people
shoot up in the air, there are often unintended victims when the bullets come
down.

