
US drone rules hamper firms hoping machines can take over dangerous jobs - danboarder
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/oct/10/us-drone-rules-faa-safety-mining-industry
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danboarder
Beyond the mining applications mentioned in the article, I can see aerial or
tethered robots working on highrise building construction, washing windows on
existing structures, or examining and treating specific plants rather than
"cropdusting" entire fields in agriculture.

A fresh era of technology transformation is underway and robot drone
applications are already creating an economic ecosystem of tech companies and
new jobs for operators, while replacing some dangerous jobs in the process.

The FAA is late to form rules for commercial UAVs based on Sec 333 that
Congress has already passed in 2012 (the FAA rules were supposed to be
complete one year after to enable commercial UAVs [1]. Perhaps we need
congress to pass more direct regulations that allow for expanded commercial
use, while leaving hobbyists and tinkerers free to experiment and build new
things. I'm a member of the AMA (Academy of Model Aeronautics) and the biggest
concern among members is the ongoing erosion of our right to fly (although
hobby craft are supposed to be exempt from FAA rulemaking per Sec 336 of the
FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 [1]) as the FAA has recently lumped
any "non-hobby" RC planes, quadcopters, and sUAV "drones" all in the same
bucket of full-scale manned-aircraft.[2] This would include tiny handheld
lightweight drones to larger craft up to 55lbs.

[1]
[http://www.faa.gov/uas/media/Sec_331_336_UAS.pdf](http://www.faa.gov/uas/media/Sec_331_336_UAS.pdf)
and
[http://www.faa.gov/uas/legislative_programs/section_333/](http://www.faa.gov/uas/legislative_programs/section_333/)

[2] [http://amablog.modelaircraft.org/amagov/2015/02/15/dotfaa-
an...](http://amablog.modelaircraft.org/amagov/2015/02/15/dotfaa-announce-
proposed-rule-for-suas/)

~~~
Shivetya
One job I would mention is inspection of power lines. Having watched videos of
inspectors actually stepping out of helicopters onto the lines is enough to
think this is a good candidate.

The simple matter is there are so many jobs that can be done with drones that
we haven't likely imagined. The simple ones are easy; checking crops,
structures like those found on suspension bridges, to simply being airborne
over large forested areas looking for fires.

