Despite Regulations, Drones Are Taking To The Skies

From package delivery to crop monitoring, drones have the ability to add value to a wide range of commercial services. However, outdated FAA regulations make it difficult for companies to fly drones in the United States. Companies that produce and test drones have taken advantage of international airspace that has fewer restrictions. The current regulations require commercial drone operators to have the equivalent of a pilot’s license, though the skills required to fly a drone are drastically different than the skills required to fly a passenger aircraft. Regulations also restrict drones from being flown above certain altitudes, near airports, and in heavily populated areas. In addition, drones are not permitted to be flown beyond the sight of the operator. All of these constraints create challenges for many drone use cases.

To further control drone adoption, the FAA requires companies seeking to use drones for commercial purposes apply for a formal exemption. Facing pressure from Amazon, Google , and other tech firms that want to experiment with drones, the FAA can now expedite exemptions “when it finds it has already granted a previous exemption similar to the new request” and continues to make progress modernizing its drone regulations.

While Amazon’s vision of a Prime Air 1-day delivery service is still years away, they have already  received approval to start testing drone delivery, and have paved the way for other commercial drone operations doing business in the United States. As drone capabilities improve and regulations become more supportive, the commercial applications for drones will continue to impact a wide variety of industries.

For example, Agribotix, a drone producer servicing the agriculture industry, has a variety of small light-weight drones that can hover over crops, using near infrared and thermal cameras that capture high-resolution images to help farmers evaluate the health of their crops. While someone on the ground looking at the corn can only see healthy stocks,  the drone provides detailed mapping of the crop. The picture below is an analysis of a corn field that has inconsistent growth patterns across several acres.

A farmer would typically distribute an equal amount of fertilizer across the entire field but healthy corn can receive too much fertilizer, while underdeveloped corn may not receive enough. This application method will produce a less than optimal yield and result in an overspend in fertilizer. With actionable information provided by drone imagery and data-driven cloud based software, the farmer can now maximize his yield, while reducing costs by fertilizing only the areas that need it most.

Drone use cases that are ready for prime time now include construction site surveillance, search and rescue, weather tracking, mapping and surveying and much more. Drones provide more accurate information than satellite technology because they can hover closer to the items they want to capture and provide higher quality images at a much lower price. All of this leads to more accurate and actionable information.

Summary

Although Amazon’s vision of 30 minute delivery via drones seems far-fetched, their persistence is forcing legislators to rethink age old regulations that are holding back the drone industry in the United States. In the next few years we’ll see a surge in the number and variety of drone use cases. It’s imperative that the FAA continues to improve and modernize its legislation so that businesses can continue to safely innovate with drone technology.