Will We Sleep to the Sounds of Buzzing Drones?

New FAA rules could fill the night skies with commercial drones

(Credit: Lance Ulanoff)

We know the sound of a passing car, a train in the distance, or a plane flying overhead. They’re part of modern life and we subconsciously note them while consciously ignoring their existence. The singular, high-pitched buzz of a drone is something different. It’s rare enough that our simian selves perk up and our eyes dart about looking for the source.

Finding drones in our night sky is about to become a well-honed skillset, as the Federal Aviation Administration just unveiled a crucial new set of Unmanned Aircraft (UA) rules that will surely spur more commercial drone use than we’ve ever seen before.

The core components of the new rules for Part 107 drones (those that require training and drone licenses to fly or at least a UA-trained person nearby) that take effect after January 21 are:

• The ability to fly at night and over people
• The integration of Remote ID, which is like a digital license plate for drones that transmits location information about the drone and remote controller to wireless devices and the FAA
• Covering for all propeller blades so they can’t slice up delicate humans