Small Moves in Unmanned Aviation
Tracking some noteworthy changes in drone regulation on an eventual path towards autonomous flight
For years now we’ve been seeing tech headlines hinting at fast drone delivery right to our doorstep (or rooftop). But for the vast majority of us the only drones we see in our daily lives are the toy-grade devices being flown by some guy in the park. So where is all of this promising technology, and why aren’t we seeing it in commercial action yet? The short answer is that it’s pretty much here already, but there are rules against its use. Or more accurately, there isn’t yet a complete set of rules (at least not clear ones) on when these technologies are permitted for use. Due to the high potential for property damage, injury, or general disruption from objects falling from the sky, the FAA keeps a tight watch over aerial machinery. This becomes particularly important when we think about small unmanned craft sharing airspace with passenger aircraft, or flying near power-transmission lines, bridges, or skyscrapers. This is not to mention the mayhem that could result if a small aircraft were to fall in an urban setting where pedestrians are present, or falling unexpectedly onto a freeway.
For these reasons, the rules of the FAA and other flight regulatory organizations default to explicitly telling operators where they may fly (and under what conditions), with all other areas being considered off-limits. Different classes of aircraft fly at different altitudes, and are restricted further in what areas they may fly over. When the consequences are this high for something going wrong, they don’t leave room for gray area in the regulations.
Implications for Autonomy
Experts estimate that it may yet be 5-10 or more years before the FAA completes the packet of regulations that would allow for fully autonomous flight in the United States. Until then, aerial drones will generally be piloted remotely by a human, or what the FAA calls unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). And the whole industry is eagerly anticipating new rulings that will make or break the commercial ambitions of these unmanned aircraft systems.
A small number of commercial unmanned aircraft have flown (such as our portfolio company, Pyka), but were generally limited to:
- Visible line of sight between the operator and the aircraft
- Daytime use only
- Not over people other than those directly involved in the flight operation, or those under a covered structure
- Altitude below 400 ft.
- Weight below a certain weightclass
- Drones above a certain size must be registered to the owner
- Any exception to these rules required an explicit waiver from the FAA
The interesting thing about this is that it’s generally not been technological limitations that have kept autonomous aircraft grounded. In many ways it’s easier to fly an aircraft autonomously up in the open air than it is to reliably operate an autonomous car on crowded urban streets [see my post on Delivery Automation]. So what are we waiting for? One of the biggest hurdles facing autonomous flight is navigating shared airspace, to make sure these robotic devices do not err into controlled airspace where they could collide with a passenger aircraft. A human pilot would be trained to watch for other aircraft following predictable flight paths, and know how to obey airspace conventions even in the case of a faulty sensor. But autonomy in the air is sure to bring an expanding variety of new aircraft and behaviors into the skies, and the FAA is rather conservative when it comes to new skyborne machinery thinking for itself.
While we are still many years away from autonomous aviation, we are seeing progress in that direction.
New Rules:
Which brings us to the new changes, and why this is exciting.
“On December 28, 2020 the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced final rules for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) or drones that will require Remote Identification (Remote ID) of drones and allow operators of small drones to fly over people and at night under certain conditions.” https://www.faa.gov/uas/
Two big decisions were made here, with “Final Rules” submitted for official publication and the rules to take effect within 60 days. The first is probably the least consequential to the average person, but still represents a meaningful step forward. This decision puts forth requirements for all unmanned aircraft systems (UAS or drones) to broadcast identifying information (referred to as “Remote ID”) with a radio transponder while in flight. Basically, every flying drone over 0.55lbs in weight will be required to have an onboard transmitter to identify itself to everyone listening (to that radio frequency) in the area. For now this really only affects drone manufacturers and operators, as they must now integrate this transmitting hardware on all craft built or flown beyond Q3 2022 (18 months after publication of this requirement). But the upside of this is that the ground-based operations that need to be able to track drone activity can now begin to build out the hardware systems and infrastructure needed to perform this tracking. And the drone makers finally have clarity on what they must build for and comply with. Essentially this broadcasted identity information will now be regarded as public, since anyone with a suitable radio antenna can collect this information for themselves from their own rooftop. This isn’t really new though, as it is very similar to the system that all commercial aircraft flown today must comply with. We will all have to wait and see what interesting logistical or commercial applications might be invented to use this new public data stream on drone traffic. And because all of the UAS drones must already be registered with the FAA, this allows enforcement agencies to contact the owner of any drone seen to be engaging in questionable activities.
The second published rule in this FAA packet is much more interesting and will be more visible in our daily lives. It outlines the requirements for drones to be flown over people, which heretofore has been illegal unless the operator attained a waiver from the FAA explicitly allowing it. Or as the FAA text states:
“The rule will eliminate the need for typical operations to receive individual part 107 certificate of waivers from the FAA.
This final rule amends part 107 by permitting routine operations of small unmanned aircraft over people, moving vehicles, and at night under certain conditions. It also changes the recurrent training framework, expands the list of persons who may request the presentation of a remote pilot certificate, and makes other minor changes.”
I won’t go into detail on what those certain conditions are, but they largely pertain to aircraft size and the nature of the operation, with a category system ranging from Cat. 1 to Cat. 4 in place to quantify risk. Or as they put it “The ability to fly over people varies depending on the level of risk that a small UAS operation presents to people on the ground.”
Essentially, these rules are intended to provide more leeway to the commercial drone industry to conduct more types of operations, while still considering the safety of bystanders. We can expect to see more commercial undertakings beginning to appear in the skies over the next few years. A couple of applications that we could expect to see more of would be delivery drones (remotely piloted by a human operator), camera footage from sporting events or concerts, portable WiFi, and unfortunately aerial advertising. But again, these use cases are limited to where a registered human pilot is remotely operating the craft.
One application that I’m very excited about that will probably not yet be possible under these rules will be aerial lightshows as was shown at the 2018 winter olympics opening ceremony. The reason for this is that those drones need a higher degree of autonomy and programming than this current ruleset will allow for. Precise programmed patterns of this nature and with this number of drones would require tight computer control, sadly beyond the capabilities of remote human pilots. Outside of very special circumstances, we will have to wait a bit longer to see these dynamic 3D displays in our skies.
Prime Movers Lab invests in breakthrough scientific startups founded by Prime Movers, the inventors who transform billions of lives. We invest in seed-stage companies reinventing energy, transportation, infrastructure, manufacturing, human augmentation and agriculture.
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