UAV roundup October 2016: The latest in unmanned aerial vehicle news

In this edition of the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) roundup, we touch on a number of different drone-related topics, including the small UAS rule going into effect and the industry reaction, as well as UAS being used for disaster relief, medicine delivery, and news gathering.

Small UAS rule goes into effect

The long-awaited small unmanned aerial system rule went into effect in late August, and the Department of Transportation, and the Federal Aviation Administration, and AUVSI held a media briefing in Washington, D.C. to discuss the rule. Present at the briefing were U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, FAA Administrator Michael Huerta and AUVSI President and CEO Brian Wynne (pictured), the only industry leader invited to speak at the kickoff event.

"With the small UAS rule now in effect, the commercial UAS industry is cleared for takeoff," Wynne said. "… Whether it’s aiding search and rescue missions, advancing scientific research, responding to natural disasters or helping farmers tend to their crops, UAS are capable of saving time, saving money and most importantly, saving lives."

Known as Part 107, the rule will put several regulations into place for UAS that weigh less than 55 lbs. Among these regulations are the requirement to stay within the visual line of sight of a pilot/operator, a maximum height of 400 ft., and a restriction on flights over people who are not part of the UAS operation.

Read more on the AUVSI website.

Reaction to the rule

Both the unmanned systems industry and its regulators immediately began looking toward what the future holds for UAS, following the small UAS rule going into effect.

At the 2016 Interdrone conference, FAA Administrator Michael Huerta said that the agency now estimates that there could be as many as 600,000 UAS used commercially in the first year after the enactment of the rule. More than 520,000 hobbyists have also registered this drones for fun, which AUVSI says outnumbers the number of manned aircraft by more than 200,000.

Huerta also noted that the FAA has been trying to stop "moving at the speed of government," and has been successful at speeding up the process of approving Section 333 exemptions. When this process began, it took three months to authorize the first seven operators, and by this summer, the FAA was approving several dozen per day.

For more reactions from the industry, read on.

UAS in North Dakota being tested for disaster relief efforts

Elbit Systems and Xcel Energy invested $500,000 in an effort to see if a drone can be used to provide assistance to crews that are working in different areas affected by disasters.

The testing is being done in North Dakota, and Elbit hopes that the drone can help keep humans out of harm’s way.

"When you have a storm, when you have fires, getting crews on the ground to identify damage is flat-out dangerous," President and CEO of Elbit Systems of America Raanan Horowitz said via an article on SFGate.com.

Read on.

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