1 00:00:04,559 --> 00:00:12,240 Speaker 1: Technology with tex Stuff from staff stats. Pay there and 2 00:00:12,320 --> 00:00:15,880 Speaker 1: welcome to tex Stuff. I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland. Then 3 00:00:15,960 --> 00:00:18,959 Speaker 1: it's a solo show today and a bit of an 4 00:00:19,079 --> 00:00:22,720 Speaker 1: up date. You see, back in two thousand thirteen, my 5 00:00:22,920 --> 00:00:26,000 Speaker 1: old co host Chris Pallette and I recorded an episode 6 00:00:26,000 --> 00:00:28,800 Speaker 1: about drones, and I thought it was about time to 7 00:00:28,880 --> 00:00:32,360 Speaker 1: record a sequel to that episode, and that's what brings 8 00:00:32,440 --> 00:00:35,280 Speaker 1: us here today. Now, there's gonna be some overlap with 9 00:00:35,320 --> 00:00:37,720 Speaker 1: that first episode, but then it's been three years and 10 00:00:37,760 --> 00:00:39,519 Speaker 1: I've bet a lot of you haven't even heard the 11 00:00:39,560 --> 00:00:42,360 Speaker 1: original one. Uh, if you have and it's one of 12 00:00:42,360 --> 00:00:44,800 Speaker 1: your favorites, I apologize for some of the overlap, but 13 00:00:45,240 --> 00:00:49,440 Speaker 1: mostly we're gonna be looking at the law, and I'll 14 00:00:49,560 --> 00:00:51,239 Speaker 1: use the first half of this episode to kind of 15 00:00:51,240 --> 00:00:55,440 Speaker 1: cover the working operation of a drone. UM and by drones, 16 00:00:55,560 --> 00:00:59,880 Speaker 1: I i'm talking about consumer and prosumer unmanned aerial V 17 00:01:00,040 --> 00:01:04,959 Speaker 1: vehicles or small unmanned aerial systems. So you get U 18 00:01:05,000 --> 00:01:08,240 Speaker 1: a v S or U A s IS, which more 19 00:01:08,280 --> 00:01:11,200 Speaker 1: frequently than not fall into the quad copter or quad 20 00:01:11,319 --> 00:01:14,920 Speaker 1: rotor category. Now there are other types as well, including 21 00:01:14,959 --> 00:01:19,520 Speaker 1: fixed wing aircraft and Moldy rotor drones that have more 22 00:01:19,520 --> 00:01:22,039 Speaker 1: than just the four but quad coptor is the form 23 00:01:22,120 --> 00:01:24,760 Speaker 1: factor that seems to be the most popular. It provides 24 00:01:24,800 --> 00:01:30,399 Speaker 1: a less stability and makes the whole whole industry more 25 00:01:30,440 --> 00:01:34,840 Speaker 1: attractive to a larger audience. And um, I should also 26 00:01:34,880 --> 00:01:38,280 Speaker 1: mention before I get into this too far, that the 27 00:01:38,400 --> 00:01:42,480 Speaker 1: term drone is technically a misnomer. To be a true drone, 28 00:01:42,680 --> 00:01:46,640 Speaker 1: at least in the you know, the traditional definition of drone, 29 00:01:47,319 --> 00:01:50,160 Speaker 1: typically it needs to be at least semi autonomous, meaning 30 00:01:50,160 --> 00:01:52,160 Speaker 1: it has to be able to operate on its own 31 00:01:52,320 --> 00:01:57,120 Speaker 1: for a significant amount of its use. Um, they have 32 00:01:57,200 --> 00:01:59,840 Speaker 1: to have a specific purpose or mission. So a drone 33 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:03,640 Speaker 1: has to be something that is got a specific reason 34 00:02:03,760 --> 00:02:08,440 Speaker 1: for existing, like spying, for example, or in the case 35 00:02:08,440 --> 00:02:12,200 Speaker 1: of things like predator drones, perhaps combat. They tend to 36 00:02:12,200 --> 00:02:15,600 Speaker 1: be much larger than the consumer and prosumer RC aircraft 37 00:02:15,639 --> 00:02:18,240 Speaker 1: on the market that I'll be talking about, and they 38 00:02:18,240 --> 00:02:22,079 Speaker 1: can often fly for many many hours, whereas your typical 39 00:02:22,320 --> 00:02:27,440 Speaker 1: consumer U a V is good for maybe half an 40 00:02:27,440 --> 00:02:29,400 Speaker 1: hour of use, depends on the battery. Some of them 41 00:02:29,400 --> 00:02:31,880 Speaker 1: are better than others, some of them have very limited 42 00:02:31,919 --> 00:02:35,280 Speaker 1: flight times. But the term drone has been applied to 43 00:02:35,320 --> 00:02:38,720 Speaker 1: these r C aircraft in general, and it's not only 44 00:02:38,800 --> 00:02:42,120 Speaker 1: just stuck to them, it's grown in popularity. More and 45 00:02:42,160 --> 00:02:44,680 Speaker 1: more people use the term drone to describe all of 46 00:02:44,680 --> 00:02:48,840 Speaker 1: these things. So you could argue that the definition of 47 00:02:48,880 --> 00:02:52,800 Speaker 1: drone has been expanded to include RC aircraft outside the 48 00:02:52,840 --> 00:02:56,320 Speaker 1: model plane and helicopter and blimp stuff. Pretty much anything 49 00:02:56,360 --> 00:02:59,320 Speaker 1: that isn't one of those traditional model aircraft now ends 50 00:02:59,360 --> 00:03:02,400 Speaker 1: up being called drowne and whether we like it or not, 51 00:03:02,639 --> 00:03:05,760 Speaker 1: that's the term. So I know there are a lot 52 00:03:05,800 --> 00:03:08,960 Speaker 1: of r C enthusiasts out there, people who have been 53 00:03:09,000 --> 00:03:13,680 Speaker 1: hobbyists and model aircraft for years, who don't like the 54 00:03:13,800 --> 00:03:17,400 Speaker 1: use of the word drone to describe these vehicles. Uh. 55 00:03:17,440 --> 00:03:21,160 Speaker 1: They feel that is to misleading. Honestly, at this point, 56 00:03:21,240 --> 00:03:23,880 Speaker 1: I think that we could all agree that the definition 57 00:03:23,919 --> 00:03:27,399 Speaker 1: of drone has changed, and that's the nature of language. 58 00:03:27,600 --> 00:03:33,080 Speaker 1: Sometimes language changes to incorporate things that weren't possible to 59 00:03:33,160 --> 00:03:36,840 Speaker 1: cover in previous uses of a word. It's a technology 60 00:03:36,880 --> 00:03:41,680 Speaker 1: that's been developed since the word was coined, and now 61 00:03:41,720 --> 00:03:44,720 Speaker 1: we just have to agree that this is one of 62 00:03:44,720 --> 00:03:47,200 Speaker 1: those susceptible terms. So I'm gonna be using the word drone, 63 00:03:47,880 --> 00:03:51,120 Speaker 1: or the abbreviations of U, A V or you know, 64 00:03:51,160 --> 00:03:53,920 Speaker 1: acronyms whatever of you A V and UH and U 65 00:03:54,000 --> 00:03:56,680 Speaker 1: A s quite a bit in this, but they all 66 00:03:56,720 --> 00:03:59,760 Speaker 1: mean the same thing. I'll also be talking about quad 67 00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:03,720 Speaker 1: opters and quad rotors a lot, mainly because that represents 68 00:04:03,760 --> 00:04:07,920 Speaker 1: the vast majority of the market share for for these 69 00:04:07,960 --> 00:04:11,960 Speaker 1: types of devices out on the Well, I guess on 70 00:04:12,160 --> 00:04:15,680 Speaker 1: the air today. So, uh, now that I've got that 71 00:04:15,720 --> 00:04:19,240 Speaker 1: all the way, Um, what prompted the decision to talk 72 00:04:19,279 --> 00:04:22,440 Speaker 1: about drones again in the first place. Well, there's been 73 00:04:22,480 --> 00:04:25,159 Speaker 1: a lot of news about drones over the last couple 74 00:04:25,160 --> 00:04:30,080 Speaker 1: of years, and again we recorded the first episode, and 75 00:04:30,640 --> 00:04:34,520 Speaker 1: particularly there's been a lot of news and debate about 76 00:04:34,600 --> 00:04:37,520 Speaker 1: drones as they are being used to capture video and 77 00:04:37,680 --> 00:04:42,160 Speaker 1: images and situations that raise some pretty tricky questions. For example, 78 00:04:42,600 --> 00:04:45,640 Speaker 1: there's the story from two thousand fifteen of drones interfering 79 00:04:45,640 --> 00:04:50,600 Speaker 1: with firefighting operations in the San Bernardino National Forest in California. 80 00:04:50,920 --> 00:04:53,120 Speaker 1: Some people were using drones to get images and video 81 00:04:53,240 --> 00:04:56,360 Speaker 1: of the fires, but that meant that firefighting helicopters were 82 00:04:56,400 --> 00:05:00,760 Speaker 1: grounded because the potential collision dangers. So because these drones 83 00:05:00,800 --> 00:05:05,000 Speaker 1: were hovering over the sites where fire was raging, the 84 00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:09,280 Speaker 1: helicopters couldn't get clearance to take off and deliver uh, 85 00:05:09,480 --> 00:05:11,440 Speaker 1: you know, water or sand or whatever it was they 86 00:05:11,440 --> 00:05:13,960 Speaker 1: were going to use to put out the fires at 87 00:05:13,960 --> 00:05:17,520 Speaker 1: those regions, which meant the fire continue to get bigger 88 00:05:17,520 --> 00:05:20,040 Speaker 1: and bigger. And this raised a lot of questions for 89 00:05:20,120 --> 00:05:23,520 Speaker 1: people saying, well, is that as should it be legal 90 00:05:23,600 --> 00:05:27,279 Speaker 1: to operate a drone anywhere around there? If a drone 91 00:05:27,320 --> 00:05:32,000 Speaker 1: is operating under there, what what course of action is 92 00:05:32,080 --> 00:05:35,680 Speaker 1: law enforcement allowed to pursue? Could they shoot down a 93 00:05:35,800 --> 00:05:39,560 Speaker 1: drone like that using whatever means they had at their disposal. 94 00:05:40,600 --> 00:05:45,400 Speaker 1: And that's kind of brought into public consciousness this idea 95 00:05:45,440 --> 00:05:49,360 Speaker 1: that the drones could potentially be dangerous and also not 96 00:05:49,440 --> 00:05:52,560 Speaker 1: just dangerous to property or people, but also to our 97 00:05:52,560 --> 00:05:56,400 Speaker 1: privacy because more and more drones are are equipped with 98 00:05:56,440 --> 00:06:01,160 Speaker 1: these cameras, some of which can capt you're pretty high 99 00:06:01,200 --> 00:06:04,680 Speaker 1: quality video, So that means that even if you're far away, 100 00:06:04,720 --> 00:06:08,480 Speaker 1: if you've got a high enough resolution, you could digitally 101 00:06:08,560 --> 00:06:11,880 Speaker 1: zoom in a couple of levels down and still get 102 00:06:12,040 --> 00:06:16,080 Speaker 1: a closer look at something while you know, from an 103 00:06:16,080 --> 00:06:17,800 Speaker 1: external point of view it may seem the drone is 104 00:06:17,839 --> 00:06:20,119 Speaker 1: pretty far away. There are a lot of different questions 105 00:06:20,160 --> 00:06:23,720 Speaker 1: that come up from that. Another recent story involves filmmaking. 106 00:06:24,839 --> 00:06:27,640 Speaker 1: This was one that prompted me to do an episode 107 00:06:27,640 --> 00:06:31,000 Speaker 1: of House Stop Works Now about this. The production crew 108 00:06:31,040 --> 00:06:34,719 Speaker 1: of Star Wars Episode eight had a real issue with drones. 109 00:06:34,920 --> 00:06:38,720 Speaker 1: They were shooting in the UK. They had a location 110 00:06:38,760 --> 00:06:41,560 Speaker 1: scouted out and they were shooting at that location, and 111 00:06:41,600 --> 00:06:44,680 Speaker 1: they had this issue where people who were operating drones 112 00:06:44,720 --> 00:06:47,360 Speaker 1: were flying them close to the location in order to 113 00:06:47,400 --> 00:06:51,440 Speaker 1: get pictures and video of what was going on. So 114 00:06:51,520 --> 00:06:56,120 Speaker 1: when the crew moved to Croatia to do another stage 115 00:06:56,120 --> 00:06:59,880 Speaker 1: of the production for the film, they actually hired News 116 00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:06,040 Speaker 1: Security Team members to help bolster their numbers. And these 117 00:07:06,120 --> 00:07:10,400 Speaker 1: new team members were drone pilots and their job was 118 00:07:10,560 --> 00:07:17,280 Speaker 1: to intercept and stop any snooping drones from getting pictures 119 00:07:17,360 --> 00:07:22,960 Speaker 1: of the filming, which presumably included colliding with them so 120 00:07:23,000 --> 00:07:27,080 Speaker 1: that they would bring down the other drone um And 121 00:07:27,120 --> 00:07:30,120 Speaker 1: that raises the question of well is that legal? Is 122 00:07:30,120 --> 00:07:34,080 Speaker 1: it legal for some private company to use means to 123 00:07:34,200 --> 00:07:37,800 Speaker 1: bring down someone else's drone if that person's drone and 124 00:07:37,920 --> 00:07:41,160 Speaker 1: spying on what they're doing and um. And it's a 125 00:07:41,160 --> 00:07:43,440 Speaker 1: tough question. It's it's one that does not have an 126 00:07:43,480 --> 00:07:48,680 Speaker 1: immediate answer necessarily, particularly since we're talking about croatia UM. 127 00:07:48,840 --> 00:07:52,400 Speaker 1: So there's a lot of questions about legality, what, when, where, 128 00:07:52,440 --> 00:07:54,600 Speaker 1: and how can you fly your drone? Is it ever 129 00:07:54,760 --> 00:07:59,120 Speaker 1: legal to bring down someone else's drone? And once again 130 00:07:59,160 --> 00:08:02,080 Speaker 1: we see that technology has outpaced the legal system. This 131 00:08:02,160 --> 00:08:05,200 Speaker 1: is not a new thing. We've seen it a lot. 132 00:08:05,240 --> 00:08:09,119 Speaker 1: The Internet really drove this home in more recent past, 133 00:08:09,200 --> 00:08:13,200 Speaker 1: where you see the capability of doing things far outstrips 134 00:08:13,200 --> 00:08:15,840 Speaker 1: what we were able to do before. And then we 135 00:08:15,880 --> 00:08:19,400 Speaker 1: see the legal system try to react to this and 136 00:08:19,400 --> 00:08:23,520 Speaker 1: and compensate for it. Sometimes it overreacts. You could argue 137 00:08:23,600 --> 00:08:25,320 Speaker 1: that some of the in fact, I think you could 138 00:08:25,400 --> 00:08:29,360 Speaker 1: argue successfully that several of the laws that have been 139 00:08:29,400 --> 00:08:35,719 Speaker 1: passed to guard against copyright and piracy uh are overreactions 140 00:08:35,800 --> 00:08:39,120 Speaker 1: to the ability to copy material much more easily in 141 00:08:39,160 --> 00:08:42,280 Speaker 1: the Internet and computer age then you could in the past. 142 00:08:43,360 --> 00:08:47,640 Speaker 1: Before you had computers, it was a real, you know, effort. 143 00:08:47,720 --> 00:08:50,760 Speaker 1: It took a lot of effort to copy something and 144 00:08:51,120 --> 00:08:55,920 Speaker 1: distribute it. So the laws were pretty you know, they covered, 145 00:08:55,920 --> 00:08:59,959 Speaker 1: they protected copyright owners, but they were pretty simple. Now 146 00:09:00,200 --> 00:09:02,800 Speaker 1: that it's a lot easier to make lots of copies, 147 00:09:03,000 --> 00:09:09,400 Speaker 1: those laws have become increasingly restrictive and overreaching. In some cases. 148 00:09:09,920 --> 00:09:12,680 Speaker 1: The fear is the same thing could happen with U 149 00:09:12,720 --> 00:09:14,920 Speaker 1: A v. S. And in fact, some would argue it 150 00:09:15,000 --> 00:09:18,520 Speaker 1: already has started to happen there. And just so you know, 151 00:09:18,960 --> 00:09:20,600 Speaker 1: I need to get this out of the way. I'll 152 00:09:20,720 --> 00:09:23,640 Speaker 1: be focusing primarily on the United States in this episode 153 00:09:24,120 --> 00:09:27,240 Speaker 1: because that's where I live. But these issues are going 154 00:09:27,320 --> 00:09:30,880 Speaker 1: on and questions are being asked and and actions are 155 00:09:30,880 --> 00:09:34,720 Speaker 1: being taken all over the world. Uh, regarding drones. I mean, 156 00:09:34,760 --> 00:09:38,280 Speaker 1: the UK in particular had the story of the the 157 00:09:38,840 --> 00:09:41,439 Speaker 1: drone that was there was a story that a drone 158 00:09:41,440 --> 00:09:46,240 Speaker 1: had collided with a British Airways flight that was taking off, 159 00:09:46,280 --> 00:09:50,400 Speaker 1: I think, and that ended up bringing up a conversation 160 00:09:50,440 --> 00:09:53,200 Speaker 1: over in the UK. But these are conversations happening all 161 00:09:53,240 --> 00:09:57,040 Speaker 1: over the world. I'll mostly be focusing on the US because, uh, 162 00:09:57,080 --> 00:09:59,280 Speaker 1: it's one of those It's the country that is trying 163 00:09:59,360 --> 00:10:02,960 Speaker 1: to figure this out, and a lot of other countries 164 00:10:03,000 --> 00:10:06,000 Speaker 1: are looking to the US as a model for what 165 00:10:06,160 --> 00:10:09,680 Speaker 1: to do with their own laws. So that's why I'm 166 00:10:09,840 --> 00:10:11,440 Speaker 1: going to be looking at it. But this is still 167 00:10:11,480 --> 00:10:16,280 Speaker 1: tricky because there are different regions in the US that 168 00:10:16,400 --> 00:10:20,000 Speaker 1: have their own local laws that may or may not 169 00:10:20,120 --> 00:10:23,240 Speaker 1: come into conflict with any federal regulations once those are 170 00:10:23,240 --> 00:10:28,800 Speaker 1: finally published. So we've got a lot of of ambiguity 171 00:10:28,800 --> 00:10:31,160 Speaker 1: out there. Also, there are other places in the world 172 00:10:31,240 --> 00:10:34,320 Speaker 1: that have much stricter privacy laws than the United States does. 173 00:10:34,800 --> 00:10:40,640 Speaker 1: In the US, we're fairly fairly uh concerned about about privacy. 174 00:10:40,679 --> 00:10:43,640 Speaker 1: A lot of people don't like the idea of um 175 00:10:43,840 --> 00:10:47,720 Speaker 1: of cameras on every corner, for example, Whereas in the 176 00:10:47,840 --> 00:10:52,079 Speaker 1: UK that's something that happens pretty frequently in in urban 177 00:10:52,120 --> 00:10:56,800 Speaker 1: areas particularly, but in other parts of Europe it's it's 178 00:10:56,840 --> 00:10:59,880 Speaker 1: kind of the opposite. The privacy laws are such that, 179 00:11:00,120 --> 00:11:03,200 Speaker 1: uh that it may end up we may sing stricter 180 00:11:03,280 --> 00:11:07,120 Speaker 1: regulations in those areas for drone use um as opposed 181 00:11:07,120 --> 00:11:11,000 Speaker 1: to the U S. So, uh that all being said, 182 00:11:11,920 --> 00:11:14,320 Speaker 1: I thought it would be also a good reminder to 183 00:11:14,400 --> 00:11:16,760 Speaker 1: just kind of go over the way a drone flies 184 00:11:17,200 --> 00:11:20,400 Speaker 1: to explain how it works. I mean, this this podcast 185 00:11:20,559 --> 00:11:24,040 Speaker 1: is part of how stuff works. Big shock to all 186 00:11:24,080 --> 00:11:26,240 Speaker 1: of you guys out there who weren't aware of that. 187 00:11:26,280 --> 00:11:28,560 Speaker 1: Be Yes, How Stuff works is the is the company 188 00:11:28,600 --> 00:11:31,120 Speaker 1: I work for, text Stuff being one of the mini 189 00:11:31,200 --> 00:11:33,880 Speaker 1: podcasts we do, So I thought I would take this 190 00:11:33,920 --> 00:11:37,640 Speaker 1: opportunity to explain how quad copters work. So this is 191 00:11:37,640 --> 00:11:40,640 Speaker 1: specifically about the quad copter style of U A V 192 00:11:40,800 --> 00:11:43,720 Speaker 1: S or drones um, knowing that you know there are 193 00:11:43,720 --> 00:11:48,200 Speaker 1: other other methods out there. But a quad copter has 194 00:11:48,240 --> 00:11:52,360 Speaker 1: four rotors, which you would probably imagined from the name quad, 195 00:11:52,800 --> 00:11:56,120 Speaker 1: and it's arranged in a cross formation. So two of 196 00:11:56,160 --> 00:11:59,360 Speaker 1: the rotors spend in a clockwise direction and the other 197 00:11:59,400 --> 00:12:02,600 Speaker 1: two rote eight witter shans, which is an old way 198 00:12:02,640 --> 00:12:06,760 Speaker 1: of saying counter clockwise. Uh. And it's an old way 199 00:12:06,800 --> 00:12:10,280 Speaker 1: that I like because I'm a Shakespeare fan. But at 200 00:12:10,280 --> 00:12:12,480 Speaker 1: any rate, you've probably heard me say it before. So 201 00:12:12,559 --> 00:12:16,080 Speaker 1: to go clockwise, to go counterclockwise, the rotors are in 202 00:12:16,080 --> 00:12:19,320 Speaker 1: a fixed pitch, meaning that the rotors themselves don't tilt. 203 00:12:19,440 --> 00:12:24,679 Speaker 1: They are uh stuck in that position. Now, typically you 204 00:12:24,679 --> 00:12:27,200 Speaker 1: would need to tilt the pitch of a rotor forward 205 00:12:27,240 --> 00:12:30,280 Speaker 1: in order to get forward momentum and to do anything 206 00:12:30,280 --> 00:12:33,280 Speaker 1: other than just hover in place. So with a helicopter 207 00:12:33,360 --> 00:12:36,120 Speaker 1: you may have rotors that can pitch forward a little bit, 208 00:12:36,200 --> 00:12:39,240 Speaker 1: and that will start to let the helicopter move forward. 209 00:12:39,920 --> 00:12:43,240 Speaker 1: The quad copter does this by changing the rotational speed 210 00:12:43,400 --> 00:12:46,880 Speaker 1: of the various rotors, so they might make certain rotors 211 00:12:47,440 --> 00:12:51,280 Speaker 1: turn a little slower than other rotors. That will allow 212 00:12:51,559 --> 00:12:56,120 Speaker 1: the the the quad copter to telt in the proper 213 00:12:56,120 --> 00:13:00,200 Speaker 1: direction and thus move in that direction. And this is 214 00:13:00,200 --> 00:13:02,440 Speaker 1: a very delicate thing. You have to be very careful. 215 00:13:02,760 --> 00:13:04,720 Speaker 1: You want to generate enough lift to keep the quad 216 00:13:04,720 --> 00:13:07,920 Speaker 1: copter in the air, but you also want to have 217 00:13:07,960 --> 00:13:11,960 Speaker 1: a differential between the two um the two sets of 218 00:13:12,040 --> 00:13:14,240 Speaker 1: rotors in order to make sure that it's tilting the 219 00:13:14,320 --> 00:13:16,560 Speaker 1: right way to get your quad copter to go where 220 00:13:16,559 --> 00:13:20,280 Speaker 1: you want it to go. And obviously it can also 221 00:13:20,559 --> 00:13:23,520 Speaker 1: ascend or descend, so we can go higher or lower. 222 00:13:24,360 --> 00:13:27,000 Speaker 1: The motors on a quad copter copter are actually pretty 223 00:13:27,000 --> 00:13:29,800 Speaker 1: simple because they only need to turn the shaft of 224 00:13:29,840 --> 00:13:33,679 Speaker 1: the respective propellers in one direction, so you don't need 225 00:13:33,720 --> 00:13:37,000 Speaker 1: a motor that can reverse the direction of the propeller. 226 00:13:37,280 --> 00:13:39,560 Speaker 1: That's not necessary. It just has to be able to 227 00:13:39,600 --> 00:13:42,560 Speaker 1: turn either you know, oriented in such way so it 228 00:13:42,559 --> 00:13:46,160 Speaker 1: turns either clockwise or counterclockwise. But that's it. That's all 229 00:13:46,200 --> 00:13:50,800 Speaker 1: it has to do. And in fact, mechanically speaking, your 230 00:13:50,800 --> 00:13:56,080 Speaker 1: typical quad copter is incredibly simple. It really just has 231 00:13:57,000 --> 00:14:01,320 Speaker 1: two moving parts. Uh well, I guess technically eight, because 232 00:14:01,440 --> 00:14:04,640 Speaker 1: quad copters have four motors and four propellers, but those 233 00:14:04,640 --> 00:14:07,160 Speaker 1: are the only things that are moving on a quad copter. 234 00:14:07,240 --> 00:14:11,760 Speaker 1: Everything else can be perfectly stationary. Um. So mechanically they 235 00:14:11,760 --> 00:14:17,320 Speaker 1: are very simple, simple things. However, electronically they are incredibly 236 00:14:17,400 --> 00:14:22,200 Speaker 1: sophisticated and complicated. That's because it would be next to 237 00:14:22,400 --> 00:14:27,280 Speaker 1: impossible to fly a multi rotor vehicle using manual controls 238 00:14:27,440 --> 00:14:30,520 Speaker 1: and manually adjusting the speed of each of these rotors. 239 00:14:31,160 --> 00:14:34,800 Speaker 1: Quad Copters take advantage of sophisticated sensors and electronics to 240 00:14:34,920 --> 00:14:38,640 Speaker 1: maintain their flight. If the rotors spin at the wrong speed, 241 00:14:38,680 --> 00:14:41,560 Speaker 1: the quad copter would either crash or it would fly 242 00:14:41,640 --> 00:14:44,240 Speaker 1: off in the wrong direction and then crash. For a 243 00:14:44,320 --> 00:14:47,720 Speaker 1: quad copter to remain hovering, each of those propellers has 244 00:14:47,760 --> 00:14:50,440 Speaker 1: to be spinning at the right speed so that they 245 00:14:50,480 --> 00:14:53,960 Speaker 1: generate the same amount of force we're talking about, uh, 246 00:14:54,000 --> 00:14:56,840 Speaker 1: the right amount of torque and thrust and compensating for 247 00:14:56,880 --> 00:14:59,960 Speaker 1: the right amount of drag, which may not be equivalent 248 00:15:00,080 --> 00:15:04,440 Speaker 1: across all four rotors, so you have to have sensors 249 00:15:04,480 --> 00:15:07,760 Speaker 1: that can detect this sort of stuff and make tiny 250 00:15:07,880 --> 00:15:10,640 Speaker 1: minute adjustments just so that you can have a quad 251 00:15:10,680 --> 00:15:16,200 Speaker 1: copter hovering in in space, because if any of those 252 00:15:16,200 --> 00:15:19,440 Speaker 1: conditions changed, then the quad copter would go out of control. 253 00:15:20,600 --> 00:15:23,800 Speaker 1: So you typically have a quad copter with lots of 254 00:15:23,840 --> 00:15:27,479 Speaker 1: microprocessors that are paired with sensors like accelerometers and gyroscopes 255 00:15:27,520 --> 00:15:31,120 Speaker 1: to allow the little vehicle to make these adjustments for you, 256 00:15:31,160 --> 00:15:34,680 Speaker 1: perhaps up to several thousand times per minute, just so 257 00:15:34,720 --> 00:15:37,920 Speaker 1: you can cover in place. Um and early consumer quad 258 00:15:37,920 --> 00:15:41,800 Speaker 1: copters were essentially limited in what they could do on purpose. 259 00:15:42,000 --> 00:15:44,840 Speaker 1: It wasn't like it was a technological limitation at the time. 260 00:15:45,280 --> 00:15:48,480 Speaker 1: It was that the people the companies making the quad 261 00:15:48,520 --> 00:15:52,640 Speaker 1: copters wanted to make something that anyone could use. And 262 00:15:52,720 --> 00:15:55,640 Speaker 1: this is what differentiates quad copters from other types of 263 00:15:55,680 --> 00:15:59,760 Speaker 1: model aircraft. Any hobbyist who has been in model aircraft 264 00:15:59,760 --> 00:16:02,320 Speaker 1: for a long time will tell you it takes a 265 00:16:02,320 --> 00:16:07,080 Speaker 1: lot of training and practice to get good at controlling 266 00:16:07,120 --> 00:16:10,000 Speaker 1: model aircraft, whether it's a model plane or a model 267 00:16:10,080 --> 00:16:13,680 Speaker 1: helicopter or whatever. In order to get really adept at it. 268 00:16:13,880 --> 00:16:16,880 Speaker 1: You have to dedicate a lot of time to learning 269 00:16:16,920 --> 00:16:22,080 Speaker 1: how to operate the device and then just practice. In fact, 270 00:16:22,080 --> 00:16:24,120 Speaker 1: a lot of people will say it could take up 271 00:16:24,160 --> 00:16:28,040 Speaker 1: to a year of regular practice to get to get 272 00:16:28,280 --> 00:16:32,080 Speaker 1: competent at something like operating a model airplane or a 273 00:16:32,120 --> 00:16:35,920 Speaker 1: model helicopter. So there's a pretty high barrier to entry. 274 00:16:35,960 --> 00:16:39,840 Speaker 1: It's not just the price tag of these devices, which 275 00:16:39,840 --> 00:16:44,120 Speaker 1: can be pretty hefty in some cases, but also it's 276 00:16:44,240 --> 00:16:48,680 Speaker 1: the the barrier of the learning curve. It is not 277 00:16:48,840 --> 00:16:52,520 Speaker 1: easy to do. It is, however, very rewarding for people 278 00:16:52,560 --> 00:16:58,480 Speaker 1: who are you know, who enjoy recreational RC model aircraft flying. 279 00:16:58,600 --> 00:17:01,640 Speaker 1: They find great joy a and there are a lot 280 00:17:01,640 --> 00:17:06,080 Speaker 1: of really awesome organizations out there where people work together 281 00:17:06,320 --> 00:17:11,199 Speaker 1: and share their knowledge and have events and reserve space 282 00:17:11,240 --> 00:17:15,840 Speaker 1: where they can fly their aircraft and really enjoy their hobby. 283 00:17:16,520 --> 00:17:20,760 Speaker 1: The quad copter, however, is so easy to use that 284 00:17:20,880 --> 00:17:25,000 Speaker 1: it allows a much broader array of people the opportunity 285 00:17:25,280 --> 00:17:30,040 Speaker 1: to play. Also, the price tag has come down significantly 286 00:17:30,240 --> 00:17:33,000 Speaker 1: over the last few years, so now it's more affordable 287 00:17:33,040 --> 00:17:36,760 Speaker 1: to a larger population. The flips that you know, the 288 00:17:36,760 --> 00:17:38,680 Speaker 1: downside of that just means that there are way more 289 00:17:38,760 --> 00:17:43,159 Speaker 1: people with way less training getting into model aircraft, in 290 00:17:43,160 --> 00:17:45,080 Speaker 1: this case the the U A V S and U 291 00:17:45,160 --> 00:17:49,639 Speaker 1: A S S drone area UM, and so that's starting 292 00:17:49,640 --> 00:17:55,359 Speaker 1: to cause some problems. So the early quad copters were 293 00:17:55,440 --> 00:17:58,439 Speaker 1: limited on purpose in what they could do so that 294 00:17:58,520 --> 00:18:02,200 Speaker 1: it would make it very easy to operate the quad copter. UH. 295 00:18:02,359 --> 00:18:05,760 Speaker 1: This meant that quad copters mostly had limits on how 296 00:18:05,840 --> 00:18:09,199 Speaker 1: fast they could travel as well as how far they 297 00:18:09,200 --> 00:18:13,120 Speaker 1: could tilt in any given direction. UH. And the purpose 298 00:18:13,160 --> 00:18:16,320 Speaker 1: for that was to improve the stability of the quad copter. 299 00:18:16,680 --> 00:18:19,199 Speaker 1: It was to create a a an experience that was 300 00:18:19,280 --> 00:18:24,359 Speaker 1: easy to control for your beginner, your novice. UH. Now 301 00:18:24,400 --> 00:18:27,560 Speaker 1: today there are quad copters on the market that don't 302 00:18:27,640 --> 00:18:31,440 Speaker 1: have those those limitations and restrictions in place, so that 303 00:18:31,680 --> 00:18:35,120 Speaker 1: if you are a skilled pilot, someone who has really 304 00:18:35,200 --> 00:18:38,239 Speaker 1: kind of mastered the use of quad copters, you can 305 00:18:38,280 --> 00:18:40,840 Speaker 1: do all sorts of maneuvers. You can go at really 306 00:18:40,920 --> 00:18:43,359 Speaker 1: high speeds, and you can do stuff like flips and 307 00:18:43,480 --> 00:18:45,359 Speaker 1: rolls if you're going at the right speed and you 308 00:18:45,400 --> 00:18:49,000 Speaker 1: do you do the timing correctly. So those quad copters 309 00:18:49,040 --> 00:18:52,920 Speaker 1: tend to be a little more difficult to control, particularly 310 00:18:53,000 --> 00:18:54,960 Speaker 1: for a novice, but a lot of them also have 311 00:18:55,000 --> 00:18:58,000 Speaker 1: a mode that put those old restrictions back in place 312 00:18:58,160 --> 00:19:01,840 Speaker 1: and make them more user friendly, so you can go 313 00:19:01,880 --> 00:19:05,760 Speaker 1: out there and look for a drone that's design so 314 00:19:05,800 --> 00:19:10,720 Speaker 1: that advanced pilots can really do some cool stuff with them, 315 00:19:11,400 --> 00:19:14,760 Speaker 1: but also still have this beginner mode where you can, 316 00:19:14,960 --> 00:19:17,480 Speaker 1: you know, have the stabilizers put on, so essentially it's 317 00:19:17,520 --> 00:19:20,840 Speaker 1: not gonna flip over or go too quickly, and you 318 00:19:20,880 --> 00:19:25,119 Speaker 1: can learn the fine motor skills needed to operate it 319 00:19:25,240 --> 00:19:27,359 Speaker 1: until you're ready to take the training wheels off, so 320 00:19:27,440 --> 00:19:31,240 Speaker 1: to say. Now, consumer quad cover copts became available several 321 00:19:31,320 --> 00:19:36,119 Speaker 1: years ago. I remember seeing the parrot A R drone UM, 322 00:19:36,200 --> 00:19:39,719 Speaker 1: one of the earliest drones I ever saw in person 323 00:19:39,840 --> 00:19:44,320 Speaker 1: at CS probably two thousand seven, No, two thousand eight, 324 00:19:44,320 --> 00:19:47,800 Speaker 1: I'm sorry, ces. Two thousand and eight, I believe was 325 00:19:47,840 --> 00:19:50,000 Speaker 1: the first time I saw a drone UM, and that 326 00:19:50,080 --> 00:19:56,920 Speaker 1: was the parrot A R drone. And they weren't um. Uh. 327 00:19:57,040 --> 00:20:00,680 Speaker 1: They're pretty much lumped in with other types of model 328 00:20:00,720 --> 00:20:05,280 Speaker 1: aircraft by by government organizations like the f a A. 329 00:20:05,880 --> 00:20:07,840 Speaker 1: So essentially they said, hey, you know the rules that 330 00:20:07,920 --> 00:20:12,960 Speaker 1: we have for operators of model airplanes or helicopters, those 331 00:20:13,040 --> 00:20:15,119 Speaker 1: rules will also go ahead and apply to U A 332 00:20:15,200 --> 00:20:19,240 Speaker 1: v s and that already caused some issues, and I'll 333 00:20:19,280 --> 00:20:22,639 Speaker 1: talk more about that in a second. But another issue 334 00:20:22,680 --> 00:20:24,159 Speaker 1: is that the U A v s have become more 335 00:20:24,200 --> 00:20:29,720 Speaker 1: sophisticated over time, and they're not because they're not terribly expensive, 336 00:20:29,720 --> 00:20:32,240 Speaker 1: and because you have more and more people buying them, 337 00:20:32,320 --> 00:20:37,360 Speaker 1: and because you've got things like some semi autonomous features 338 00:20:37,359 --> 00:20:39,800 Speaker 1: that make it even easier to use. We're talking about 339 00:20:39,880 --> 00:20:43,960 Speaker 1: drones that have GPS devices incorporated into them, which allows 340 00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:46,560 Speaker 1: them to pilot flight paths like you can you can 341 00:20:46,600 --> 00:20:48,560 Speaker 1: program a flight path for your drone and it will 342 00:20:48,600 --> 00:20:51,520 Speaker 1: follow it. Um. Some of them anyway, that have GPS 343 00:20:51,600 --> 00:20:56,040 Speaker 1: devices or you might be able to specify a spot 344 00:20:56,040 --> 00:21:01,320 Speaker 1: and say, if you lose r C contact with the controller, 345 00:21:01,800 --> 00:21:05,399 Speaker 1: returned to this location, or if battery gets down below 346 00:21:05,720 --> 00:21:09,520 Speaker 1: x per cent, come back to this location and UH. 347 00:21:09,560 --> 00:21:12,439 Speaker 1: In that way, you know, you can retrieve the drone 348 00:21:12,640 --> 00:21:16,000 Speaker 1: even if you somehow lose the ability to communicate with 349 00:21:16,000 --> 00:21:20,359 Speaker 1: it with your remote control. Some of them also have 350 00:21:20,960 --> 00:21:24,280 Speaker 1: UH the ability to follow a specific target, so you 351 00:21:24,320 --> 00:21:27,439 Speaker 1: could say, hey, you know, follow this, follow whatever the 352 00:21:27,480 --> 00:21:31,439 Speaker 1: controller is in like a vehicle or or identify this 353 00:21:31,560 --> 00:21:35,600 Speaker 1: thing follow it. That also raises some questions. I mean, 354 00:21:35,600 --> 00:21:37,600 Speaker 1: it could be really cool if you're doing something like 355 00:21:38,160 --> 00:21:41,800 Speaker 1: capturing footage of yourself as you ride a bike through 356 00:21:42,040 --> 00:21:44,680 Speaker 1: a neighborhood. That could be really neat, or it could 357 00:21:44,720 --> 00:21:49,240 Speaker 1: be really a problem if you're having it follow someone 358 00:21:49,240 --> 00:21:52,000 Speaker 1: who did not give you consent to do that thing. 359 00:21:52,920 --> 00:21:55,760 Speaker 1: A lot of them have HD or even u h 360 00:21:55,920 --> 00:21:59,240 Speaker 1: D Ultra high definition cameras mounted on them, which give 361 00:21:59,280 --> 00:22:03,480 Speaker 1: them the capacity need to capture video footage. Um there's 362 00:22:03,520 --> 00:22:06,400 Speaker 1: one d j I one that is like it has 363 00:22:06,440 --> 00:22:09,040 Speaker 1: an ultra high definition camera mounted on it, and I 364 00:22:09,080 --> 00:22:12,520 Speaker 1: think it costs about eight hundred bucks. Now, not that 365 00:22:12,600 --> 00:22:17,440 Speaker 1: long ago U A V s of that size cost 366 00:22:17,920 --> 00:22:20,960 Speaker 1: a couple of thousand dollars. And also not that long 367 00:22:21,000 --> 00:22:25,520 Speaker 1: ago UHD cameras cost several thousand dollars, like thirty thousand 368 00:22:25,560 --> 00:22:28,399 Speaker 1: dollars when they were first coming out back in the 369 00:22:28,480 --> 00:22:32,399 Speaker 1: early two thousand's. So now we're at a point where 370 00:22:32,560 --> 00:22:36,720 Speaker 1: you can get both of these technologies put together in 371 00:22:36,880 --> 00:22:40,720 Speaker 1: one thing for less than a thousand dollars, which is 372 00:22:40,880 --> 00:22:43,840 Speaker 1: pretty amazing, and it's opened up a lot of opportunities 373 00:22:43,880 --> 00:22:48,320 Speaker 1: for filmmakers to use a new tool at their disposal, 374 00:22:48,480 --> 00:22:51,000 Speaker 1: replace things like crane shots and helicopter shots with a 375 00:22:51,080 --> 00:22:56,119 Speaker 1: drone shot, and uh, and that's pretty uh, it's it's 376 00:22:56,160 --> 00:22:58,119 Speaker 1: pretty amazing to look at. But it's also a little 377 00:22:59,200 --> 00:23:03,200 Speaker 1: worrisome because you have a potential tool for people to 378 00:23:03,320 --> 00:23:06,000 Speaker 1: use to spy on one another, or to spy on 379 00:23:06,320 --> 00:23:10,679 Speaker 1: other businesses or government facilities, that kind of thing. So 380 00:23:10,720 --> 00:23:15,040 Speaker 1: it's raised some pretty tough questions. Some of these drones 381 00:23:15,080 --> 00:23:19,359 Speaker 1: also have obstacle avoidance capabilities, which makes them even you 382 00:23:19,560 --> 00:23:23,080 Speaker 1: easier to use, which that's a good thing, especially if 383 00:23:23,119 --> 00:23:26,120 Speaker 1: you're flying your drone it's a pretty far distance from 384 00:23:26,119 --> 00:23:30,000 Speaker 1: where you are and you've got an obstacle between you 385 00:23:30,160 --> 00:23:32,840 Speaker 1: and where the drone is. It can be difficult sometimes 386 00:23:32,840 --> 00:23:35,800 Speaker 1: to judge the depth of that kind of stuff. So 387 00:23:35,840 --> 00:23:38,200 Speaker 1: if you're flying a drone and it otherwise would be 388 00:23:38,240 --> 00:23:41,359 Speaker 1: bumping into, say, I don't know a radio antenna. I 389 00:23:41,400 --> 00:23:44,600 Speaker 1: watched a drone nearly collide with one a few weeks ago. 390 00:23:44,920 --> 00:23:48,920 Speaker 1: That's not too far from my house. Uh, And something 391 00:23:48,960 --> 00:23:52,680 Speaker 1: like obstacle avoidance would allow the drone to navigate around 392 00:23:53,359 --> 00:23:58,240 Speaker 1: the obstacle even if your controls were putting it on 393 00:23:58,280 --> 00:24:02,560 Speaker 1: a collision course. So pretty useful stuff, but it also 394 00:24:03,240 --> 00:24:08,080 Speaker 1: creates other opportunities for problems. So a few other facts 395 00:24:08,080 --> 00:24:10,359 Speaker 1: I need to get to before I talk about specific 396 00:24:10,760 --> 00:24:16,359 Speaker 1: rules and regulations. Uh, typically quad copters are sized in 397 00:24:16,480 --> 00:24:21,159 Speaker 1: various categories like one, eight, one thousand, that kind of stuff. 398 00:24:22,320 --> 00:24:25,840 Speaker 1: So what do those numbers mean. It's the distance in 399 00:24:25,960 --> 00:24:30,879 Speaker 1: millimeters from one rotor to the rotor diagonally opposite it. 400 00:24:31,200 --> 00:24:34,720 Speaker 1: So you take one rotor, you you stretch a measuring 401 00:24:34,720 --> 00:24:37,879 Speaker 1: tape from that rotor to the one diagonally opposite, and 402 00:24:37,920 --> 00:24:40,280 Speaker 1: you look at how many millimeters that is. It's kind 403 00:24:40,280 --> 00:24:43,119 Speaker 1: of similar to measuring the size of a television screen. 404 00:24:43,200 --> 00:24:47,320 Speaker 1: You do you do diagonal corner to diagonal corner, and 405 00:24:47,840 --> 00:24:51,600 Speaker 1: those measurements become important in drone competitions, which are a 406 00:24:51,600 --> 00:24:54,159 Speaker 1: real thing. By the way. There are races and battle 407 00:24:54,200 --> 00:24:58,040 Speaker 1: competitions out there, so there are competitions where you're trying 408 00:24:58,080 --> 00:25:00,200 Speaker 1: to have the fastest time through a course. There other 409 00:25:00,240 --> 00:25:04,119 Speaker 1: competitions where it's kind of like a drone thunderdome or 410 00:25:04,280 --> 00:25:06,639 Speaker 1: really more like a drone battle Royal, because you'll have 411 00:25:06,680 --> 00:25:08,760 Speaker 1: a whole bunch of drones in sign arena at the 412 00:25:08,800 --> 00:25:11,280 Speaker 1: same time. Usually it's netted off so that no one 413 00:25:11,320 --> 00:25:13,639 Speaker 1: gets hurt if the drone when the drones collide with 414 00:25:13,640 --> 00:25:15,560 Speaker 1: each other, and the goal is to be the last 415 00:25:15,640 --> 00:25:19,240 Speaker 1: drone flying. Um. These are real things that are out there, 416 00:25:19,280 --> 00:25:22,879 Speaker 1: their entire organizations dedicated to this kind of sporting event, 417 00:25:22,960 --> 00:25:27,920 Speaker 1: and they're really cool. Um. Also, drone racing is super awesome. 418 00:25:28,119 --> 00:25:31,560 Speaker 1: I love drone racing. I'm not piloting it. I would 419 00:25:31,600 --> 00:25:35,359 Speaker 1: be total crap at that, but I love watching them. Uh, 420 00:25:35,480 --> 00:25:38,840 Speaker 1: particularly the type of races that use FPV or first 421 00:25:38,880 --> 00:25:42,160 Speaker 1: person view. Now, in those races, the pilots actually wear 422 00:25:42,200 --> 00:25:46,439 Speaker 1: a headset. They're not keeping line of sight on their drones. Instead, 423 00:25:46,440 --> 00:25:49,639 Speaker 1: they wear a headset that has a live video feed 424 00:25:49,840 --> 00:25:52,719 Speaker 1: from a camera that's mounted on the drone coming in 425 00:25:52,800 --> 00:25:55,800 Speaker 1: through little monitors in their headset. So it's kind of 426 00:25:55,840 --> 00:25:58,520 Speaker 1: like flying in the cockpit of an aircraft as you 427 00:25:58,600 --> 00:26:01,600 Speaker 1: zoom around its speeds of too, sometimes more than a 428 00:26:01,720 --> 00:26:03,919 Speaker 1: hundred miles per hour, which is a d sixty one 429 00:26:04,040 --> 00:26:06,760 Speaker 1: kilometers an hour. If you want to hear more about 430 00:26:06,800 --> 00:26:09,720 Speaker 1: that kind of stuff, you should tune into the Forward 431 00:26:09,760 --> 00:26:13,800 Speaker 1: Thinking Audio podcast titled off to the drone Races that 432 00:26:13,840 --> 00:26:16,960 Speaker 1: actually published on May fourth, two thousand sixteen, on Star 433 00:26:17,000 --> 00:26:20,879 Speaker 1: Wars Day, So go check that out. Joe and Lauren 434 00:26:20,920 --> 00:26:24,919 Speaker 1: and I talk all about drones sporting events and what 435 00:26:25,080 --> 00:26:29,000 Speaker 1: goes into them, because it's pretty cool stuff. Now, when 436 00:26:29,080 --> 00:26:31,399 Speaker 1: it comes to terms of the law, at least in 437 00:26:31,440 --> 00:26:35,679 Speaker 1: the United States, they aren't so much concerned with the 438 00:26:35,800 --> 00:26:40,560 Speaker 1: size as much as the weight of the drone um 439 00:26:40,720 --> 00:26:43,480 Speaker 1: largely because that's what you would have to take into 440 00:26:43,520 --> 00:26:46,440 Speaker 1: consideration if something were to go wrong. The heavier the 441 00:26:46,480 --> 00:26:49,560 Speaker 1: drone is, the more likely it would cause damage to 442 00:26:49,720 --> 00:26:53,120 Speaker 1: a person or piece of property. And so the f 443 00:26:53,160 --> 00:26:56,760 Speaker 1: a A that's the Federal Aviation Administration in the United States, 444 00:26:56,840 --> 00:27:00,960 Speaker 1: is specifically concerned about drones that way. Between five five 445 00:27:01,400 --> 00:27:05,560 Speaker 1: and fifty five pounds, which is in metric terms, between 446 00:27:05,560 --> 00:27:11,679 Speaker 1: two and fifty grams tos or soft pounds is the 447 00:27:11,720 --> 00:27:15,760 Speaker 1: maximum wait for standard registration. Anything heavier than fifty five 448 00:27:15,800 --> 00:27:19,159 Speaker 1: pounds requires a more comprehensive registration with the f a A. 449 00:27:19,560 --> 00:27:22,320 Speaker 1: So I'm not going to cover it because very few 450 00:27:22,320 --> 00:27:24,119 Speaker 1: people out there are going to end up getting a 451 00:27:24,200 --> 00:27:26,520 Speaker 1: drone that weighs more than fifty five pounds. And if 452 00:27:26,520 --> 00:27:29,680 Speaker 1: you do, it will be really a challenge to make 453 00:27:29,720 --> 00:27:33,400 Speaker 1: sure you can be allowed to fly it. Now, let's 454 00:27:33,480 --> 00:27:35,960 Speaker 1: get to those laws. I know I've been talking about 455 00:27:36,000 --> 00:27:38,720 Speaker 1: this for a while, so I just covered the first one. 456 00:27:38,840 --> 00:27:42,680 Speaker 1: No drones over fifty pounds in weight for standard registration. 457 00:27:43,560 --> 00:27:46,600 Speaker 1: The big concern is that potential for damage or injury 458 00:27:46,600 --> 00:27:50,000 Speaker 1: should the drone fail or if the pilot excidentally steers 459 00:27:50,000 --> 00:27:52,960 Speaker 1: it into a person or other type of property, that 460 00:27:53,040 --> 00:27:57,280 Speaker 1: kind of thing. If your drone weighs more than point 461 00:27:57,400 --> 00:28:01,239 Speaker 1: five five pounds two grams, you have to register it 462 00:28:01,320 --> 00:28:04,080 Speaker 1: with the f a A before you fly it for 463 00:28:04,119 --> 00:28:07,760 Speaker 1: the first time. This is a relatively new rule as 464 00:28:07,760 --> 00:28:11,080 Speaker 1: of the recording of this podcast uh and it includes 465 00:28:11,119 --> 00:28:15,119 Speaker 1: getting a compliant label for your aircraft to show that 466 00:28:15,200 --> 00:28:18,679 Speaker 1: it has been registered, as well as a certificate and 467 00:28:18,800 --> 00:28:21,439 Speaker 1: a flight I D Card to prove you have followed 468 00:28:21,480 --> 00:28:25,560 Speaker 1: the rules. These rules also apply for other RC aircraft. 469 00:28:25,600 --> 00:28:27,879 Speaker 1: It's not just U A v S. This is something 470 00:28:27,920 --> 00:28:31,320 Speaker 1: that all model aircraft have to follow at this point, 471 00:28:31,760 --> 00:28:36,080 Speaker 1: which has also gotten model aircraft enthusiasts a little riled up. 472 00:28:36,119 --> 00:28:40,880 Speaker 1: For good reason. I don't I'm not downplaying there justification 473 00:28:41,200 --> 00:28:45,080 Speaker 1: because I completely empathize with it. And I'll talk more 474 00:28:45,120 --> 00:28:48,640 Speaker 1: about in just a second. So what happens if you 475 00:28:48,720 --> 00:28:55,560 Speaker 1: don't register, Well, registration is required. And if you were 476 00:28:55,640 --> 00:29:00,280 Speaker 1: to get caught operating a drone without this registration, if 477 00:29:00,320 --> 00:29:03,040 Speaker 1: your aircraft did not have that label, if you did 478 00:29:03,080 --> 00:29:06,600 Speaker 1: not have your certificate and i D card available for 479 00:29:06,600 --> 00:29:12,080 Speaker 1: for someone asking you questions, and you are caught, particularly 480 00:29:12,160 --> 00:29:16,240 Speaker 1: if you're caught doing something else that's also shady. The 481 00:29:16,360 --> 00:29:19,760 Speaker 1: penalties are really stiff. Civil finds can go up to 482 00:29:19,920 --> 00:29:25,160 Speaker 1: twenty seven thousand, five hundred dollars and criminal finds can 483 00:29:25,200 --> 00:29:28,600 Speaker 1: go up to two fifty thousand dollars. Plus you might 484 00:29:28,680 --> 00:29:32,280 Speaker 1: be liable to pay for any damages you cause, so 485 00:29:32,400 --> 00:29:35,200 Speaker 1: that's a huge amount of money. So how much does 486 00:29:35,280 --> 00:29:41,600 Speaker 1: registration cost? Five bucks? Five dollars to register? Um and 487 00:29:41,640 --> 00:29:45,200 Speaker 1: once you register, you're good. You just have to register once. 488 00:29:45,240 --> 00:29:47,440 Speaker 1: It doesn't matter how many aircraft you own. If you 489 00:29:47,480 --> 00:29:53,080 Speaker 1: own twenty drones, then you can register once and you 490 00:29:53,080 --> 00:29:56,640 Speaker 1: will get a unique identification number, which then you can 491 00:29:56,680 --> 00:29:59,120 Speaker 1: print on labels and you can put those labels on 492 00:29:59,160 --> 00:30:02,080 Speaker 1: all the different aircra q on So that five dollars 493 00:30:02,840 --> 00:30:06,800 Speaker 1: is good for everything, all the aircraft. Anything over that 494 00:30:07,040 --> 00:30:11,560 Speaker 1: two gram limit or or bottom level, anything under two 495 00:30:11,600 --> 00:30:14,160 Speaker 1: hundred fifty grams, you can fly without registering at all. 496 00:30:14,360 --> 00:30:17,920 Speaker 1: You that's totally fine. So that covers all the little 497 00:30:17,960 --> 00:30:20,960 Speaker 1: mini quad copters that are out there that you would 498 00:30:20,960 --> 00:30:23,880 Speaker 1: pick up at like a toy store. Those you can 499 00:30:23,880 --> 00:30:27,600 Speaker 1: fly without having to register them at all. But anything 500 00:30:27,640 --> 00:30:30,520 Speaker 1: heavier than that you need to spend. The five dollar 501 00:30:30,560 --> 00:30:34,120 Speaker 1: registration fee also doesn't matter if you're a US citizen 502 00:30:34,200 --> 00:30:36,120 Speaker 1: or not. If you're visiting the United States and you 503 00:30:36,160 --> 00:30:39,080 Speaker 1: have a drone, you have to apply for one of these. 504 00:30:39,120 --> 00:30:42,600 Speaker 1: You have to register it, uh in order to operate 505 00:30:42,640 --> 00:30:47,760 Speaker 1: that drone legally in the U S. So UM this 506 00:30:47,840 --> 00:30:51,800 Speaker 1: rule came into effect on December and in fact, if 507 00:30:51,840 --> 00:30:56,280 Speaker 1: you registered your aircraft within that first thirty day period 508 00:30:56,560 --> 00:30:59,360 Speaker 1: after the rule that came into effect, the five dollars 509 00:30:59,440 --> 00:31:02,440 Speaker 1: would be charged would be refunded. And that money, by 510 00:31:02,440 --> 00:31:05,920 Speaker 1: the way, is meant to go to funding the actual 511 00:31:05,960 --> 00:31:09,160 Speaker 1: registration program as well as the website maintenance, that kind 512 00:31:09,160 --> 00:31:12,560 Speaker 1: of stuff. So it's really just minimum maintenance type of deal. 513 00:31:13,680 --> 00:31:16,920 Speaker 1: So why was this program implement in the first place. Well, 514 00:31:16,960 --> 00:31:22,040 Speaker 1: there were a few but frequent enough instances of people 515 00:31:22,160 --> 00:31:26,400 Speaker 1: using drones to fly into restricted areas like near airports, 516 00:31:27,080 --> 00:31:32,640 Speaker 1: or over private property, or over restricted nature reservations. Um. 517 00:31:32,800 --> 00:31:37,560 Speaker 1: There was also the issue of drones flying into areas 518 00:31:37,600 --> 00:31:41,760 Speaker 1: where emergency response was trying to get in there. Um. 519 00:31:41,800 --> 00:31:44,840 Speaker 1: In other words, there were enough instances of pilots being 520 00:31:44,920 --> 00:31:48,600 Speaker 1: stupid or at least being thoughtless. Maybe stupid is too 521 00:31:48,640 --> 00:31:53,920 Speaker 1: strong a word. They perhaps lacked some situational awareness, they 522 00:31:54,120 --> 00:31:56,840 Speaker 1: lacked maybe some common sense. Some of them might have 523 00:31:56,880 --> 00:31:59,360 Speaker 1: been up to some kind of shady dealings in the 524 00:31:59,400 --> 00:32:02,000 Speaker 1: first place, like trying to capture footage of stuff that 525 00:32:02,160 --> 00:32:05,080 Speaker 1: really they shouldn't be. At any rate, there were enough 526 00:32:05,080 --> 00:32:08,160 Speaker 1: of those to cause the f a A to say, 527 00:32:08,320 --> 00:32:11,040 Speaker 1: we're gonna have to step in here, and that was 528 00:32:11,080 --> 00:32:14,800 Speaker 1: a big problem. Plus there's the potential to outfit drones 529 00:32:14,880 --> 00:32:17,680 Speaker 1: with other stuff that could be harmful or even deadly. 530 00:32:18,440 --> 00:32:22,120 Speaker 1: Some of the examples I saw talked about outfitting drones 531 00:32:22,160 --> 00:32:26,360 Speaker 1: with guns or with explosives and uh. And since the 532 00:32:26,440 --> 00:32:31,680 Speaker 1: honor system wasn't preventing mischief and worse, the f a 533 00:32:31,680 --> 00:32:34,880 Speaker 1: A stepped in. And this came as a huge disappointment 534 00:32:34,880 --> 00:32:37,680 Speaker 1: for hobbyists who had been flying r C aircraft for 535 00:32:37,800 --> 00:32:43,680 Speaker 1: years because they have already created organizations that are dedicated 536 00:32:43,720 --> 00:32:47,400 Speaker 1: to the hobby and had established guidelines for how hobbyists 537 00:32:48,200 --> 00:32:52,000 Speaker 1: were meant to operate their aircraft. So these were largely 538 00:32:52,080 --> 00:32:56,920 Speaker 1: self governing, self policing organizations. They had created guidelines that 539 00:32:57,400 --> 00:33:01,680 Speaker 1: set expectations and eliminated the need for or their regulation. So, 540 00:33:01,720 --> 00:33:06,560 Speaker 1: in other words, the hobbyists had built up these communities 541 00:33:06,840 --> 00:33:10,680 Speaker 1: that had created the guidelines everyone agreed to follow. And 542 00:33:10,720 --> 00:33:13,080 Speaker 1: the reason they agreed to follow it was that as 543 00:33:13,120 --> 00:33:16,880 Speaker 1: long as they followed those guidelines, organizations like the f 544 00:33:17,040 --> 00:33:19,680 Speaker 1: a A will just stay out of it and they 545 00:33:19,680 --> 00:33:23,640 Speaker 1: would be able to enjoy their hobby responsibly without these 546 00:33:23,680 --> 00:33:28,560 Speaker 1: restrictions coming in. But again, once that bar was lowered 547 00:33:28,600 --> 00:33:31,520 Speaker 1: for entry, once you've got to a point where it 548 00:33:31,600 --> 00:33:36,200 Speaker 1: was easier to operate the vehicles and they became less expensive, 549 00:33:37,120 --> 00:33:42,680 Speaker 1: you had a rush of new pilots, and not all 550 00:33:42,760 --> 00:33:48,440 Speaker 1: of them had that same dedication to safety and promoting 551 00:33:48,480 --> 00:33:52,480 Speaker 1: the hobby as the old timers did, because they actually 552 00:33:52,560 --> 00:33:54,840 Speaker 1: had to go through a lot more effort in order 553 00:33:54,840 --> 00:33:57,840 Speaker 1: to be able to engage their hobby than the new 554 00:33:57,880 --> 00:34:02,000 Speaker 1: folks didn't. This isn't the say that one group is 555 00:34:02,040 --> 00:34:06,240 Speaker 1: better than the other group, but rather just say that. Uh. 556 00:34:06,360 --> 00:34:09,920 Speaker 1: When you open up a hobby from a narrow niche 557 00:34:09,960 --> 00:34:13,320 Speaker 1: to a much broader niche, or even not a niche anymore, 558 00:34:13,320 --> 00:34:17,200 Speaker 1: but just a broader audience, problems can can come up 559 00:34:17,280 --> 00:34:23,239 Speaker 1: because you'll get more potential for people to misuse the technology. 560 00:34:23,560 --> 00:34:26,920 Speaker 1: Even if they were misusing it unintentionally, it can happen. 561 00:34:28,239 --> 00:34:31,640 Speaker 1: So the US government had to come in and start 562 00:34:31,760 --> 00:34:36,080 Speaker 1: setting up some restrictions, which really was a tough pill 563 00:34:36,160 --> 00:34:38,640 Speaker 1: to swallow if you had been active in the hobby 564 00:34:38,680 --> 00:34:43,160 Speaker 1: and been responsible and accountable for that whole time. Uh. 565 00:34:43,200 --> 00:34:45,520 Speaker 1: In fact, a lot of the organizations have much stricter 566 00:34:45,640 --> 00:34:49,160 Speaker 1: rules than things that the FAA has proposed. And it 567 00:34:49,239 --> 00:34:53,279 Speaker 1: was all in an attempt to promote a hobby. It's 568 00:34:53,280 --> 00:34:56,000 Speaker 1: safely so that people didn't get in trouble and you 569 00:34:56,040 --> 00:34:59,000 Speaker 1: didn't have these restrictions that affect everyone, both the people 570 00:34:59,040 --> 00:35:01,920 Speaker 1: who are problems and the people who are good citizens. 571 00:35:02,920 --> 00:35:06,320 Speaker 1: And it also created a negative image for people who 572 00:35:06,480 --> 00:35:10,560 Speaker 1: are in the RC model aircraft community, and that was 573 00:35:11,560 --> 00:35:14,280 Speaker 1: tough for people who had been part of this community 574 00:35:14,360 --> 00:35:17,080 Speaker 1: for decades. Uh. You know, it was one of those 575 00:35:17,080 --> 00:35:19,560 Speaker 1: things where they were largely not thought of at all. 576 00:35:20,200 --> 00:35:22,480 Speaker 1: You might think, oh, well, that's kind of a nerdy 577 00:35:22,520 --> 00:35:25,319 Speaker 1: hobby you have to fly on aircraft. Or you might think, oh, wow, 578 00:35:25,360 --> 00:35:27,399 Speaker 1: that's really cool that you can do that. I bet 579 00:35:27,400 --> 00:35:31,399 Speaker 1: it's really tricky to learn, UM. But people didn't tend 580 00:35:31,400 --> 00:35:35,760 Speaker 1: to think, oh, you could potentially hurt me or spy 581 00:35:35,880 --> 00:35:42,040 Speaker 1: on me. And so this negative uh perception of operators 582 00:35:42,080 --> 00:35:46,080 Speaker 1: really was a tough thing for the old timers and 583 00:35:46,120 --> 00:35:50,920 Speaker 1: the the dedicated hobbyists to to deal with. UM. So 584 00:35:51,239 --> 00:35:55,239 Speaker 1: when you begin getting back into registering your your U 585 00:35:55,320 --> 00:35:57,839 Speaker 1: a V or your drone or whatever, when you begin 586 00:35:57,880 --> 00:36:00,480 Speaker 1: the registration process, you'll be asked if you need register 587 00:36:00,600 --> 00:36:06,000 Speaker 1: as a model aircraft or a non model aircraft user. Now, 588 00:36:06,040 --> 00:36:08,560 Speaker 1: that essentially boils down to whether you're using your device 589 00:36:08,600 --> 00:36:12,560 Speaker 1: commercially or not, so whether you're going to be operating 590 00:36:13,200 --> 00:36:15,959 Speaker 1: your U a V for profit or you're just doing 591 00:36:16,000 --> 00:36:20,240 Speaker 1: it for fun. UM. Non commercial users or hobbyists register 592 00:36:20,320 --> 00:36:24,400 Speaker 1: as model aircraft. Commercial users register as non model aircraft, 593 00:36:25,120 --> 00:36:27,959 Speaker 1: and once you register, you're good to go, at least 594 00:36:27,960 --> 00:36:30,959 Speaker 1: for the hobbyists. Anyway. I'll get into the consumer stuff 595 00:36:30,960 --> 00:36:33,000 Speaker 1: in a little bit or the commercial stuff a little bit. 596 00:36:33,960 --> 00:36:36,520 Speaker 1: You don't have to register every U a V you have. 597 00:36:36,760 --> 00:36:40,359 Speaker 1: Like I said, once you register the first time, you 598 00:36:40,400 --> 00:36:44,040 Speaker 1: are good to go. Unless you're a commercial user. Then 599 00:36:44,080 --> 00:36:46,719 Speaker 1: you have to jump through a few more hoops. So 600 00:36:46,760 --> 00:36:49,719 Speaker 1: i'll cover that in a bit after I go over 601 00:36:49,760 --> 00:36:53,279 Speaker 1: the basic guidelines that you're supposed to follow if you're 602 00:36:53,320 --> 00:36:58,200 Speaker 1: operating a drone. Now, the FAA has partnered with the 603 00:36:58,239 --> 00:37:03,920 Speaker 1: Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International and the Academy of 604 00:37:04,000 --> 00:37:07,200 Speaker 1: Model Aeronautics. Those are two organizations that have been working 605 00:37:07,200 --> 00:37:11,680 Speaker 1: to establish safety guidelines for model aircraft operation for many years, 606 00:37:12,239 --> 00:37:17,160 Speaker 1: and the guidelines they established aren't really law necessarily, but 607 00:37:17,200 --> 00:37:20,920 Speaker 1: they're rather meant to help hobbyists enjoy their recreational flying 608 00:37:20,960 --> 00:37:25,360 Speaker 1: responsibly and prevent the need for more restrictive laws to 609 00:37:25,400 --> 00:37:30,480 Speaker 1: be put in place. So again, these guidelines were kind 610 00:37:30,520 --> 00:37:33,799 Speaker 1: of common sense guidelines saying, if you follow these, you'll 611 00:37:33,800 --> 00:37:38,840 Speaker 1: be able to enjoy what we do without causing harm 612 00:37:39,160 --> 00:37:44,319 Speaker 1: or or being liable for some damage or injury. Just 613 00:37:44,440 --> 00:37:48,759 Speaker 1: follow these rules and everything will be fine. Together, the 614 00:37:48,800 --> 00:37:52,840 Speaker 1: three organizations, the f a A, the the Unmanned Vehicle 615 00:37:52,880 --> 00:37:57,120 Speaker 1: Systems International and the Academy of Model Aeronautics created a 616 00:37:57,160 --> 00:38:00,600 Speaker 1: site that is called no Before You fle I that's 617 00:38:00,760 --> 00:38:05,279 Speaker 1: k n O W NO, and that site outlines the 618 00:38:05,280 --> 00:38:08,360 Speaker 1: parameters for safe flying. So I'm gonna look at the 619 00:38:08,360 --> 00:38:12,120 Speaker 1: recreational ones and cover some of the rules. These are 620 00:38:12,160 --> 00:38:15,799 Speaker 1: rules that are both from that site and also from 621 00:38:15,800 --> 00:38:19,960 Speaker 1: the f a A. Keeping in mind these rules mostly 622 00:38:20,080 --> 00:38:26,520 Speaker 1: aren't law. They're essentially saying, just follow these guidelines and 623 00:38:26,640 --> 00:38:30,080 Speaker 1: you'll not get into trouble. But it's not like it's 624 00:38:30,120 --> 00:38:32,440 Speaker 1: a a you know, if you were to operate outside 625 00:38:32,480 --> 00:38:35,160 Speaker 1: these guidelines, you would automatically be arrested. It would depend 626 00:38:35,200 --> 00:38:38,600 Speaker 1: upon your region and the local laws. So first up 627 00:38:38,719 --> 00:38:42,600 Speaker 1: is you shouldn't fly your U A V higher than 628 00:38:42,640 --> 00:38:49,080 Speaker 1: four feet and remain below any surrounding obstacles. Um So 629 00:38:50,000 --> 00:38:51,839 Speaker 1: going over four hundred if you would be a bad idea. 630 00:38:51,920 --> 00:38:56,319 Speaker 1: Now that's a pretty that's pretty significant height. And if 631 00:38:56,360 --> 00:39:00,560 Speaker 1: your U A V is of moderate to small size, 632 00:39:00,760 --> 00:39:03,279 Speaker 1: any higher than that you would probably lose sight of it, 633 00:39:03,320 --> 00:39:05,600 Speaker 1: which would be a problem because one of the other 634 00:39:05,680 --> 00:39:07,960 Speaker 1: rules is to maintain a line of sight with your 635 00:39:08,000 --> 00:39:11,120 Speaker 1: U A V at all times. So you're not supposed 636 00:39:11,160 --> 00:39:14,080 Speaker 1: to fly beyond the line of sight, even if you're 637 00:39:14,120 --> 00:39:17,320 Speaker 1: wearing an FPV headset, So even if you can see 638 00:39:17,640 --> 00:39:21,080 Speaker 1: the point of view of the drone, the drone itself 639 00:39:21,120 --> 00:39:24,040 Speaker 1: is supposed to remain within your personal line of sight 640 00:39:24,160 --> 00:39:27,160 Speaker 1: if you were to remove the headset. If you're wearing 641 00:39:27,160 --> 00:39:30,879 Speaker 1: a headset, typically you should have a second person there 642 00:39:30,920 --> 00:39:33,000 Speaker 1: to kind of act as a spotter to make sure 643 00:39:33,760 --> 00:39:36,680 Speaker 1: the drone is not flying too far away from your 644 00:39:36,719 --> 00:39:39,879 Speaker 1: position so that you can continue that line of sight. 645 00:39:40,920 --> 00:39:43,040 Speaker 1: You're supposed to stay away from any areas in which 646 00:39:43,080 --> 00:39:48,320 Speaker 1: manned aircraft are operating, which is a pretty understandable restriction. 647 00:39:48,640 --> 00:39:52,640 Speaker 1: If you're within five miles of an airport, you're supposed 648 00:39:52,640 --> 00:39:55,680 Speaker 1: to notify the air traffic control personnel of that airport 649 00:39:55,800 --> 00:39:57,640 Speaker 1: that you are going to be flying a drone and 650 00:39:57,680 --> 00:40:02,480 Speaker 1: ask permission from them that you conduce. Oh. Um, five 651 00:40:02,520 --> 00:40:04,080 Speaker 1: miles is a long way and there are a lot 652 00:40:04,120 --> 00:40:08,480 Speaker 1: of airports out there, so uh, it's important to check that. 653 00:40:08,520 --> 00:40:11,440 Speaker 1: If you live in an urban area, you may want 654 00:40:11,440 --> 00:40:14,480 Speaker 1: to make certain that you are not within five miles 655 00:40:14,480 --> 00:40:17,719 Speaker 1: of the closest airport to make to be sure that 656 00:40:17,760 --> 00:40:20,799 Speaker 1: you don't have to request permission every time you fly 657 00:40:20,920 --> 00:40:24,440 Speaker 1: your your U a V out in the yard, Otherwise 658 00:40:24,440 --> 00:40:26,399 Speaker 1: you may have to drive a little distance in order 659 00:40:26,440 --> 00:40:31,080 Speaker 1: to operate your U a V legally, UM, you're not 660 00:40:31,120 --> 00:40:33,960 Speaker 1: supposed to fly over people and vehicles. You're supposed to 661 00:40:34,040 --> 00:40:36,600 Speaker 1: keep at least twenty five ft of distance between the 662 00:40:36,719 --> 00:40:40,480 Speaker 1: U a V and people or property. Uh. That of 663 00:40:40,520 --> 00:40:44,880 Speaker 1: distance doesn't include being directly over someone like you know 664 00:40:45,200 --> 00:40:47,840 Speaker 1: thirty I was thirty feet up, so I'm twenty ft 665 00:40:47,880 --> 00:40:52,520 Speaker 1: away from them. No, that that's not what they meant, 666 00:40:52,520 --> 00:40:58,440 Speaker 1: and that X Y access not the z. UM. You 667 00:40:58,480 --> 00:41:00,920 Speaker 1: aren't supposed to operate your UA be in bad weather, 668 00:41:01,200 --> 00:41:05,719 Speaker 1: so any weather conditions that would impact your visibility or 669 00:41:05,960 --> 00:41:08,200 Speaker 1: the stability of the the U a V. So if 670 00:41:08,239 --> 00:41:11,200 Speaker 1: it's high winds or anything like that, I'm not supposed 671 00:41:11,200 --> 00:41:14,120 Speaker 1: to operate in those conditions. You are also not supposed 672 00:41:14,120 --> 00:41:16,839 Speaker 1: to operate your U a V while intoxicated, while under 673 00:41:16,880 --> 00:41:20,760 Speaker 1: the effects of alcohol or drugs. UM, you are supposed 674 00:41:20,840 --> 00:41:23,160 Speaker 1: to take time to learn how to operate your U 675 00:41:23,200 --> 00:41:27,600 Speaker 1: a V responsibly before doing anything complicated with it. So, 676 00:41:27,640 --> 00:41:29,799 Speaker 1: in other words, you're supposed to actually take the time 677 00:41:29,840 --> 00:41:32,400 Speaker 1: to train yourself on how to use your U a V. 678 00:41:32,560 --> 00:41:36,239 Speaker 1: Before you start doing things like flying through obstacles or 679 00:41:36,239 --> 00:41:40,000 Speaker 1: trying to do tricks like flips and rolls. You're supposed 680 00:41:40,000 --> 00:41:41,680 Speaker 1: to make sure your u a V is in good 681 00:41:41,719 --> 00:41:46,600 Speaker 1: working order before you fly it. You are not supposed 682 00:41:46,600 --> 00:41:50,040 Speaker 1: to fly over any sort of sensitive infrastructure or buildings, 683 00:41:50,920 --> 00:41:54,480 Speaker 1: so don't fly over hospitals or power stations, or water 684 00:41:54,560 --> 00:41:58,480 Speaker 1: treatment facilities or government buildings that kind of thing. Also, 685 00:41:58,640 --> 00:42:01,600 Speaker 1: you're not supposed to fly over sporting events or big 686 00:42:01,640 --> 00:42:06,400 Speaker 1: public events UM or public safety emergencies. Those are areas 687 00:42:06,480 --> 00:42:09,960 Speaker 1: that are either considered to be under a temporary or 688 00:42:10,000 --> 00:42:14,320 Speaker 1: a permanent flight restriction. So permanent flight restriction could include 689 00:42:14,320 --> 00:42:18,160 Speaker 1: a sports arena. Temporary flight restriction could be any area 690 00:42:18,239 --> 00:42:22,960 Speaker 1: that is currently the site of a public emergency. UM. 691 00:42:23,000 --> 00:42:26,560 Speaker 1: In either case, you're not supposed to fly a drone 692 00:42:26,680 --> 00:42:30,120 Speaker 1: in those areas. UM You're supposed to follow all local 693 00:42:30,239 --> 00:42:33,640 Speaker 1: laws before operating a u AV, so some regions could 694 00:42:33,680 --> 00:42:36,640 Speaker 1: have some pretty restrictive laws. You're supposed to make yourself 695 00:42:36,680 --> 00:42:41,560 Speaker 1: familiar with them and operate within them. Don't spy. Don't 696 00:42:41,640 --> 00:42:43,759 Speaker 1: use your drone to spy on people or to take 697 00:42:43,840 --> 00:42:47,200 Speaker 1: unauthorized photos of persons in areas where there's an expectation 698 00:42:47,280 --> 00:42:50,520 Speaker 1: of privacy. So public park is one thing, because you're 699 00:42:50,520 --> 00:42:53,719 Speaker 1: out in the public um. Although again, if you're like 700 00:42:53,880 --> 00:42:56,640 Speaker 1: using the drone to stalk someone, then that would probably 701 00:42:56,680 --> 00:42:59,600 Speaker 1: be considered stalking. You could likely be pulled up on 702 00:42:59,680 --> 00:43:02,080 Speaker 1: charge of of that. But if you're just flying around 703 00:43:02,080 --> 00:43:04,160 Speaker 1: the park and taking pictures because it's a pretty day 704 00:43:04,200 --> 00:43:06,000 Speaker 1: and you want to get crowd shots and that kind 705 00:43:06,040 --> 00:43:10,480 Speaker 1: of stuff, that's perfectly reasonable. But if you're flying in 706 00:43:10,520 --> 00:43:15,600 Speaker 1: a different area, like private property or any other area 707 00:43:15,640 --> 00:43:19,560 Speaker 1: where you could reasonably expect to have some privacy, then 708 00:43:19,719 --> 00:43:22,520 Speaker 1: you're not supposed to use your cameras to spy on 709 00:43:22,600 --> 00:43:26,040 Speaker 1: people at all. UM. Again, these are guidelines set up 710 00:43:26,080 --> 00:43:29,840 Speaker 1: by the various organizations and the f A a UH 711 00:43:29,880 --> 00:43:35,000 Speaker 1: and likely will play into laws later on. UH. You're 712 00:43:35,000 --> 00:43:37,400 Speaker 1: only supposed to operate one drone at a time, so 713 00:43:37,520 --> 00:43:41,360 Speaker 1: one operator, one drone. There there are pieces of software 714 00:43:41,400 --> 00:43:45,480 Speaker 1: out there that allow you to link drones together in 715 00:43:45,480 --> 00:43:47,920 Speaker 1: a fleet, but you are not supposed to do that UM, 716 00:43:48,080 --> 00:43:52,120 Speaker 1: at least not outside inside a controlled area where you're 717 00:43:52,120 --> 00:43:56,520 Speaker 1: experimenting with fleet software is one thing because it may 718 00:43:56,560 --> 00:43:59,920 Speaker 1: be part of your research for artificial intelligence, but once 719 00:44:00,040 --> 00:44:02,960 Speaker 1: you take it outside and you are out in the 720 00:44:03,000 --> 00:44:08,120 Speaker 1: public where you could potentially collide with people or property, 721 00:44:08,239 --> 00:44:11,000 Speaker 1: then you can no longer do that legally or you're 722 00:44:11,040 --> 00:44:13,680 Speaker 1: not supposed to do it at any rate. And the 723 00:44:13,840 --> 00:44:17,239 Speaker 1: f A has a rule for all model aircraft you're 724 00:44:17,280 --> 00:44:21,880 Speaker 1: supposed to only fly during daylight hours. So whatever local 725 00:44:22,600 --> 00:44:25,759 Speaker 1: UH call for sunrise and sunset are, those are the 726 00:44:25,800 --> 00:44:29,040 Speaker 1: hours within which you can operate a U a V. 727 00:44:29,840 --> 00:44:34,600 Speaker 1: After or before that, it's not it's against the rules. 728 00:44:34,640 --> 00:44:38,480 Speaker 1: So most of the stuff is not actual law. They 729 00:44:38,520 --> 00:44:43,520 Speaker 1: are rules you are strongly encouraged to adhere to because 730 00:44:43,520 --> 00:44:46,400 Speaker 1: if something goes wrong and you are outside of those rules, 731 00:44:47,000 --> 00:44:49,439 Speaker 1: then you can be under some pretty serious trouble. But 732 00:44:49,760 --> 00:44:52,359 Speaker 1: it's not like most For most of these, it's not 733 00:44:52,440 --> 00:44:54,759 Speaker 1: like if you were to go outside of it, you 734 00:44:54,760 --> 00:44:58,560 Speaker 1: would immediately have cops pull up and arrestue, unless the 735 00:44:58,600 --> 00:45:03,920 Speaker 1: local laws say otherwise, in which case that could potentially happen. UH. 736 00:45:03,960 --> 00:45:09,320 Speaker 1: And again, they're really there to prevent the the need 737 00:45:09,680 --> 00:45:13,839 Speaker 1: for more formal restrictions and regulations so that people can 738 00:45:13,920 --> 00:45:18,200 Speaker 1: enjoy their hobby without that kind of hassle. Um when 739 00:45:18,239 --> 00:45:22,040 Speaker 1: the regulations become official, when when we actually get a 740 00:45:22,080 --> 00:45:25,000 Speaker 1: new set of rules which the FAA is working on 741 00:45:25,239 --> 00:45:29,359 Speaker 1: as I record this podcast. It is May of two 742 00:45:29,440 --> 00:45:33,520 Speaker 1: thousand and sixteen when I record this. It's possible that 743 00:45:33,880 --> 00:45:38,200 Speaker 1: new rules could be published before this episode goes live, 744 00:45:38,800 --> 00:45:41,080 Speaker 1: but at any rate, there are going to be some 745 00:45:41,120 --> 00:45:43,680 Speaker 1: new rules coming out by the f a A that 746 00:45:43,719 --> 00:45:48,279 Speaker 1: will cover unmanned aerial systems but not model aircraft. In 747 00:45:48,280 --> 00:45:51,320 Speaker 1: other words, the FAA is going to distinguish between model 748 00:45:51,400 --> 00:45:54,279 Speaker 1: planes and helicopters that sort of stuff and U a 749 00:45:54,360 --> 00:45:58,279 Speaker 1: v s or drones. So at that point there will 750 00:45:58,320 --> 00:46:00,680 Speaker 1: be different sets of rules, and I think that will 751 00:46:00,680 --> 00:46:05,359 Speaker 1: make folks who really like model aircraft and model helicopters 752 00:46:05,400 --> 00:46:09,719 Speaker 1: the traditional type happy, because they will they will go 753 00:46:09,760 --> 00:46:14,800 Speaker 1: back to kind of their their organization based communities. UM, 754 00:46:14,840 --> 00:46:17,440 Speaker 1: those who want to pilot quad copters will have to 755 00:46:18,280 --> 00:46:23,600 Speaker 1: follow the rules for the unmanned aerial systems. And some 756 00:46:23,640 --> 00:46:26,080 Speaker 1: states do have those local laws regarding you A VS. 757 00:46:26,160 --> 00:46:29,200 Speaker 1: But other states, like the one I live in, Georgia, 758 00:46:29,880 --> 00:46:32,240 Speaker 1: they're waiting on the f a A to establish federal 759 00:46:32,320 --> 00:46:36,720 Speaker 1: rules before passing any local laws. Recently, Georgia Governor Nathan 760 00:46:36,760 --> 00:46:40,040 Speaker 1: deal vetoed legislation that would regulate U A v S 761 00:46:40,080 --> 00:46:42,120 Speaker 1: in the state, and he said he wanted to wait 762 00:46:42,200 --> 00:46:46,560 Speaker 1: until the federal rules were in place first. So things 763 00:46:46,600 --> 00:46:50,080 Speaker 1: that could have established some precedent for U A v s. 764 00:46:50,400 --> 00:46:56,359 Speaker 1: H Sometimes they don't make it because the local politicians 765 00:46:56,440 --> 00:46:58,799 Speaker 1: want to make sure that the federal rules are are 766 00:46:58,880 --> 00:47:03,920 Speaker 1: established before states make any um big decisions. This was 767 00:47:03,960 --> 00:47:07,279 Speaker 1: not a big surprise here in Georgia that Governor Deal 768 00:47:07,600 --> 00:47:12,520 Speaker 1: would veto the legislation. And I'll tell you why it's 769 00:47:12,560 --> 00:47:15,400 Speaker 1: not a big surprise because Governor Deal is probably the 770 00:47:15,520 --> 00:47:19,319 Speaker 1: most business oriented governor Georgia has had in a very 771 00:47:19,320 --> 00:47:24,920 Speaker 1: long time. He has worked very hard to allow businesses 772 00:47:25,120 --> 00:47:28,719 Speaker 1: to attract businesses to the state successfully. So this is 773 00:47:28,760 --> 00:47:32,920 Speaker 1: not a criticism, by the way, this is just an observation. UM. 774 00:47:33,200 --> 00:47:35,919 Speaker 1: In many ways this has been very helpful. He has 775 00:47:36,320 --> 00:47:41,160 Speaker 1: struck down legislation that was discriminatory uh and and at 776 00:47:41,200 --> 00:47:44,240 Speaker 1: least part of the reason he did so was because 777 00:47:44,440 --> 00:47:50,399 Speaker 1: it would have discouraged businesses from locating inside Georgia. And 778 00:47:50,680 --> 00:47:53,120 Speaker 1: he's also been a big proponent for stuff like the 779 00:47:53,160 --> 00:47:56,279 Speaker 1: film industry here in the States. So I imagine that 780 00:47:56,840 --> 00:48:00,200 Speaker 1: he didn't want to pass laws regulating drones, but us 781 00:48:00,239 --> 00:48:05,560 Speaker 1: he didn't want to um to uh to interfere with 782 00:48:05,640 --> 00:48:11,319 Speaker 1: businesses establishing themselves in the state. So that's just an observation. Again, 783 00:48:11,360 --> 00:48:15,400 Speaker 1: I'm not I'm not judging anything here. Um Personally, I 784 00:48:15,440 --> 00:48:19,319 Speaker 1: think uh that attracting businesses to a state is a 785 00:48:19,320 --> 00:48:23,120 Speaker 1: good thing, So I don't have a problem with that necessarily, 786 00:48:23,800 --> 00:48:26,360 Speaker 1: even though I also think that we need to establish 787 00:48:26,400 --> 00:48:33,040 Speaker 1: what the guidelines are for drones before before an event happens. 788 00:48:33,080 --> 00:48:36,720 Speaker 1: That makes it worse. Right, you don't want to see 789 00:48:37,000 --> 00:48:39,200 Speaker 1: someone use a drone in such a way that causes 790 00:48:39,280 --> 00:48:44,479 Speaker 1: a public catastrophe and thus necessitates a very draconian set 791 00:48:44,480 --> 00:48:48,560 Speaker 1: of laws. Okay, Uh, Now that we've got that all 792 00:48:48,600 --> 00:48:50,840 Speaker 1: the way, let's talk about commercial U a v s 793 00:48:50,840 --> 00:48:54,280 Speaker 1: because these are a little different. Again. This is where 794 00:48:54,320 --> 00:48:58,239 Speaker 1: you're using a U a V as some sort of 795 00:48:58,440 --> 00:49:02,400 Speaker 1: business use. Now, this could include capturing video or images 796 00:49:02,440 --> 00:49:05,520 Speaker 1: that you plan to sell. Um. If you're using a 797 00:49:05,640 --> 00:49:07,719 Speaker 1: U a V and you're taking pictures and you're just 798 00:49:07,800 --> 00:49:11,560 Speaker 1: doing it for fun, that's that's still a hobbyist use. 799 00:49:12,200 --> 00:49:14,319 Speaker 1: If you are using a U a V for fun 800 00:49:14,520 --> 00:49:18,080 Speaker 1: and you later sell a picture because someone was interested 801 00:49:18,080 --> 00:49:21,680 Speaker 1: in buying it, that's still a hobbyist use because you 802 00:49:21,680 --> 00:49:25,680 Speaker 1: were you were using your U a V for pleasure, 803 00:49:26,080 --> 00:49:30,799 Speaker 1: you weren't setting out to make money. But if you 804 00:49:30,840 --> 00:49:32,840 Speaker 1: plan on operating a U a V so that you 805 00:49:32,880 --> 00:49:37,240 Speaker 1: can get footage of stuff and sell it to an outlet. UH. 806 00:49:37,320 --> 00:49:40,200 Speaker 1: Let's say that you are in a in Los Angeles 807 00:49:40,280 --> 00:49:42,320 Speaker 1: and you're using U a V s to get footage 808 00:49:42,400 --> 00:49:45,759 Speaker 1: of celebrities so you can sell it to TMZ. That 809 00:49:45,920 --> 00:49:50,080 Speaker 1: is a commercial use of a U a v UM. 810 00:49:50,120 --> 00:49:52,640 Speaker 1: At that point, you are no longer a hobbyist. Also, 811 00:49:52,719 --> 00:49:54,719 Speaker 1: if you use a drone just to do stuff, like 812 00:49:54,960 --> 00:49:57,640 Speaker 1: let's say you own a business and you've got a 813 00:49:57,719 --> 00:50:00,359 Speaker 1: tall building and you're using a drone to fly up 814 00:50:00,360 --> 00:50:02,080 Speaker 1: to the top of the building to check on your roof, 815 00:50:02,560 --> 00:50:06,160 Speaker 1: that's technically using it in a business sense. So that 816 00:50:06,360 --> 00:50:09,000 Speaker 1: is a commercial use for U a V. If you're 817 00:50:09,080 --> 00:50:13,359 Speaker 1: using it to UH check like the security of your 818 00:50:13,360 --> 00:50:17,200 Speaker 1: perimeter UH in your business, that is also a commercial 819 00:50:17,280 --> 00:50:19,320 Speaker 1: use of a U a V. It falls under the 820 00:50:19,320 --> 00:50:22,760 Speaker 1: commercial use UH purview, So then you have to follow 821 00:50:22,760 --> 00:50:26,240 Speaker 1: the rules for commercial use, not for hobbyists. The rules 822 00:50:26,280 --> 00:50:31,680 Speaker 1: for hobbyists are largely loose, they aren't nearly as restrictive 823 00:50:31,760 --> 00:50:35,399 Speaker 1: as the commercial uses, because once you go into commercial uses, 824 00:50:35,440 --> 00:50:39,839 Speaker 1: you're talking about commercial aviation. Even though we're talking low 825 00:50:39,880 --> 00:50:44,600 Speaker 1: altitudes generally speaking with unmanned systems, it's still commercial aviation 826 00:50:44,600 --> 00:50:46,520 Speaker 1: in the view of the f a A. That's where 827 00:50:46,520 --> 00:50:50,000 Speaker 1: a ton of different regulations and restrictions come into play. 828 00:50:51,600 --> 00:50:55,600 Speaker 1: So you are someone pursuing a career in aviation if 829 00:50:55,680 --> 00:50:57,880 Speaker 1: you want to use it in a business sense, and 830 00:50:57,960 --> 00:50:59,960 Speaker 1: just because you aren't sitting in a cockpit doesn't mean 831 00:51:00,000 --> 00:51:04,040 Speaker 1: your exempt from the rules of pilots. And as the 832 00:51:04,080 --> 00:51:07,400 Speaker 1: recording of this podcast right now, you would have to 833 00:51:07,480 --> 00:51:10,000 Speaker 1: contact the f a A if you planned on being 834 00:51:10,040 --> 00:51:13,000 Speaker 1: a commercial operator of U A v s and you'd 835 00:51:13,040 --> 00:51:17,879 Speaker 1: have to request a section three thirty three exemption. Now 836 00:51:17,920 --> 00:51:21,480 Speaker 1: this is specifically an exception to section three thirty three 837 00:51:21,600 --> 00:51:27,399 Speaker 1: of Public Law one twelve Dash nine. Really catchy name, right, 838 00:51:28,080 --> 00:51:31,560 Speaker 1: that particular laws what gives the f a A various 839 00:51:31,600 --> 00:51:37,560 Speaker 1: authorizations for the fiscal years between, like I think it's 840 00:51:37,680 --> 00:51:43,080 Speaker 1: two thousand eleven through two thousand fourteen, so technically those 841 00:51:43,200 --> 00:51:46,480 Speaker 1: are are past, but that's the that's still the section 842 00:51:46,520 --> 00:51:50,120 Speaker 1: you would request the exemption from you would also need 843 00:51:50,160 --> 00:51:54,239 Speaker 1: a certificate of waiver or a certificate of authorization, and 844 00:51:54,320 --> 00:51:55,799 Speaker 1: you would have to have a pilot with an f 845 00:51:55,960 --> 00:51:59,800 Speaker 1: a A Airman certificate in order to do this legally. 846 00:52:00,520 --> 00:52:02,760 Speaker 1: Now this could change once the f a A A publishes 847 00:52:02,760 --> 00:52:05,719 Speaker 1: the rules for small U a S operations, but as 848 00:52:05,760 --> 00:52:09,480 Speaker 1: of the recording of this podcast is required. The exemption 849 00:52:09,560 --> 00:52:13,399 Speaker 1: includes a basic certificate of authorization, So one of those 850 00:52:13,400 --> 00:52:17,120 Speaker 1: elements you will get just by getting that exception to 851 00:52:17,200 --> 00:52:21,799 Speaker 1: section three thirty three, and that certificate of authorization allows 852 00:52:21,880 --> 00:52:25,120 Speaker 1: you to operate a commercial u a V below four 853 00:52:25,560 --> 00:52:28,400 Speaker 1: feet altitude, and you would still have to obey the 854 00:52:28,440 --> 00:52:32,080 Speaker 1: restrictions around airports and other restricted airspace. Essentially, you have 855 00:52:32,160 --> 00:52:36,120 Speaker 1: to follow the same rules as hobbyists. Anyone who wants 856 00:52:36,160 --> 00:52:39,040 Speaker 1: to operate outside of those limitations would have to apply 857 00:52:39,080 --> 00:52:43,360 Speaker 1: for a more broad certificate of authorization, which means contacting 858 00:52:43,360 --> 00:52:46,360 Speaker 1: the f a A explaining exactly what you want to 859 00:52:46,480 --> 00:52:49,280 Speaker 1: use the U A V for, how it would be used, 860 00:52:49,400 --> 00:52:52,719 Speaker 1: you know what, what context, what scenario, and then you 861 00:52:52,719 --> 00:52:55,160 Speaker 1: would have to wait upon a decision by the f 862 00:52:55,320 --> 00:52:59,360 Speaker 1: a A to either grant you that certificate of authorization 863 00:52:59,480 --> 00:53:02,840 Speaker 1: or deny it now. Commercial operators must also have a 864 00:53:02,880 --> 00:53:06,839 Speaker 1: pilot certificate. That's because the f a A cannot by 865 00:53:06,960 --> 00:53:13,040 Speaker 1: law authorize aircraft operation in the national airspace without a 866 00:53:13,080 --> 00:53:18,600 Speaker 1: certificated a certificated pilot in command according to Title forty 867 00:53:18,680 --> 00:53:21,760 Speaker 1: nine of the United States Code, section four four seven 868 00:53:21,800 --> 00:53:25,120 Speaker 1: one one. So as a matter of law, you have 869 00:53:25,160 --> 00:53:28,320 Speaker 1: to have a pilot certificate to operate this UV commercially, 870 00:53:28,400 --> 00:53:31,880 Speaker 1: to actually be the person behind the controls. All right, 871 00:53:31,920 --> 00:53:35,120 Speaker 1: but what about the rules about people affected by U 872 00:53:35,160 --> 00:53:37,319 Speaker 1: A v S. And we talked about the hobbyists, we 873 00:53:37,320 --> 00:53:40,600 Speaker 1: talked about the commercial uses. What about everybody else? If 874 00:53:40,600 --> 00:53:42,960 Speaker 1: the U I V Flies over my private property? What 875 00:53:43,040 --> 00:53:47,000 Speaker 1: are my rights? And that is a super tough question 876 00:53:47,040 --> 00:53:50,360 Speaker 1: here in the United States because of lots of different issues. 877 00:53:51,400 --> 00:53:54,080 Speaker 1: First of all, you've got the rights to airspace, and 878 00:53:54,160 --> 00:53:57,280 Speaker 1: this is a big one. So once upon a time, 879 00:53:57,680 --> 00:54:01,480 Speaker 1: property law stated that if you owned a parcel of land, 880 00:54:01,680 --> 00:54:05,920 Speaker 1: you essentially owned everything below it and everything above it. 881 00:54:06,520 --> 00:54:10,799 Speaker 1: So from your home all the way down or the 882 00:54:10,800 --> 00:54:12,920 Speaker 1: property you own all the way down to the center 883 00:54:12,920 --> 00:54:16,480 Speaker 1: of the earth, all of that's your property, and everything 884 00:54:16,600 --> 00:54:20,880 Speaker 1: above your home up to the heavens that's your property too. 885 00:54:22,080 --> 00:54:25,280 Speaker 1: That has changed. That's not the case anymore, largely because 886 00:54:25,320 --> 00:54:28,240 Speaker 1: we have commercial aircraft and they have to fly over places, 887 00:54:28,320 --> 00:54:33,120 Speaker 1: and they obviously could not request permission over every homeowner, 888 00:54:33,560 --> 00:54:36,400 Speaker 1: and so the laws have changed. It is no longer 889 00:54:36,480 --> 00:54:39,720 Speaker 1: the case that you own the property above your land 890 00:54:39,840 --> 00:54:45,120 Speaker 1: all the way up to space. Instead, technically you still 891 00:54:45,120 --> 00:54:46,640 Speaker 1: own the land all the way down to the center 892 00:54:46,640 --> 00:54:49,440 Speaker 1: of the earth. So that's good. But the airspace you 893 00:54:49,520 --> 00:54:52,879 Speaker 1: own above your property, it only extends as far as 894 00:54:52,880 --> 00:54:56,840 Speaker 1: you can reasonably use in connection with the surface. That 895 00:54:57,000 --> 00:55:00,120 Speaker 1: is a matter of law here in the US, so 896 00:55:01,080 --> 00:55:04,560 Speaker 1: reasonably is a matter of judgment. It's not incorrect. It's 897 00:55:04,600 --> 00:55:08,040 Speaker 1: not a clear cut case of below four hundred feet 898 00:55:08,080 --> 00:55:11,440 Speaker 1: you own everything above your land, for example. However, that 899 00:55:11,480 --> 00:55:15,480 Speaker 1: being said, ownership rights do not extend into navigable airspace, 900 00:55:15,560 --> 00:55:18,880 Speaker 1: which in the United States is defined as anything above 901 00:55:19,080 --> 00:55:23,239 Speaker 1: five hundred feet in uncongested areas. So while there's not 902 00:55:23,560 --> 00:55:28,600 Speaker 1: a specific cutoff for where your property ends, it definitely 903 00:55:28,680 --> 00:55:32,800 Speaker 1: cannot extend to five feet. At that point as navigable airspace, 904 00:55:32,840 --> 00:55:36,120 Speaker 1: it is off limits for your ownership. The question is 905 00:55:36,400 --> 00:55:41,480 Speaker 1: how far below navigable airspace to your property rights extent 906 00:55:41,640 --> 00:55:44,040 Speaker 1: at what point is the air above your land still 907 00:55:44,080 --> 00:55:48,520 Speaker 1: your property. Local laws are more likely to come into 908 00:55:48,520 --> 00:55:51,759 Speaker 1: play for airspace ownership than federal ones, so things like 909 00:55:51,920 --> 00:55:54,920 Speaker 1: zoning requirements might limit how tall a building can be 910 00:55:54,960 --> 00:55:57,680 Speaker 1: in a specific area, or how tall structure is allowed 911 00:55:57,719 --> 00:56:01,280 Speaker 1: to be. So let's say that you gut zoning laws 912 00:56:01,120 --> 00:56:04,040 Speaker 1: that limit you and it says nothing over fifty feet. 913 00:56:04,360 --> 00:56:06,840 Speaker 1: While someone might be able to argue that your property 914 00:56:06,960 --> 00:56:10,960 Speaker 1: rights only extend to fifty feet above the ground and 915 00:56:11,000 --> 00:56:14,240 Speaker 1: anything above that is not your property because it cannot 916 00:56:14,280 --> 00:56:18,320 Speaker 1: be reasonably used in connection with the land around it. Um. 917 00:56:18,360 --> 00:56:22,080 Speaker 1: That is of a potential argument someone could make, but 918 00:56:22,160 --> 00:56:26,120 Speaker 1: no one has established this. There's no law that says, 919 00:56:26,680 --> 00:56:29,720 Speaker 1: at X number of feet, your rights as a property 920 00:56:29,760 --> 00:56:35,239 Speaker 1: owner are no longer at play. Um. So it's a 921 00:56:35,280 --> 00:56:38,680 Speaker 1: real mess. And another problem with this is that there's 922 00:56:38,760 --> 00:56:44,080 Speaker 1: already been cases of people shooting down drones or otherwise 923 00:56:44,200 --> 00:56:49,160 Speaker 1: disabling them that have gone in different directions. So there's 924 00:56:49,200 --> 00:56:51,280 Speaker 1: one that came out in the summer of two thousand 925 00:56:51,280 --> 00:56:53,960 Speaker 1: fifteen in the United States in Kentucky, in which a 926 00:56:53,960 --> 00:56:58,239 Speaker 1: man shut down a drone using a shotgun. Took three 927 00:56:58,239 --> 00:57:01,120 Speaker 1: shots at it. The drone is lying over his property, 928 00:57:02,400 --> 00:57:07,520 Speaker 1: and that man was William Meredith, and the pilot's owner, 929 00:57:07,640 --> 00:57:13,440 Speaker 1: David Boggs, called police after Meredith essentially said if you 930 00:57:13,480 --> 00:57:16,680 Speaker 1: cross that sidewalk, I'll shoot you too, uh, because Boggs 931 00:57:16,720 --> 00:57:18,240 Speaker 1: came up and said, hey man, why don't you shoot 932 00:57:18,240 --> 00:57:20,480 Speaker 1: down my drone. I was just showing it off to 933 00:57:20,520 --> 00:57:23,960 Speaker 1: people and showing how it works. Um. So the police 934 00:57:24,000 --> 00:57:28,520 Speaker 1: arrested Meredith for wanton endangerment and criminal mischief. Alright, So, 935 00:57:28,560 --> 00:57:31,560 Speaker 1: according to Boggs, he was flying the drone at around 936 00:57:31,600 --> 00:57:35,240 Speaker 1: two hundred feet and there's data on the device that 937 00:57:35,280 --> 00:57:37,840 Speaker 1: backs him up. Says two hundred feet was the limit 938 00:57:38,400 --> 00:57:43,160 Speaker 1: of how low he flew. Uh. Meredith challenged that. He 939 00:57:43,200 --> 00:57:45,120 Speaker 1: said it was closer to one feet, that it was 940 00:57:45,160 --> 00:57:47,760 Speaker 1: below the tree line, and a couple of witnesses testified 941 00:57:47,800 --> 00:57:51,080 Speaker 1: to this as well. Meredith also maintained that he thought 942 00:57:51,160 --> 00:57:53,760 Speaker 1: that the drone was spying on his teenage daughter who 943 00:57:53,760 --> 00:57:57,440 Speaker 1: was sunbathing in the yard. So Meredith was saying, this 944 00:57:57,480 --> 00:58:00,120 Speaker 1: was an invasion of my privacy and the privacy laws 945 00:58:00,120 --> 00:58:04,320 Speaker 1: of Kentucky either way. At that point, the court said, 946 00:58:04,400 --> 00:58:06,760 Speaker 1: and still really the courts had never decided what height 947 00:58:06,840 --> 00:58:10,120 Speaker 1: a person's property rights in, so the question of whether 948 00:58:10,160 --> 00:58:13,000 Speaker 1: the drone was actually trespassing is still an open question. 949 00:58:13,200 --> 00:58:15,040 Speaker 1: It may not have been trespassing because it may not 950 00:58:15,040 --> 00:58:17,600 Speaker 1: have been on the property since it was above a 951 00:58:17,640 --> 00:58:22,880 Speaker 1: certain height. But the judge presiding over meredith hearing dismissed 952 00:58:22,880 --> 00:58:26,720 Speaker 1: the charges against him. So the judge said these charges 953 00:58:27,080 --> 00:58:31,120 Speaker 1: UH don't have merit and dismissed the case. Bog said 954 00:58:31,160 --> 00:58:34,160 Speaker 1: he wanted to push the case to the grand jury 955 00:58:34,240 --> 00:58:37,760 Speaker 1: and try and and see if he could have any 956 00:58:37,760 --> 00:58:42,080 Speaker 1: success there. He also brought a federal lawsuit against Meredith 957 00:58:42,120 --> 00:58:44,440 Speaker 1: in an attempt to establish once and for all what 958 00:58:44,480 --> 00:58:47,200 Speaker 1: the rules are for you a v operation and property rights. 959 00:58:47,600 --> 00:58:50,720 Speaker 1: So that's still going on right now. I haven't seen 960 00:58:50,760 --> 00:58:55,440 Speaker 1: any recent development about that. Last I saw, UH, there 961 00:58:55,480 --> 00:58:57,000 Speaker 1: was still a wait to see if this was actually 962 00:58:57,000 --> 00:59:00,360 Speaker 1: gonna end up going to trial. So there's some astident 963 00:59:00,440 --> 00:59:03,320 Speaker 1: for bringing down drones, but the question is far from 964 00:59:03,360 --> 00:59:07,120 Speaker 1: settled because there are other cases where someone brought down 965 00:59:07,120 --> 00:59:11,880 Speaker 1: a drone and then got punished for it, um they 966 00:59:11,880 --> 00:59:16,960 Speaker 1: were charged with acting recklessly. There's still debates on whether 967 00:59:17,000 --> 00:59:21,080 Speaker 1: it's legal for law enforcement to destroy someone's property, you know, 968 00:59:21,120 --> 00:59:24,280 Speaker 1: by taking down a drone or at least damaging someone's property, 969 00:59:24,480 --> 00:59:27,960 Speaker 1: let alone private individuals or companies. So movie production companies 970 00:59:28,000 --> 00:59:30,320 Speaker 1: have been exploring ways to bring down drones for a while. 971 00:59:31,360 --> 00:59:33,320 Speaker 1: One of my co workers tell stories about how a 972 00:59:33,360 --> 00:59:38,680 Speaker 1: friend of his has been UM and talks with a 973 00:59:38,720 --> 00:59:43,480 Speaker 1: production company about ways to bring down drones and ranging 974 00:59:43,520 --> 00:59:48,080 Speaker 1: from beanbag guns to nets to two jammers that would 975 00:59:48,200 --> 00:59:51,640 Speaker 1: interfere with the signal between the control and the drone. 976 00:59:52,520 --> 00:59:55,120 Speaker 1: UM all sorts of different ways to bring a drone 977 00:59:55,160 --> 00:59:59,520 Speaker 1: down and whether or not that's legal is still an 978 00:59:59,520 --> 01:00:02,680 Speaker 1: open question. It's a bit like the wild West, and 979 01:00:02,720 --> 01:00:04,760 Speaker 1: it will probably continue to be that way until there 980 01:00:04,800 --> 01:00:08,360 Speaker 1: are some firm f A A guidelines in place. An 981 01:00:08,440 --> 01:00:11,240 Speaker 1: individual cases will likely go to court, and that's where 982 01:00:11,280 --> 01:00:14,720 Speaker 1: we'll start to see precedents set by actual court cases. 983 01:00:14,840 --> 01:00:17,280 Speaker 1: Or states will end up passing local laws governing the 984 01:00:17,360 --> 01:00:19,120 Speaker 1: legal use of U A v s and that will 985 01:00:19,240 --> 01:00:21,840 Speaker 1: end up settling the question one way or the other, 986 01:00:22,600 --> 01:00:25,480 Speaker 1: and it will rely heavily on regional laws governing property 987 01:00:25,560 --> 01:00:30,120 Speaker 1: rights and privacy UM so like in in some cases 988 01:00:30,160 --> 01:00:32,440 Speaker 1: courts have decided against people who have used force to 989 01:00:32,560 --> 01:00:35,600 Speaker 1: down the drone, saying it constituted an unreasonable action since 990 01:00:35,640 --> 01:00:38,880 Speaker 1: property wasn't in danger. In other words, there's there was 991 01:00:38,920 --> 01:00:42,160 Speaker 1: at least one case where a guy shut down a 992 01:00:42,280 --> 01:00:44,680 Speaker 1: drone and he had said that he did so because 993 01:00:44,680 --> 01:00:47,560 Speaker 1: he thought it was a c I A surveillance drone 994 01:00:48,320 --> 01:00:52,040 Speaker 1: illegally spying on him, and so he brought it down 995 01:00:52,320 --> 01:00:57,120 Speaker 1: and was brought up on charges of property destruction. And 996 01:00:57,360 --> 01:01:00,800 Speaker 1: the judge ruled in that case that the guy was 997 01:01:00,800 --> 01:01:03,520 Speaker 1: in the wrong, that the guy bringing the drone down 998 01:01:03,600 --> 01:01:06,360 Speaker 1: was in the wrong, that that it did the drone 999 01:01:06,360 --> 01:01:10,120 Speaker 1: did not constitute a threat to anyone's property or person, 1000 01:01:11,080 --> 01:01:16,000 Speaker 1: and as such, the actions the guy took were too extreme. 1001 01:01:17,440 --> 01:01:21,640 Speaker 1: So again it depends upon the local region. Um in Kentucky, 1002 01:01:21,840 --> 01:01:27,520 Speaker 1: the privacy laws and property rights are pretty hefty. That 1003 01:01:27,640 --> 01:01:29,600 Speaker 1: might not be the case in some other places in 1004 01:01:29,640 --> 01:01:32,800 Speaker 1: the United States, let alone in the world. So the 1005 01:01:32,840 --> 01:01:35,200 Speaker 1: reason why I wanted to kind of bring all this 1006 01:01:35,280 --> 01:01:37,360 Speaker 1: up was just to talk about how complicated is and 1007 01:01:37,360 --> 01:01:39,480 Speaker 1: and show how yet again we have a piece of 1008 01:01:39,520 --> 01:01:44,120 Speaker 1: technology that has uh developed and evolved far faster than 1009 01:01:44,160 --> 01:01:47,520 Speaker 1: the legal system can compensate for. And we're likely to 1010 01:01:47,520 --> 01:01:50,080 Speaker 1: see this happen over and over again with robots and 1011 01:01:50,400 --> 01:01:53,240 Speaker 1: autonomous cars and all sorts of stuff in the future. 1012 01:01:53,520 --> 01:01:55,600 Speaker 1: This is a great way of kind of taking like 1013 01:01:55,640 --> 01:01:58,320 Speaker 1: a test case and saying, here's an example, yet another 1014 01:01:58,360 --> 01:02:02,200 Speaker 1: example of how technology can get to a point where 1015 01:02:02,520 --> 01:02:05,760 Speaker 1: it hits the market. It's available for us to buy, 1016 01:02:05,880 --> 01:02:09,680 Speaker 1: but the laws aren't there yet too, say when, where, 1017 01:02:09,720 --> 01:02:12,640 Speaker 1: and how can we use this stuff in a way 1018 01:02:12,680 --> 01:02:16,800 Speaker 1: that is legal, where we're not infringing on anyone else's 1019 01:02:16,920 --> 01:02:20,600 Speaker 1: rights or putting anyone else in danger. It's a complicated thing, 1020 01:02:21,400 --> 01:02:23,880 Speaker 1: and it's also kind of cool, and I'll probably do 1021 01:02:23,920 --> 01:02:26,800 Speaker 1: another update to this once the f a A publishes 1022 01:02:26,840 --> 01:02:31,760 Speaker 1: their rules if there are any rules that are particularly interesting, troublesome, 1023 01:02:32,360 --> 01:02:35,600 Speaker 1: you know, worthy of conversation. If they are essentially codifying 1024 01:02:35,720 --> 01:02:38,800 Speaker 1: the rules that have already been set, I probably won't 1025 01:02:38,840 --> 01:02:41,760 Speaker 1: do another episode about this, but if they end up 1026 01:02:41,800 --> 01:02:47,439 Speaker 1: coming up with other rules or or or other restrictions 1027 01:02:47,480 --> 01:02:51,840 Speaker 1: that are particularly interesting, then I'll look into it again. 1028 01:02:52,080 --> 01:02:54,560 Speaker 1: In the meantime, if you guys have any suggestions for 1029 01:02:54,640 --> 01:02:57,960 Speaker 1: future episodes, please let me know. Write me an email. 1030 01:02:58,080 --> 01:03:01,960 Speaker 1: The address is tech Stuff, How Stuff Works dot com, 1031 01:03:02,040 --> 01:03:04,000 Speaker 1: or you can drop me a line on social media. 1032 01:03:04,280 --> 01:03:07,200 Speaker 1: On Facebook and Twitter, I use the handle text stuff 1033 01:03:07,400 --> 01:03:10,120 Speaker 1: h s W and I'll talk to you guys again 1034 01:03:10,960 --> 01:03:18,640 Speaker 1: really soon. For more on this and thousands of other topics, 1035 01:03:18,920 --> 01:03:30,080 Speaker 1: is it how stuff works dot com