As you know, Amazon has been working on a project for the delivery of goods to customers using unmanned aerial vehicles for a long time. Its implementation is inhibited by the lack of necessary changes in the legislation of the United States, which would ensure the commercial use of drones. The US Federal Civil Aviation Department (FAA) plans to make the necessary amendments to the legislation only next year.
Many are concerned about the uncontrolled use of drones by private individuals, which more than once could have caused the accidents of the airliners. At the NASA UTM Convention conference, Amazon made proposals, the implementation of which will ensure the proper safety of drones flights, even with their intensive use.
The company proposed to allocate part of the airspace for drones, a kind of air corridor, at an altitude of 200 to 400 feet (61–122 m). Another 100 feet (30 m) over the corridor should become a buffer zone free of flights to exclude clashes of drones with airplanes.
In turn, the corridor will be divided into two parts for flights of high -speed devices and for moving drones with low speed at a lower height.
To use drones for commercial purposes, it is necessary to fulfill a number of conditions.
- In particular, the device must be equipped with an improved GPS system so that it can accurately determine its location in real time along with any nearby drones.
- The operator must have reliable Internet access to provide communication with the drone and process GPS data.
- The upcoming flights should be planned so that you can predict and coordinate the trajectories of drone movement.
- The possibility of communication between drones to prevent collisions should be ensured.
- Drones should be equipped with appropriate sensors to prevent clashes with obstacles, including birds, buildings and cables.
These changes will undoubtedly cause the discontent of private owners of drones, as they will be allowed by the flights of the devices in the lower part of the air corridor, while the use of drones at an altitude of up to 400 feet is now allowed.
Source:
- Theenextweb.com