The use of a commercial drone for delivery and services is expected to clear a major hurdle in the U.S. as early as this week with new requirements for most machines to be transmitted radio beacon with digital license plate to help ensure safety and prevent misuse.
All but the smallest drones need to broadcast a radio signal identifying them and the place under new Federal Aviation Administration Rules, according to a summary of the action reviewed by Bloomberg News.
The new rules, which come into effect 30 months after the rule is finalized, are an important foundation needed before drone delivery and other trade-offs can occur. They mark the most significant regulatory expansion in drone capabilities since the devices entered civilian markets starting around a decade ago.
The rules will serve as “an essential building block to more complex drone activity safely, the agency said in the summary.
The actions break a regulatory barrier that has sustained growth in unmanned aviation technology in the U.S. That requires ID coverage to address concerns from federal law enforcement and homeland security that the increasingly capable flying machines used for crime and terrorism.
Several years ago the FAA was set to extend drone flights over crowds in some cases and allow them to operate normally at night, but the other agencies would not allow it to move forward with the rules to whether it would address growing concerns about machine misuse. . Individual rules for working over a population are expected soon.
The FAA did not comment on its plans for the new regulation. The White House Office of Management and Budget completed its review of governance on Wednesday, according to a website.
It will still be years before sheds of drones are operated by such companies Prime Air Amazon.com Inc., Alphabet Inc. offshoot Shield and United Parcel Service Inc. building over neighborhoods dropping packets. But the new rules provide an important platform for the industry to move toward those goals.
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A robust drone testing system is needed to ensure public acceptance of these new businesses, UPS said Flight Forward in comments on the proposal earlier this year. “If illegal and dangerous operators cannot be identified and stopped, confidence in the system will be eroded and voluntary compliance will be weakened,” the company wrote.
The new regulation requires drones weighing more than 0.55 pounds (0.25 kilograms) to broadcast the identity on low-power radio frequencies such as Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. That way, the police or other authorities can monitor nearby drones.
Civilian drones offered for sale in the U.S. must be equipped with such technology starting 18 months after the rules expire, according to the summary. Operators are not allowed to go without a working ID torch.
The rules also allow existing drones to be redesigned with such a system.
The rule does not require devices that broadcast on a signal that can be transmitted by mobile phone systems to a national tracking network, a measure that was first included in a proposal. published last year.
Wing, Amazon and others who wanted to create delivery businesses had persuaded the FAA to allow a national internet-based network to monitor the devices.
Flying visitors can seek the exempt devices that allow them to operate without an ID torch, as long as they fly in restricted areas agreed by the FAA. Flying clubs like the Aeronautics Module Academy and educational institutions may apply for such exemptions.
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The FAA, picking up requests from recreational users and business organizations, is introducing privacy restrictions that will make it impossible for the public to identify a drone operator using beacon ID.
The FAA will keep that information confidential, he said in the minutes, and will pass it on to law enforcement and national security agencies if asked. That goes away from traditional flights where FAA flight tracking data is routinely public.
The new rules are an attempt to tackle the explosion of drone use. The FAA had registered nearly 1 million recreational drone users and owned 1.3 million of the devices as at last year. An additional 385,000 commercial drones were registered by the agency, according to their data.
At the same time, there has been an increase of reports of the machines flying dangerously close to conventional planes and helicopters – even Air Force One – and cases of them used for drug smuggling or terrorist attacks in other countries. The It has a National Transport Safety Board drones decided to be involved in several U.S. midair crashes.
As the rules were seen as helpful to the industry, the rough concept was widely supported. But, the FAA’s A proposal for ID lanterns issued a year ago attracted more than 53,000 public comments as various voters said it should be implemented.
Traditional entertainers who have been flying model airplanes for decades, some of whom do not have the electronics to support a radio torch, said thousands were worried the rules would be too restrictive. .
Newer recreational users flying small coppers said they were worried about repositioning their aircraft or adding expensive new requirements. Many also raised privacy concerns about how the tracking information could be used.