
Google Wants a Piece of Air-Traffic Control for Drones - smullaney
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-07-24/google-has-way-to-unclog-drone-filled-skies-like-it-did-the-web
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Animats
This is actually an FAA/NASA initiative.[1] They're trying to figure out how
this can work.

The FAA's first round is out, with the proposed "drone pilot licenses" and
coordination with existing ATC for drone operations in controlled airspace.
That won't scale up to large numbers of drones, but can be done now. The FAA
is considering fewer restrictions on very small drones (<2KG). They have a
study indicating that in theory most 2KG drones won't damage large aircraft
jet engines enough to destroy them. But as yet, that hasn't been tested on
real engines. (Real engines are tested against bird strikes by firing frozen
chickens of various sizes into the engine, using an air cannon. That's going
to have to be done for drones, and it's not cheap.)

The FAA is trying to get this under control before some large quadrotor with
motors with cobalt-neodymium magnets gets sucked into a jet intake.

[1] [http://utm.arc.nasa.gov/index.shtml](http://utm.arc.nasa.gov/index.shtml)

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sopooneo
Thank you for the information, most of which is new to me. However, one minor
point of correction, is that I believe the birds are thawed, not frozen, when
fired into jet engines to test them.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_gun](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_gun)

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bluthru
>The idea really is anyone should be free to build a solution

I can't think of a worse outcome.

If drones and automated cars don't operate off of an open and public
communication system, it will be a massive failure.

GPS works because a for-profit company isn't in charge of it.

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cmurf
Today, we're still using AM line of sight radio, on a frequency that can only
accept one transmission at a time.

First innovate a better system for drones. Then replace the legacy ATC system
in stages for Class A, Class B, Class C, Class E IFR, and finally Class E VFR.
And only then can the altitude restriction on drones be lifted, and integrated
into the rest of the ATC system. But even getting Class A and B under the same
modern and scalable system as drones, even if they aren't sharing airspace, is
something pilots, airlines, ATC, and the FAA have needed/wanted for a long
time.

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ytdht
Enabling Super Wi-Fi[1] nation-wide would be a good start to a better system
for wireless communications for drones and other internet-connected devices

1\. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Wi-
Fi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Wi-Fi)

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w-ll
I actually worked with Spectrum Bridge and the city on the implementation in
Wilmington, North Carolina while in college.

At the time it was called 'Whitespace Wifi' and we actually had a handful of
services other than public wi-fi. It was good fun.

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ytdht
Do you know of any plans to expand it further? or was there any substantial
problems discovered that could not be solved?

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swalsh
One thing i'd like to see from drones is a registration of the drones firmware
signature. So as a drone is flying, it would broadcast the signature, and you
can see above you what's flying around.

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throwaway859876
Retailers will be in for a lot of heartache if they hope that the FAA will
"work with them."

ADS-B is already mandated for 2020. The spec is cast in stone, and the only
thing that could change is the month it's enforced.

As we've seen with the SoCal fires last week, integrated tracking is essential
for safe low-level flight.

Certified ADS-B avionics prices have ranged from $10,000 - $1,000,000+.
Experimental prices are around $2,000 now.

Obviously that's more than the price of most consumer drones.

Also, what load can the ADS-B system handle? How many drones would overload
it?

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wheaties
This. Alot of drone guys or people who dream of drones forget that there's GA
planes up there. I've had to dodge stupid cameras on balloons while landing.
That's so dangerous

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wmeredith
GA planes?

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spc476
General aviation.

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ams6110
The idea of centralized air traffic control for drones seems completely
backwards to me. Birds don't have air traffic control, they have eyes and a
brain and avoid obstacles and each other autonomously.

Maybe there will be a need for some defined airways for drones, but they
should be able to fly and navigate for themselves.

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sarwechshar
Whilst I appreciate a bird analogy as much as the next guy (and it makes sense
from a mechanical perspective), I'm not sure if it works for regulation purely
because birds aren't responsible to anyone or anything else if things go
wrong. Drones are human products and thus someone, ie their creator or user,
would need to be held accountable.

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jamespitts
This is very exciting, and inevitable. This sort of infrastructure will lead
to a lot of innovation because it alleviates many of the questions about
operating drones in shared spaces.

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cmurf
It deals with drone on drone, but not really drone on non-drone. And also
doesn't deal with the "virtual pilot" firmware drones will run, that should
have an analog to FAR 91 rules such as the obstacle avoidance and being able
to avoid injuring people and property on the ground. I have to be able to do
that as a pilot, there's no good reason why an up to 55lb drone going up to
100mph should be exempt.

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terminado
Skynet!

