U.S. regulators are seeking to promote autonomous vehicle technology without picking favorites and with over-regulating the nascent industry, federal and state officials told attendees at the Automated Vehicles Symposium in Orlando.
"There is widespread recognition that automated vehicles will coexist with conventional vehicles and ad some point operate side-by-side with them on the highways," said Nicole Nason, administrator of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), who spoke on Wednesday.
"And to this point, I want to affirm the department's position this morning regarding freedom of the open road. We want to protect the freedom of all Americans to make mobility choices that best serve their needs."
Regulatory
Regulatory
Speakers kick off AVS 2019 with emphasis on automated vehicle safety
The 2019 Automated Vehicles Symposium kicked off on Tuesday with a focus on safety, as speakers from across the industry — and the world — addressed how their companies are building safe self-driving vehicles and working to educate the public about the technology.
Chris Urmson, cofounder and CEO of automated vehicle technology company Aurora, was the first keynote speaker and described how the industry has progressed during his time in it. In the early and mid 2000s he was part of the Carnegie Mellon team competing in DARPA's robotic road races, where his vehicle sometimes found itself upside down.
Task force interim report on drone incursions at airports calls for remote ID, agency-industry cooperation
The Blue Ribbon Task Force of UAS Mitigation at Airports, announced at AUVSI's Xponential trade show this year, has released an interim report on its work and says the remote identification of drones is a critical first step to airport security.
FAA seeks new industry partners, announces drone safety push at UAS symposium
The Federal Aviation Administration announced Monday it will partner with qualified commercial companies to perform drone integration safety work at the FAA's UAS test sites.
“The FAA intends to bridge the gap between industry and the test sites to tackle some of our most difficult technical and operational challenges,” Acting FAA Administrator Dan Elwell announced at the opening session of the FAA UAS Symposium in Baltimore, hosted by AUVSI.
A broad agency announcement released Monday says applicants must be able to match the federal funds they request through this program — overall, the agency has pledged $6 million to perform the work.
Xponential's final keynote highlights drones for good, counter rogue drone efforts, urban air mobility
Unmanned systems can be used for good, for environmental protection, humanitarian relief and other positive uses, but the good they do can be undone by nefarious operators, an issue that must be dealt with as the technology progresses.
Those were among the themes of the final keynote address of Xponential on Thursday, as AUVSI and DJI presented Humanitarian Awards to five organizations.
senseFly drones approved for Brazil's first-ever BVLOS operations
In collaboration with drone engineering and consulting specialists AL Drones and geotechnology company Santiago & Cintra, senseFly has announced that the National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC) has approved beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) flights to be carried out in Brazil for the first time in the country’s history, using UAS technology from senseFly.
SenseFly’s UAS can now be used for future BVLOS missions conducted by Brazilian drone operators.
“This is a momentous step forward for BVLOS operations in Brazil, and a really exciting time for the country’s expanding commercial drone industry,” says Pierre-Alain Marchand, regulatory compliance manager, senseFly.
California DMV makes way for the testing of light-duty autonomous delivery vehicles
On Friday, April 12, the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) released proposed regulations that “establish a path for companies to test or deploy light-duty autonomous motor trucks (delivery vehicles) on the state’s public roads.”
Under the proposed regulations, companies can test autonomous delivery vehicles that weigh less than 10,001 pounds with an approved permit from the DMV, as long as they don’t charge a delivery fee.
To make their autonomous technology commercially available, companies must apply for a deployment (public use) permit.
Argo AI receives permit to test autonomous vehicles in California
According to TechCrunch, Pittsburgh-based self-driving car startup Argo AI has received a permit from the California Department of Motor Vehicles that allows the company to test its autonomous vehicles in the state.
The permit is for one vehicle and two drivers.
Launched in 2016, Argo AI received a $1 billion investment from Ford Motor Company in 2017, just months after forming. Together, Ford and Argo AI are looking to develop a virtual driver system for Ford’s fully autonomous, SAE level 4-capable vehicles, which Ford hopes to have on the roads by 2021.
Meet the IPP Sites: Alaska tackles BVLOS pipeline flights, package delivery
Alaska has lots of oil pipelines, including the famous Trans-Alaska Pipeline, so it made sense that the Integration Pilot Program headed by the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) would have pipeline inspection as one of its primary goals.
It does, but as it turns out, developing systems and operational methods to allow aircraft to inspect pipelines over long distances has many added benefits. First of all, you have to be able to fly beyond line of sight. Secondly, operators will have to be confident they won’t hit anything, so they’ll require a robust sense and avoid system. And the weather can be cold and icy, so they’ll need to be tough enough to survive it.
