The FAA’s efforts to oversee commercial and recreational unmanned aircraft systems seem to be growing almost as quickly as the industry itself.
With more than 1.4 million UAS now registered with the FAA, a statistic that did not even exist until a few years ago, the agency is pursuing several regulatory and other initiatives to manage the increasing traffic to ensure safe and efficient operations.
“This is a fast-moving industry, and we’re doing our level best to keep up,” then-acting FAA Administrator Daniel Elwell said in a June speech. “The trick is to mitigate safety risks without putting the cuffs on technological and operational advances.”
Regulatory
Regulatory
From Unmanned Systems Magazine: Regulators seek to promote the AV industry, boost safety, protect spectrum
Automotive industry regulators, in the United States in particular, are seeking to remove regulatory restrictions on the development and testing of autonomous vehicles without compromising job No. 1 — safety.
"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), one of several government speakers at the Automated Vehicles Symposium held in Orlando in July.
Tuesday, September 17, 2019 from 2:00-3:00 PM ET, AUVSI Hill Day: Event Preview
Every day, members of Congress work on legislation that can either boost or hinder the advancement and deployment of unmanned and autonomous systems. AUVSI Hill Day, being held Wednesday, September 25, is an opportunity for the entire industry to come together and declare, with one unified voice, how unmanned technology is making a positive impact on local communities and economies across the country. Join members of the AUVSI Advocacy team as they give a preview of the event, set expectations for the day, and provide talking points to ensure participants maximize their meetings with lawmakers.
Who Should Attend?
2nd annual NY UAS Symposium to highlight issues facing industry, importance of UTM
The second annual New York UAS Symposium, hosted by Northeast UAS Airspace Integration Research (NUAIR), will look to build off of a successful 2018 symposium that brought in more than 300 participants.
This year’s symposium will give attendees a chance to talk with fellow UAS industry leaders representing all sides of the industry — including from the FAA, NASA, and the New York City Fire Department (FDNY), to name a few — make new connections, and discuss key issues that the industry is facing.
According to Michael Hertzendorf, interim CEO for NUAIR Alliance, the number one challenge that the industry faces is public adoption.
Regulators seeking to promote the AV industry while boosting safety
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."
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.
