Over the course of three days in August, I along with more than 670 participants at the Ohio UAS Conference 2014 in Dayton, OH, witnessed a large number of government and aerospace company attendees interested in taking drones into commercial markets. From the dozens of presentations and interactions I had with academics, military contractors, aircraft manufacturers, parts suppliers and many others at the event, it’s clear that government and aerospace have jumped on the drones-for-commercial-use bandwagon. But, for a number of reasons, this group’s aircraft aren’t going commercial just yet.
To be clear, the Ohio show was about showcasing proof of concepts and building partnerships – not flying and getting customers. This stands in stark contrast to the Precision Aerial Ag Show I attended earlier this summer, where many vendors demoed their aircraft and showcased their customers and established relationships with local service providers.
Why the dissimilarity? Part of the difference is in approaches to FAA regulations. The aerospace and military contractors play it safe by following all the FAA guidelines — regardless of which airspace they fly or test in. But commercial vendors, whose aircraft and commercial applications are intended only in Class G uncontrolled airspace approach FAA guidelines as just that—guidelines. I wrote about these “radical opposites” in The Business of Drones: A Tale of Two Cities.
What I found interesting about the Ohio show is that it revealed evidence of a closing gap between commercial and public sector approaches to drones. I see a trend in which aerospace companies are beginning to adopt model aircraft and consumer technology. Let me explain by telling the story of three vendors I saw.
Read more here: http://droneanalyst.com/2014/09/04/lockheed-drones-meets-gopro-ohio-uas-conference/
Comments
Tearig - True. But I it's important to keep in mind commercial users (growers, first responders, public safety, industrial, etc.) want turn-key systems and one throat to choke. So when there is a software bug, something goes wrong with the aircraft, or a component needs repair who does the vendor call?
After reading that it really shows how effective the opensource and collaborative development culture is; what has been fostered through this forum and how much more effective this community is than what is arguably the most revenue flushed industry is remarkable to say the least
Gary - is there / will there be a STANAG for UAVs?
That is whats happening STANAGs for all
Why the dissimilarity? my theory is simple: "the aerospace and military" industries (as you name them) are just too afraid they shall not be able anymore to sell drones for millions of dollars because commercial vendors are able now to produce a thousands times cheaper drones with same or exceeding functionality. It ends up being a $ matter, as usual.
So to do that, these industries lobby FAA and the government to impose very high standards so the only drones that shall be authorize to fly commercially will be the multi million dollars drones and blocking the way for smaller players, like us.