We have been conducting habitat mapping, and wildlife monitoring, as well as test flights. as part of our desire, we also conduct presentations so as to educate and inform the community and interested groups in UAS / UAV abilities and to confront misinformation and what people "think" about UAS / UAV systems.
As of late we have been hammered, and my in-box overflowing, with complaints and issues in reference to Quadcopters (multirotors) and helicopters. This seems to really brought to the forefront after the Kennedy Airport incident made it to the national news.
We follow a strict "go-no go" launch protocol, and as most of the people I deal with, I notice that they all abide by FAA AC 91-57, and either follow, or have incorporated, the AMA "Model Aircraft Safety Code" (as well as recognize AMA Doc. #550).
What has really grabbed my attention is the use of the word "drone" by both quadcopter (multirotors) and helicopter operators, and complainants. The interesting thing is that, so far, all the "drone" operators to whom I have spoken with, are flying camera platforms by control (hence not autonomous- a "drone").
People are seeing multirotor / helicopter systems flying over their houses and property (and then being approached by people to buy the aerial photo of their place, real estate agents are using, or hiring out to get multirotor / helicopter photos of property, and neighbors believe they are being spied on.
I was even sent an email forward of someone being "buzzed" at a ski event at Big Mountain resort during a ski event (I did find out that there was a quadcopter flying over people taking video / photos of a night ski event but unable to confirm the "buzz").
I guess the most striking contact that I have had so far, is a photo that was sent to me where a Columbia Falls company posted a photo of one of their quad systems flying over Bowman Lake, inside Glacier National Park (one system took the picture of the second - two quadcopers flying inside the National Park)
Now, I plead with you not to take this as a bitch, or a complaint, for all the multirotor / helicopter operators that I know, and deal directly with (and all those on DIY) are driven by a higher curiosity in development, and not by the "Ahhh" factor gained by buzzing someone on a bicycle.
But, if other areas are seeing (or hearing about) some of the same things we are hearing (and seeing in Montana....and the Internet - a squadron of quadcopters over London) this could come back and bite those of us who are really working on UAS / UAV systems, in the rear. All it is going to take, is one of these things to crash (into property or people) and the word / term "drone" be used and we are going to be regulated to flying in our garages.
I thank those of you who have taken the time to read this. I would really love any and all comments (and if you disagree, please keep it clean) on this issue. Again, if you operate a quadcopter (multirotor) or helicopter this is not an attack on you, only to bring to light what actions of a very small (I hope) group of people may mean to us all (here on DIY) and in your area.
Cheers to you all
Byron
Comments
Thank you for your comment Phil.
I really do believe it is going to be left to people like those here in the DIY community to "introduce" the positive real-world applications of UAS / UAV systems.
Cheers,
Byron
Byron,
Thanks for starting a good discussion. I commend you for using UAVs in useful ways with positive impacts. I agree with your thought. Do good, get good. We need more of that.
Wildlife research/protection are great applications of this technology that I hope to see a lot more of. It'll be great day for wildlife and for drones when we start seeing more news headlines that read: 'Drones Reducing Poaching' or 'Drones Helping Endangered Species'
Right now, drones are mostly associated with the military, killing, destruction, and spying. And recently, with a few bad actors flying irresponsibly in our communities. So in many ways the word 'drone' has earned its bad reputation. The DIYDrones community is very creative and can help develop and promote positive applications for drones. Do good, get good.
Cheers!
Phil
Ok, I completely agree Kevin... well other than the pitbull thing. No thank you.
This is what we need to be doing, is showing the good uses.
But there's a problem. Every time I have talked about demonstrating good uses of UAVs to people who are interested in improving the image of this field, I am met with the response "well, that would be great, but you can't do that, because it's illegal". For example, I envisaged a T3 competition where we could do mock-deliveries of life-saving items. Points could be awarded for distance flown, mass of the item delivered, and accuracy of delivery. Bonus points for being able to confirm successful delivery, or even being able to stay on site to monitor the situation.
For example, somebody has a heart attack, or allergic reaction in a wilderness park. They can contact authorities, but it still takes hours for a real helicopter to get on scene. Park Rangers could load lifesaving supplies onto a UAV and deliver it to the people in minutes. Heck, even a heart attack in any large public park, a multi-rotor could deliver an AED faster than the ambulance can get there.
But the idea was squashed because "it's illegal to drop anything from the air". Well... we're never going to get anywhere this way.
Because it's exactly like the gun debate. "If owning drone is criminal, only criminals will own drones".
Right now, there are people using UAV for things we don't like. They don't care about the laws, morality, or maybe even safety and privacy. So these guys are driving the reputation.
Meanwhile, the rest of us who are interested in good uses are sitting back saying "well, we can't use them for good purposes, because it's illegal". This has happened so many times before, and we know the result
Do what ya did, you'll get what you got.
Kevin, but we have no more ability to stop negative perceptions being attached to the word "drone" than we do to stop the negative stereo type attached to the word "Hacker". This has happened through human history.
The media will take all the negative aspects of something they want to make a story out of, and use a new-ish, unique word to describe that. Something that makes good headlines. And if you don't want to get wrapped up in all the negative connotations of that, the only thing you can do is distance yourself from it. "I don't do THAT. I do this. "
I agree with that, and as silly as it sounds, I loved how Scott Adams used the term "military drone" instead of just "drone" in his Dilbert comic strip the other day. Drone isn't a bad word.
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Now, I plead with you not to take this as a bitch, or a complaint
But it is, but it's a valid bitch and complaint, however your'e going to have to be part of the solution, trumping the "I know what I'm doing (and you do) and I fly a UAV plane" card isn't going to work. You're no different in the eyes of the people upset over being buzzed or flown over; you have a drone, your just happens to be a plane.
This is a problem for everyone, and we need to come up with a solution. Even people just fly quads like r/c models are going to cause problems. We're all going to have to work on a solution together.