I love the idea of Amazon Prime Air, but there's one concern I have. I know next to nothing about the FAA and airspace regulation, so I'd like to hear from someone who does.
The common argument to raised concerns of drones buzzing about is "well, we have cars and delivery trucks!" That doesn't quite sit well with me because we have designated specific areas to the use of automobiles. It's easy to stay off the road. We can consciously stay out of harm's way, even if it's an asshole driving recklessly.
How is this accomplished with drones? How is the airspace structured in a way where drones are in designated areas that either avoid or are avoided by humans? How do you prevent an asshole piloting a rogue drone from dropping a heavy item on someone in a balcony? One can make the argument that these concerns also apply to planes, but I'm assuming both the airspace and ownership of planes are heavily regulated and monitored. Will we need a similar system to manage drone use?
Under 500 feet is unregulated, (FAA claims 400) the FAA is trying to regulate it since a reform law that was passed in 2012. Under 83 Feet is owned by the property owner due to some lawsuit back around WW2 involving some chickens.
I see two main options: designated virtual lanes that are programmed into drone navigational systems, and robust sense and avoid systems that allow seemingly chaotic pathing to remain reasonably safe. In practice there will probably be a combination of the two.
As for who decides what the rules are, well, in the US it's pretty easy to predict that the FAA or perhaps some yet-unconceived federal agency will try its best to strictly regulate commercial drones, and will probably largely succeed at least in crowded areas. I have my doubts that it's the best possible way to organize the activity, but it's the most likely.
I'm wondering what the hell happens when the drone gets shot down...I know if there is 100$ of good AND a multirotor then these things will get shot from the sky. No matter if they have GPS or not.
You can avoid this and all the quasi-legal unregulated airspace drama by... wait for it... just being regulated and flying higher up in regulated airspace! Sure, meeting FAA regulation is hard, but it's necessary and I'd be very confident that's the right route for a service like this. If they fly high enough the only point it can be shot down is over Amazon's depots when they pick up goods, and over the house of the recipient when it drops them off. The former is well isolated, and the latter is unpredictable from the point of view of the hypothetical shooter.
The common argument to raised concerns of drones buzzing about is "well, we have cars and delivery trucks!" That doesn't quite sit well with me because we have designated specific areas to the use of automobiles. It's easy to stay off the road. We can consciously stay out of harm's way, even if it's an asshole driving recklessly.
How is this accomplished with drones? How is the airspace structured in a way where drones are in designated areas that either avoid or are avoided by humans? How do you prevent an asshole piloting a rogue drone from dropping a heavy item on someone in a balcony? One can make the argument that these concerns also apply to planes, but I'm assuming both the airspace and ownership of planes are heavily regulated and monitored. Will we need a similar system to manage drone use?