FAA Proposes Major Restrictions on Commercial Drone Usage
If you haven't watched any episodes from this season of South Park, I highly recommend doing so. South Park has always been a bastion of consistently entertaining satire, but the quality has elevated even more this season with well-thought out social commentary on topics such as the gender binary, existentialism, and privacy. It's this last theme that brings the rest of this article full circle. As South Park is wont to do, they poked fun at UAVs (re: unmanned aerial vehicles or drones) in relation to privacy, voyeurism, and self-policing. Beyond the humor and entertainment of the episode, it did pose a question over whether or not personal drone use is as safe for those being captured by video without their consent.
Recently, the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) suggested their proposal to regulate drone usage with limitations and restrictions. Namely, they want to require valid pilot's licenses for commercial drone users, or those who intend on making a profit from the footage their drones capture. Other regulations include only allowing drone usage during the day, stay under 400 feet in altitude, and ensuring drones are always in sight of their users for all drones weighing 55 pounds or less.
The FAA plans on making an official proposal by the end of the year, but is keen on input and suggestions to help formulate an ideal decision that would make sense for both consumers and their agency. Again, it should be noted that the regulations would apply to commercial use of drones only, but where is the line drawn between commercial and private use? How will that be tracked and regulated? I'm sure answers to these questions and many others will be clarified over the ensuing months when the proposal is made public.
[via Engadget]
Real Estate Photography via Drone Technology
Featured photo by DJI
News on the use of Drones have been heard in mainstream media a lot these days. Whether they are used for military purposes or for delivery services, the fad seems to be catching on to a widespread audience, and most recently it's been used to capture aerial photography. Larry Malvin, who has worked in real estate for over 13 years, found this idea to his advantage, and is the first in the Chicagoland area to capture real estate photography via drone technology.
Malvin uses a 2.8-pound drone with four propellers to carry his 14-megapixel camera to photograph homes, which he says depicts houses “with a perspective that doesn't compare”, and he's right. The photos he is able to capture reaches heights up to 30 feet in the air, shooting angles and space that go above and beyond, literally. Using his smartphone, he simply mounts it on a controller with a joystick and is able to control the drone and see what it's seeing. And what's even more surprising is that the costs he charges for his real estate photography hasn't even changed much, since the drone was fairly affordable for him. Specifically, he notes that the DJI Phantom 2 Vision Plus was bought for about $1,400, and is considerably easy to maneuver.
Although the Federal Aviation Administration may change the authorization that prohibits commercial use of small unmanned aircraft without a pilot's license by September 2015, photographers will continue to use this technology to their advantage. Check out the following photos shot by Larry Malvin, which perfect examples to type of aerial photography these drones are capable of. Also be sure to check out more of his work here.
[Via Chicago Business]
