Copy

Roads? Where we’re going, we don’t need... okay actually yeah we’ll need roads of some sort.

View this email in your browser
↞ Issue #45 - September 18th, 2015 ↠
The 500ft View

NASA is designing a new, fully automated airspace for drones called the UTM (“UAS Traffic Management”). Despite being a large-scale effort that will have implications on every corner of the drone world, little has been written about the UTM, so this week we take a closer look at what its arrival will bring in the near future. (via http://utm.arc.nasa.gov)

NASA’s outline begins by describing the need for the UTM by comparing it to the need for roads, lanes and stop signs for terrestrial vehicles, whether they be autonomous or human-driven. The subtext, then, is that current UAS operations are lawless at best and, while the fuse is still burning on an industry set to explode, we’d do well to structure the “widespread use of low-altitude airspace.”

The scope of the UTM in enabling "safe and efficient low-altitude airspace operations” includes providing services such as airspace design, corridors, dynamic geofencing, severe weather and wind avoidance, congestion management, terrain avoidance, route planning and re-routing, separation management, sequencing and spacing, and contingency management.

This is a massive undertaking, and NASA has been striking a rash of partnerships to help chip away at the scale. From the University of Nevada to industry giants like Google, Amazon and Verizon, to prominent drone startups like Airware and PrecisionHawk, NASA’s strategy seems to be as much about garnering community buy-in and consensus as it is distributing the technical load. Ultimately, the ‘customer’ who will implement UTM as law, will be the FAA.

As a point of reference, the UTM system will draw from the current air traffic management (ATM) system "which grew from a mid-air collision over the Grand Canyon in the early days of commercial aviation.” This is a significant inclusion in NASA’s outline given that much of the history of aviation law is based in precedent.

Unlike the ATM system, however, the plan is for the UTM to be largely automated. It "will not require human operators to monitor every vehicle continuously. The system will provide to human managers the data to make strategic decisions related to initiation, continuation, and termination of airspace operations."

The proposal goes on to mention two types of UTM systems, one portable for uses such as precision agriculture and disaster relief, and the other persistent for continuous coverage of specific geographical areas, with a staged rollout consisting of four UTM generations: UTM1 through UTM4.

"The first build, UTM1, will create, analyze and manage trajectories and constraints that enable operations by an interactive system. The focus will be on geo-fencing, altitude “rules of the road,” and scheduling of vehicle trajectories. UTM2 will enable increased density and contingency management. Focus areas will include all of UTM1, dynamic adjustments to availability of airspace and contingency management. UTM3 will manage separation by vehicle and/or ground-based capabilities under higher densities. The focus areas will be all of UTM2, active monitoring of trajectory conformance, and a UTM web interface. The final build will be UTM4"

NASA’s stated roadmap to “enable low-altitude airspace and UAS operations within five years,” strikes us as both ambitious, given the scope, and well behind the curve of industry growth. Keeping an eye on the UTM as drone operations increase will be critical to maintaining a strategic position as a drone company. We expect the salad days of nearly-no-legislation to fade quickly, along with headlines highlighting bad-actors in our lawless airspace above. The sooner we paint the lanes, the better.

Video of the Week - Massive Bee Spill on Idaho Freeway
News
  • DJI has announced two new cameras for its aerial camera platform. [Link]
  • New York Fashion Week features drones filming models on the runway this year. [Link
  • Qualcomm has developed a new reference platform to help companies build drones for consumers, Snapdragon Flight. [Link]
  • The president of the National Association of Realtors is advocating for drones. [Link]
  • Russia’s has a growing military and reconnaissance UAV presence in the Arctic — an article about the drones they're developing: [Link]
  • States are creating individualized laws around drones ahead of federal regulations. [Link]
  • Last weekend's InterDrone conference in Las Vegas featured some of the industry's best photographers. [Link]
  • The World Surf League is adopting drones for surfing videography. [Link]
  • An insurance risk analysis firm has released a white paper on coverage and exclusion recommendations for drone-related liability risk insurance. [Link]
  • A drone filming a former Tory defense secretary went out of control and smashed into a historic ship last week. [Link]
  • Oklahoma state university researchers are developing a new drone designed to predict the weather. [Link]
That’s it for this week. If you come across an interesting drone story, send us an email at submissions@thebuzzer.co and we’ll include it in our next edition. Until then, fly safe and enjoy living in the future.

Yours,
The Buzzer
Copyright © 2015 The Buzzer, All rights reserved.