According to Google, concerning drones capable of delivering packages to your home, from a technical point of view, everything is ready, but in the political field the hardest remains to be done, because changing the image of drones and their legislation is a separate task, which Michael Drobac, the Executive Director of "Small UAV Coalition" has accepted. We met him in Washington.
Michael Drobac, Executive Director of "Small UAV Coalition" :
"I think change the perception means to do so both with consumers and also to do so with lawmakers and regulators because currently there seems to be a misunderstanding about where the technology is, whether this is feasible, whether it can be done safely, whether they will protect consumer’s privacy.”
The strategy of his team is to change the attitude of US Congress members by using thousands of petitions calling for flight permits. They hope to get a relaxation of legislation for drones under 25kg (55 lbs.) and flying below 150 metres (500 feet). According to him, the current framework hinders the American economy.
Michael Drobac, Executive Director of "Small UAV Coalition" :
"What they’re saying to us is we have incredible technology, we have the smartest engineers and technologists that are working on incredible technology in the unmanned aerial systems space but we are unable now to operate commercially. We are unable to bring to bear much of the great technology and work we’ve done in the commercial space in the United States. We’re seeing great development and rapid movement in other countries.”
Amazon, Google, GoPro, and also the French company Parrot, figure amongst their members. The US Federal Aviation Agency plans to put 7,500 small commercial drones into American skies by 2018, however, this is too long says Michael Drobac, because in the meantime, companies wishing to carry out tests have only six authorised zones for the whole of the US.
Michael Drobac, Executive Director of "Small UAV Coalition" :
"This can be done within a year, it can be done safely,. We need to do advanced testing and we need to allow for operations, a company should be permitted to test on private property near their facilities, which is currently not allowed based on the existing law.”
A political fight that augurs difficult. The US Federal Aviation Agency recently obtained the right to sue operators of small drones who fly them negligently or without due care.