GPS World

Tag: Expert Opinions

  • Expert Opinions: FAA UAV registration requirement

    Q: What do you think of the FAA requirement that all UAV purchasers register their devices?

    Lydia Bock President and CEO Geodetics Inc.
    Lydia Bock
    President and CEO
    Geodetics Inc.
    A: We need a pragmatic and sensible response to the integration of UAVs into the civil airspace, balancing safety of civil aviation and the economic benefits associated with the emerging markets and applications of UAV technologies.

    Clearly maintaining flight safety in the national airspace is critical. A balanced approach would include registration of UAVs, education for hobbyists and FAA flight certifications for commercial operations.

    New technologies for automated sense-and-avoid should be investigated, and their certification for use should be streamlined.

    John Studenny Director System Engineering Esterline - CMC Navigation Systems
    John Studenny
    Director System Engineering
    Esterline – CMC Navigation Systems
    A: Registration of all radio-controlled (RC) aircraft or UAVs upon purchase may be too broad or harsh, and may conflict with current freedoms already enjoyed by hobbyists.

    However, as capabilities (altitude, speed, flight duration, payload capacity) increase beyond what today’s RC aircraft or UAVs can deliver, regulations and registration may be required.

    It comes down to UAV capability and how the UAVs are used. That needs to be the focus of any regulation or enforcement.

  • Expert Opinions: Your Organization’s Future

    Expert Opinions: Your Organization’s Future

    Q: Where do you see your efforts and those  of your organization focusing primarily over the next 5–10 years?

     

    VidalAshkenazi-W

    Vidal Ashkenazi
    CEO, Nottingham Scientific Ltd.

    A: GPS, and GNSS generally, will continue to be a big part of our work and remain at the core of our activities. We are not tied to a single technology, though. We are driven more by applications — and so we do not rule out the use of other sensors. As GNSS becomes more widely used and people expect more from it, we will make greater use of additional sensors to fulfil application requirements in more demanding environments.

    JulesMcNeff-W

    Jules McNeff
    Vice President, Overlook Technologies

    A: GPS was the catalyst for a revolution in the application of precise position and time (that is, “Positime”).  But it’s now 20 years old, and the developed world has become dependent on access to Positime, still mostly from GPS but with many likely complements/backups going forward. It is time to get serious and construct a layered PNT architecture to bolster GPS with regional and local/autonomous PNT sources for resiliency and precision.

    TerryMcGurn-W

    Terence McGurn
    Consultant, U.S. Government

    A: That we need alternatives to GNSS is now a given. But I see little discussion of the strategy for deploying those alternatives. Currently, we seem to emphasize detection and mitigation of the cause of a GNSS outage. To use a medical analogy, the cause of the patient’s accident is a “nice to know”, but the real issue is to keep the patient/service alive. So I’d like to see more focus on how — and how quickly — we activate the alternatives.