Esri announced the release of ArcGIS for Electric and ArcGIS for Gas—ready-to-use maps and apps designed for utilities. Both are freely available to Esri customers. Developers and utility experts at Esri spent years studying industry needs and trends to come up with solutions that help utilities quickly respond to outages and engage with customers.
“It’s never been easier to geoenable your utility,” said Bill Meehan, Esri’s director of utility solutions. “ArcGIS for Electric and ArcGIS for Gas will help utilities get much more value from their data. More than that, this is a chance for utilities to truly revolutionize their business.”
ArcGIS for Electric includes damage assessment and streetlight problem apps, along with a public outage viewer to help utilities communicate with customers during an outage. ArcGIS for Gas includes damage assessment apps and an exposed pipe collector app. Both applications also help Esri customers get started quickly with ArcGIS Online, where they can create and share interactive maps and apps. They can also access ready-to-use content, apps, and templates available for the web, smartphones, and tablets.
A Report on the Annual GIS Conference of the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI)
By Art Kalinski, GISP
“Plexus is defined as any complex structure containing an intricate network of parts. The Spatial Plexus annual event elevates Geographic Information Science as the cross-disciplinary application of GIS and geo-technologies against so many interconnected issues.” — Spatial Plexus website
Two weeks ago, I attended Spatial Plexus 2013, a GIS conference put together by Danielle Ayan of GTRI. Her reputation of building well-organized conferences helped draw some very interesting and influential speakers. The conference was held at the historic Academy of Medicine at Georgia Tech in Atlanta. The academy is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and even has a connection to the movie Gone with the Wind. Built before television and movies, the auditorium was designed for doctors to view medical demonstrations using actual cadavers on the stage. Fortunately, none of the Plexus presentations were cadaverously dull.
The conference opened with several pre-conference workshops, including Course Development Workshops to advance GIS-related education based on DACUM (Developing A CUrriculuM) and the Geospatial Technology Competency Model (GTCM). This was tied in with a GeoTech Advisory Council Meeting. The GeoTech Center, funded in part by National Science Foundation, is a collaborative effort between colleges, universities and industry to expand the geospatial workforce by providing professional development and curriculum resources.
A workshop I attended covered new capabilities of ArcGIS Online. The hands-on workshop was conducted by Dr. Tom Mueller of California University of Pennsylvania and Dr. Rich Schultz of Elmhurst College, Illinois. If interested, you can go through the same tutorial online.
I liked the linear format of this conference rather than separate break-out sessions found in mega conferences, because I always get frustrated missing competing break-out sessions. Additionally, we tend to overly focus on our primary areas of interest to the exclusions of other topics. The linear format pulls your mind and attention through a variety of subject areas, expanding the breadth of your knowledge. That was certainly the case with Spatial Plexus — lots of variety. The following are just a sample of the presentations. You can go to the Spatial Plexus website for a complete list, including many of the presentations and associated SharePoints.
The opening keynote was given by Daniel Edelson, vice president of education for the National Geographic Society. He discussed “The Importance of Geo Literacy for College, Career and Civic Readiness.” His presentation was reinforced by Dr. Max Baber, the director of academic programs for the U.S. Geospatial Intelligence Foundation (USGIF). He discussed the multitude of excellent positions in the geospatial intelligence community, both at NGA and associated contractors. He also stressed the growing need and demand for GEOINT analyst certification, which is becoming a way to ensure qualified personnel in government and contractor positions.
Tamarin Gullett-Tyrrell, GIS analyst for Cherokee County, Georgia, demonstrated the county geospatial Situational Awareness website. The Esri/Silverlight system by GeoCortex was designed to serve the public as well as emergency responders. Tamarin and Joe Woycke, Director of GIS and Mapping, built the well thought out and elegant system by bringing together all the county stakeholders early in the process. They determined that the complexity and diversity of stakeholder requirements pointed the way to two separate sites — one for tax work / county planning and the other for the public and emergency responder situational awareness including the sheriff, police, fire departments, EOC and the 911 call center. The early collaboration and consensus building saved a lot of time and expensive change orders. The result is two systems that all users are happy with. Shown below is . It not only incorporates county data and imagery, it toggles Bing and Google geospatial data.
Situational awareness website SAGE.
Joe Francica, editor-in-chief of Directions Magazine in Huntsville, Alabama, gave a rapid-fire summary of new technology he was following that he believed will impact the geospatial community. These include:
WiFiSLAM, an indoor location technology
geofencing, which sends location-based notifications to consumers approaching a store
In one of the open group discussions related to my presentation on Soft Power, I mentioned the 2010 Foreign Affairs magazine article on the disruptive effect of social media and mobile devices on second- and third-world countries. I discussed my amazement at the ingenuity of people who find a way to communicate without the benefit of a well-established communications systems. FabFi is a very low cost and simple wireless network developed by MIT students that is being used in Kenya and Afghanistan to provide wireless communications between villages. The system uses inexpensive $40 off-the-shelf wireless routers and home-made parabolic antennas of plywood and chicken wire to send wireless signals from one village to another. The networks are so quick and easy to establish that governments may no longer have the power to turn off the Internet when they feel threatened. This is democratization at its best.
The FabFi program brings the Internet to villages in developing nations.
There were several presentations on the use of GIS in medical applications, especially the work being done by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and even a presentation by Chris Smith, director of IT Services for the U.S. Architect of the Capitol on how GIS had streamlined the management of Capitol facilities.
Chris Smith, director of IT Services for the U.S. Architect of the Capitol.
The closing keynote was given by Major General William Reddel, the National Guard Adjutant General for the State of New Hampshire, who also serves as the chair of the U.S. Adjutant Generals Association Cyber/GIS/IT Committee and was the keynote speaker at last year’s ESRI Federal Users Conference. The General seems to be a good steward of our tax dollars, since he quickly realized and acted to reduced 54 separate state National Guard Esri licenses to one enterprise license, saving us 1.5 million dollars annually. He also discussed how the needs of the National Guard had evolved and are moving to cloud services such as Virtual USA and Web EOC. He closed with a slight redefinition. He said most people use the term “Common Operational Picture” (COP), but he prefers the growing reality of “User Defined Operational Pictures” as capabilities and user needs evolve.
As you can surmise from this short sampling, Spatial Plexus 2013 was a very diverse and interesting collection of GIS practitioners and presentations. The linear format exposed all us attendees to corners of the community that we might not otherwise investigate, so it was especially informative. The conference was certainly well worth the time, and I strongly encourage all who can to attend next year.
Leica Geosystems Inc. announced new BIM Field Trip solutions to help contractors extend the value of building information modeling (BIM) into the field and connect field information back to the model in the office.
Tailored to fit any stage of BIM adoption in concrete layout, MEP layout, quality assurance, renovation/retrofit, and operations/maintenance as-builting applications, BIM Field Trip includes customized packages of hardware and software that make it easy to move from 2D to 3D workflows to achieve common BIM goals such as reduced rework, increased predictability and higher profitability, the company said.
According to the announcement, the new BIM Field Trip solutions take full advantage of Leica Geosystems’ established precision measurement technologies, such as the trusted iCON robot 50 robotic total station and popular 3D Disto laser measurement tool, as well as the latest innovations. For example, the revolutionary “BIM One Box” Leica Nova MS50 MultiStation, introduced in June 2013, offers full-featured total station layout capabilities that can handle BIM layout points from Revit, AutoCAD or virtually any other BIM or CAD program with ease, while also integrating real-time delta reporting for quality assurance checks and high definition laser scanning capabilities for capturing as-built point clouds to be compared with the as-designed model.
The BIM Field Trip solutions are available in three basic levels to help companies bridge the gaps in their BIM processes.
BIM 101 is the simplest way to get started with digital layout using paper or CAD files as a starting point. Easy-to-use, highly accurate tools such as the 3D Disto, iCON robot 50, and DISTO handheld laser measuring devices combined with intelligent, intuitive field and office software create an easy on-ramp to BIM for preconstruction as-builting, concrete layout, MEP layout, preconstruction as-builting and quality assurance. (Learn the basics of digital layout in the BIM Learning Center.)
BIM 102 provides an intermediate-level solution to help contractors improve their BIM workflows. For preconstruction as-builting, industry-leading ScanStation high definition laser scanners capture existing building conditions in the form of near photorealistic, highly accurate point clouds that can be used directly in Revit for faster and more accurate modeling. For digital layout, high-precision iCON robot 50 robotic total stations combined with intuitive field software creates a “paint-by-numbers†installation in the field that reduces errors and provides a higher level of predictability of project outcomes. For MEP and interior BIM applications, the 3D Disto combined with specialized MEP software further simplifies and streamlines interior layout. And for preconstruction as-builting, layout and quality assurance, the innovative new “BIM One Box” Nova MS50 MultiStation performs robotic layout with ease while the field software tracks the layout locations. When quality control checks are performed, any deviations are identified in real-time with a BIM delta report and can be easily scanned with the same device, producing point clouds that are automatically oriented and positioned so they flow back into the model perfectly aligned. This substantially reduces post-processing so teams can focus on comparing field data with model data to avoid rework in the field.
BIM 103 is for contractors that are experienced in BIM and want to take their capabilities to the next level. Hardware solutions such as the innovative multistation, ultrafast high-definition laser scanners and high-precision robotic total stations are combined with full featured field and office software to create advanced 3D workflows that streamline and optimize preconstruction as-builting, construction layout, and quality assurance as-builting. What’s more, the innovative “BIM One Box” multistation introduces a new era of versatility in BIM workflows with the ability to use a single instrument for preconstruction as-built point cloud data capture, replicating highly accurate BIM layout points in the field, and then high-definition laser scanning for quality assurance as-builts for comparing with as-designed models to create a complete 3D BIM lifecycle.
At each level of the BIM Field Trip, hardware and software selections are tailored to the needs of the contractor and are easily scalable from one level to the next to provide practical solutions to common BIM challenges.
“For many project teams, the benefits of BIM stop in the office; there simply hasn’t been a total solution for BIM as-builting and construction layout that connects all the dots from the model to a real-world jobsite and then from the jobsite back into the model,” said Cathi Hayes, BIM Business Manager for Leica Geosystems. “The new BIM Field Trip solutions from Leica Geosystems close the gaps by connecting the digital world to the real world. This allows companies at any stage of BIM adoption to take advantage of improved workflows.”
Trimble announced the ThingMagic Mercury xPRESS Platform, a flexible development platform designed to simplify the process of bringing application specific RFID readers and embedded RFID solutions to market. Mercury xPRESS provides market-leading embedded RFID technology with an integrated software development environment and a range of transport interfaces and communication plug-ins in a single platform. Delivered as an extensible development environment with reference design files, the platform also reduces the need for developers to have significant RFID domain expertise, facilitating the rapid integration of RFID with a variety of products and complementary wireless communication technologies.
“Simplifying the incorporation of RFID into existing and new solutions is important to the ongoing growth of our industry,” said Tom Grant, general manager of Trimble’s ThingMagic Division. “Our goal with the Mercury xPRESS Platform is to allow our customers to incorporate RFID into their applications and solutions in a timely and cost effective way. The value of RFID is becoming clearer; we need to complement that growing interest with a set of tools that make its application straight forward. That’s exactly what the Mercury xPRESS Platform provides.”
Leveraging over 10 years of RFID technology advancements and development expertise, the Mercury xPRESS Platform combines a microcontroller-based motherboard with the industry-leading ThingMagic Mercury6e Series of RFID modules and an integrated software development environment built on the ThingMagic Mercury C API. With the platform, developers can bring up a fully functional RFID reader in minutes; testing and proof of concept using sample applications from the software library can start almost immediately. Reference design files allow developers to select the elements needed for their solution and advance rapidly to application specific end product design and development. The Mercury xPRESS Platform has been screened for regulatory compliance, reducing cost and time to secure end product certifications.
Key components of the Mercury xPRESS Platform are:
-Hardware kit with microcontroller-based motherboard, including:
Integrated ThingMagic UHF RFID module (Micro, Micro-LTE, or M6e)
USB interface
Ports for up to 2 additional plug-in data transport interface modules
-MCU preloaded with sample keyboard wedge application
-An optional Bluetooth plug-in module (sold separately)
-Software toolkit and SDK (downloadable)
-Reference design files including schematics, layout files, Gerber files, bill of material, component data sheets (downloadable)
“ThingMagic is a valued technology partner of MEPS Real-Time. The introduction of the ThingMagic Mercury xPRESS Platform provides our Engineering and Marketing departments with the opportunity to offer new and innovative solutions through our Intelliguard product line,” said Shariq Hussain, president and CEO, MEPS Real-Time, Inc. “We see growth in the healthcare industry that will require smaller, faster and more capable RFID technology. With the Mercury xPRESS Platform, combined with our intellectual property, we are positioned to bring solutions to our customers that deliver world class performance and capabilities.”
The Mercury xPRESS Platform represents an alternative to using expensive general purpose readers in RFID solution designs. Lack of time, skills or resources to develop application specific readers can be much less of a barrier, resulting in unit cost savings, deployments with a stronger ROI and an overall positive bottom line impact in many deployments.
To support ongoing innovation, the integrated development tools, device drivers and application software of the Mercury xPRESS Platform may be enhanced with updates that expand capabilities and enable development of a wider range of end products. In this release, the xPRESS Platform supports USB and Bluetooth transport interface applications. Support for Wi-Fi, POE and other interfaces such as GPRS, GPS, 4G/LTE may be included in future releases at Trimble�s discretion. Mercury xPRESS is also designed to support a library of sample applications. A native keyboard wedge is available today while other sample applications may be included in future releases.
Supergeo announced that SuperSurv for iOS V0.99 is now available on the App Store for trial.
According to the announcement, SuperSurv, the mobile GIS application designed for field survey, integrates with GIS and GPS technologies to provide functions like Map Display, Query, Measure, etc, and supports point, line and polygon data collection and offline data editing. In addition to the Android edition, SuperSurv is now available for iOS users to collect spatial data.
SuperSurv for iOS V0.99 trial is now available on the App Store. OpenStreetMap can be employed as the basemap in SuperSurv to help filed surveyors collect point, line and polygon feature and the attribute data. The collected data can be saved in vector layers (SHP format) and exported through iTunes to be applied in various GIS programs.
SuperSurv for iOS full version will contain the functions, like Waypoint, GPS Track, Measure Function, Query, and reading and editing the services published by SuperGIS Server 3.1a. The full function is planned to be launched in the beginning of 2014. To learn more about SuperSurv for iOS, please download the trial on App Store.
Supergeo announced that SuperSurv for iOS V0.99 is now available on the App Store for trial.
According to the announcement, SuperSurv, the mobile GIS application designed for field survey, integrates with GIS and GPS technologies to provide functions like Map Display, Query, Measure, etc, and supports point, line and polygon data collection and offline data editing. In addition to the Android edition, SuperSurv is now available for iOS users to collect spatial data.
SuperSurv for iOS V0.99 trial is now available on the App Store. OpenStreetMap can be employed as the basemap in SuperSurv to help filed surveyors collect point, line and polygon feature and the attribute data. The collected data can be saved in vector layers (SHP format) and exported through iTunes to be applied in various GIS programs.
SuperSurv for iOS full version will contain the functions, like Waypoint, GPS Track, Measure Function, Query, and reading and editing the services published by SuperGIS Server 3.1a. The full function is planned to be launched in the beginning of 2014. To learn more about SuperSurv for iOS, please download the trial on App Store.
CoreLogic announced its patented ParcelPoint technology has expanded to include data coverage for 138.5 million parcels, 97 percent of which are actual parcel boundary polygons.
According to the announcement, it is the most comprehensive parcel database in the U.S., covering 2,605 counties across the country. CoreLogic has maintained the nation’s largest parcel database since 2008, when initial coverage totaled 90 million parcels.
The company reports that the ParcelPoint spatial data provides the parcel boundaries and centroid points defined by actual latitude/longitude coordinates that are vital to identifying the geographic location of an individual property, ownership information, as well as property address and assessor parcel number (APN). Data is sourced from public records in various formats, and are then checked for geometric errors, positional accuracy, and attribution. The parcels are standardized for consistency and then incorporated into a spatial dataset to create uniform information for widespread use.
CoreLogic announced its patented ParcelPoint technology has expanded to include data coverage for 138.5 million parcels, 97 percent of which are actual parcel boundary polygons.
According to the announcement, it is the most comprehensive parcel database in the U.S., covering 2,605 counties across the country. CoreLogic has maintained the nation’s largest parcel database since 2008, when initial coverage totaled 90 million parcels.
The company reports that the ParcelPoint spatial data provides the parcel boundaries and centroid points defined by actual latitude/longitude coordinates that are vital to identifying the geographic location of an individual property, ownership information, as well as property address and assessor parcel number (APN). Data is sourced from public records in various formats, and are then checked for geometric errors, positional accuracy, and attribution. The parcels are standardized for consistency and then incorporated into a spatial dataset to create uniform information for widespread use.
Esri introduces the public beta version of its cloud-based Geotrigger Service that helps developers easily create location-aware apps for iPhone and Android without compromising battery life. The beta Geotrigger Service is available at no cost and feedback from developers will be used to shape the official release.
The Geotrigger Service allows apps built on the Esri location platform to quickly gather business intelligence such as where people are and when the app is used. Developers can also design apps that send messages to users when they arrive at or leave areas defined by a geofence.
“On the Esri location platform, we already offer a host of services for developers from geocoding and geoenrichment to routing maps. The Geotrigger Service boosts this offering with location-awareness and location-based alerts,” said Johan Herrlin, Esri’s senior business strategist.
Developers can use the Geotrigger Service for apps across all industries including:
·Retail and Loyalty: Engage customers with personalized content and deals the moment they enter a store.
·Real Estate: Send messages to prospective home buyers when their search criterion matches a nearby home.
·Energy Management: Use location to automatically manage power consumption at home or in the office.
·Tourism: Bring public attractions to life by informing tourists of interesting locations as they explore a city.
·Public Alerts: Notify citizens about events such as road closures or civic emergencies based on past locations.
Esri’s releases new versions of Collector for ArcGIS and Operations Dashboard for ArcGIS include display, configuration, and workflow enhancements that improve field data collection and enterprise oversight. Both apps are available at no cost to Portal for ArcGIS customers and ArcGIS Online subscribers.
According to the announcement, Collector for ArcGIS is a configurable field data collection app for iOS and Android. The new version of Collector includes support for iPad and Android tablets. Templates, selection results, directions, and more, can now be viewed alongside the map on mobile devices with larger screen real estate. The updated Collector app also expands the types of data that can be collected. It now allows the input of GIS features of all primary shape types (e.g., points, lines, and polygons). The app also gives you the ability to view and control GPS accuracy when capturing features so you can stream positions from the GPS as you move.
Data capture often involves recording repetitive information at different locations and/or multiple features of different types at the same location. To reduce that manual repetition, Esri introduced a continuous collect mode that allows you to copy the location or attributes of the last collected feature.
Esri reports that they also updated Operations Dashboard for ArcGIS, that provides a common operational picture for monitoring, tracking, and reporting events to people within your organization. The new version of Operations Dashboard improves the way you work with data. Because you can potentially use Operations Dashboard to view extensive lists of information, Esri added the ability to search within lists to quickly find what you need. You can now see charts, graphs, custom text, and photo attachments within the pop-up windows. You can also filter the map and all widgets using relative time, such as within the last hour or month, or after a specific date. This helps you monitor and analyze data that changes rapidly over time.
Operations Dashboard for ArcGIS now fully supports Portal for ArcGIS as well as ArcGIS Online. A new configuration utility is available to Portal customers, making it easy to sign in and deploy the Operations Dashboard app on-premises.
Collector for ArcGIS can be downloaded from the Apple App Store and Google Play. Operations Dashboard is available through ArcGIS Online. Portal for ArcGIS users can access the Operations Dashboard app from the Customer Care portal.
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) released its first annual Roadmap outlining efforts needed to safely integrate unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) into the nation’s airspace. The Roadmap addresses current and future policies, regulations, technologies and procedures that will be required as demand moves the country from today’s limited accommodation of UAS operations to the extensive integration of UAS into the NextGen aviation system in the future.
“Government and industry face significant challenges as unmanned aircraft move into the aviation mainstream,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. “This Roadmap is an important step forward that will help stakeholders understand the operational goals and safety issues we need to consider when planning for the future of our airspace.”
According to the announcement, the Roadmap outlines the FAA’s approach to ensuring that widespread UAS use is safe, from the perspective of accommodation, integration, and evolution. The FAA’s main goal for integration is to establish requirements that UAS operators will have to meet in order to increase access to airspace over the next five to 10 years. The Roadmap discusses items such as new or revised regulations, policies, procedures, guidance material, training and understanding of systems and operations to support routine UAS operations.
“The FAA is committed to safe, efficient and timely integration of UAS into our airspace,” said FAA Administrator Michael Huerta. “We are dedicated to moving this exciting new technology along as quickly and safely as possible.”
The FAA reports that the Roadmap also addresses the evolution of UAS operations once all requirements and standards are in place and are routinely updated to support UAS operations as the National Airspace System evolves over time. The document stresses that the UAS community must understand the system is not static, and that many improvements are planned for the airspace system over the next 15 years.
The FAA plans to select six UAS test sites to begin work on safely integrating UAS into the airspace. These congressionally-mandated test sites will conduct critical research into how best to safely integrate UAS systems into the national airspace over the next several years and what certification and navigation requirements will need to be established.
The use of UAS, both at the designated test sites and in the national airspace generally, raises the issue of privacy and protection of civil liberties. In February, the FAA asked for public comments specifically on the draft privacy requirements for the six test sites. Today, the agency sent a final privacy policy to the FederalRegister that requires test site operators to comply with federal, state, and other laws on individual privacy protection, to have a publicly available privacy plan and a written plan for data use and retention, and to conduct an annual review of privacy practices that allows for public comment. Information about the test site selection process and final test site privacy policy is available at: http://www.faa.gov/about/initiatives/uas/
For the next several years, the FAA will continue to use special mitigations and procedures to safely accommodate limited UAS access to the nation’s airspace on a case-by-case basis. The Roadmap notes that this case-by-case accommodation will decline significantly as integration begins and expands, but will continue to be a practical way to allow flights by some UAS operators in certain circumstances.
In addition to the FAA’s Roadmap, as required in the 2012 FAA Reauthorization, the Joint Planning and Development Office (JPDO) has developed a comprehensive plan to safely accelerate the integration of civil UAS into the national airspace system.. That plan details a multi-agency approach to safe and timely UAS integration and coordination with the NextGen shift to satellite-based technologies and new procedures.
There is no doubt about it: drones (also referred to as UAVs and UAS) are a disruptive technology that will significantly impact geospatial professionals not only in the U.S., but around the world. While the mainstream media has mostly pushed the panic button with regards to privacy and drones, you don’t often read a discussion about using drones for mapping.
3D Matterhorn image produced from senseFly’s drone mapping effort.
In Switzerland, where drones weighing less than 30 kg (66 lbs) are legal to operate without a license as long as the operator maintains line of sight, drones mapped the famous Matterhorn Mountain (4,478 meters/14,692 feet) in the Swiss alps, at a resolution of 20 cm. This illustrates the power of drones for 3D mapping, and mapping in general. More efficient and less costly than traditional photogrammetry and airborne lidar, there is no doubt in my mind you will begin working with drones and/or data collected via drones in the near future. Of course, mapping the Matterhorn in 3D at 20-cm resolution is a monumental effort. Even using drones, senseFly reported that it took 11 flights, 5 hours and 40 minutes of flight time, and a total of 2,188 images to process covering 2,800 hectares (~6,920 acres). senseFly didn’t report how many manhours of post-processing the Matterhorn project required, but you know it must be a healthy number. Also, remember that Swiss regulations require that the drone operator must be within “direct eye contact” of the drone at all times, so you can bet the senseFly team had to do some serious mountain climbing.
While generating precise 3D images of a mountain certainly push the limits of drone technology, there are plenty of uses for mapping drones that make a lot of sense and are less complex. The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems (AUVSI) reports that in the United States, in the first three years of UAS integration more than 70,000 jobs will be created with an economic impact of $13.6 billion. AUVSI further reports that by 2025, the jobs number will increase to 100,000 jobs, and the economic value to $82 billion. Earlier this year, The Daily Beast reported that agriculture may end up being the largest user of drone technology. Other uses, according to AUVSI, include wildfire mapping, environmental mapping, disaster management, power-line surveys, oil and gas exploration, and general aerial mapping.
So what are we waiting for? Let’s start flying!
Not so fast. In many countries in the world, you can purchase a drone mapping kit and start flying tomorrow. Last month, I witnessed the massive offering of drones at the Intergeo 2013 conference. Copters and fixed-wing aircraft in all shapes and sizes were on display.
However, in the U.S. it’s not so easy. In fact, it’s illegal to operate any drone for mapping unless you have a special permit from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). If you think XYZ Corp. down the road who is using drones for mapping have such a permit, you are wrong. Despite the rumors and gossip you may have heard, and the fact that many companies are using drones for mapping in the U.S., it is not legal, by any stretch of the imagination.
Let’s have a look at what the FAA regulations state.
The FAA divides drone users into two categories: public and civil.
Public Users
Examples of public users by the FAA include the U.S. military and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, as well as other government agencies. Public users must apply for a Certificate of Waiver or Certificate of Authorization (COA) and adhere to the following guidelines:
The operator is required establish the drone’s airworthiness either from FAA certification, a Department of Defense airworthiness statement, or by other means.
The operator must demonstrate that a collision with another aircraft or other airspace user is extremely improbable.
The operator must comply with appropriate cloud and terrain clearance requirements.
The PIC (Pilot in Command), the operator in control of the drone, must maintain minimum qualifications and currency requirements.
An observer must be present to observe the drone and surrounding airspace via line-of-sight on the ground or via chase aircraft.
The PIC and observer must be within, generally speaking, one mile horizontally and 3,000 feet vertically of the drone.
Direct communications between the PIC and Observer must be maintained at all times.
As you imagine, these requirements are not easy to meet and issued to a select few entities. if you want to take a look at the list of Certificates of Authorization issued by the FAA, click here and scroll down to find links to redacted CoA awards that aren’t exempt from the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
As of February 15, 2013, the FAA reports there were 347 active COAs.
Civil Users
Civil users include any entity other than Public users, and includes commercial users.
Civil users must obtain an FAA airworthiness certificate just like you would need for any type of aircraft such as an airliner.
The FAA is issuing special airworthiness certificates in the experimental category for testing, market survey, and training of drones. The FAA is very clear that no Certificate of Authorization (CoA) or experimental certificates will be issued to commercial users. In fact, the FAA specifically states that drone users awarded an experimental certificate are not licensed to use drones for “hire or compensation.”
That’s it: short, sweet and to the point.
What about model aircraft users?
Interestingly enough, model aircraft users are allowed to operate drones and have a surprising amount flexibility in doing so. The guidelines for model aircraft users can be found here, but essentially the only concrete rules are that the “hobby” drone cannot exceed 400 feet AGL (above ground level), and that when flying within three miles of an airport, notify the airport operator. That’s it!
Even more interesting is that some hobby-class drones can be very useful for businesses. For example, last month I bought an AR Drone 2.o for US$370. The manufacturer calls it a quadracopter. It operates like a helicopter with four rotor blades. It’s controlled by an app that runs on your smartphone or tablet. I use a Samsung Galaxy III to control it. It’s amazingly easy to control with my smartphone.
AR Drone 2.0
I took the AR Drone 2.0 to the Field Technology Conference to demonstrate it and give conference attendees an idea of what is possible for very little expense. The response from attendees was a little surprising. I didn’t expect geospatial users to appreciate the limited capabilities of the AR Drone 2.0, but attendees spoke of applications like checking birds’ nests for eggs and close-up inspection of structures that aren’t easily accessible. After spending some time flying it, even I began to think about the inspection app and the ability to create video fly-throughs of golf courses, environmental areas, proposed developments, etc. The AR Drone 2.0’s forward-looking, high-definition camera generates stunningly crisp video.
So, that begs the question…
Why can’t a user, following the hobby rules (fly below 400 feet AGL), use the AR Drone 2.0 or any other drone for commercial purposes?
The answer is simple. The FAA rules state that you can use a drone all day long as a hobbyist (following the AC 91-57 rules), but once you start using it for commercial purposes, you are violating the law. Some drone users have said that to skirt the FAA rules, they don’t charge for drone flight time, but just the image processing (data) after the flight. I don’t think this concept has been tested in court yet, but the FAA says this activity is illegal.
“They would be violating FAA rules,” says FAA Spokesperson Alison Duquette. “Please read this policy link. The FAA recognizes that people and companies other than modelers might be flying UAS with the mistaken understanding that they are legally operating under the authority of AC 91-57. AC 91-57 only applies to modelers, and thus specifically excludes its use by persons or companies for business purposes.”
To understand how serious the FAA is about enforcing the no-business-use of hobby rules, I asked the FAA for a list of enforcement citations, cease and desist orders, etc. I was told I had to file a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, which I did, but I’m warned by colleagues not to expect a speedy response.
Check out the following short (three-minute) video news report on a company in Minnesota that was “grounded” by the FAA for flying a drone for commercial use.
The good news is that in January 2012, the U.S. Congress ordered and funded the FAA to figure out how to integrate commercial drone use into the U.S. airspace by the end of 2015. In September 2013, the FAA released a document entitled “UAS Comprehensive Plan” and a document entitled “Integration of Civil Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) in the National Airspace System (NAS) Roadmap“. If you’re really interested in learning more about drone usage in the U.S. and understand the FAA’s perspective, it’s worth a few minutes to scan these documents.
It’s going to be fascinating to see what rules the FAA establishes for commercial drone usage. Don’t be surprised if the PIC (Pilot in Command) must be a licensed pilot, and expect tough restrictions on altitude constraints, flight time, visibility, and control tower communications. I have my private pilot license (although I haven’t flown as PIC in years), and I recall that FAA rules state that you can fly as low as 500 feet AGL over rural areas and 1,000 feet AGL over populated areas. That doesn’t give commercial drone operators a lot of room to work with if they want to map a wide area.
