To bring order to low-altitude airspace so its Project Wing delivery drones can get off the ground, Google is proposing a set of rules for operating aircraft below 500 feet. The proposal calls for all drones, including those flown by hobbyists, to constantly transmit identification and position information so airspace access and collision avoidance can be managed by computer.
The proposal, unveiled on Wednesday by Dave Vos, head of the Wing project, seeks to take moment-to-moment control of airspace under 500 feet away from air traffic control authorities and put it in the hands of private airspace service providers, he said. These companies, which he called ASPs, would receive data from all craft in flight, including hobbyist drones, emergency helicopters and commercial craft like those being developed by Google Wing. Before every flight, each craft would send a short flight plan. The flight might be approved as requested, approved with modifications to take into account other users, or denied.
[...] Right now, use of this low-altitude airspace is largely unregulated and hobbyists are able to fly without having to identify themselves, their vehicles or detailed flight plans. That’s one reason the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) only allows drone flight within visual line of sight. But if Google, Amazon and other companies are to use drones for package delivery and other services, the line-of-sight restriction will need to be lifted.
[...] Vos is proposing the system be based as much as possible around technology that already exists, to reduce development and standardization time. That means drones and aircraft would use ADS-B, an aviation industry standard used on many airliners that sends out position, heading, speed and identification data every few seconds. All large planes already have ADS-B transponders, but with entry-level equipment starting at around $2,000, many smaller aircraft do not. Earlier this year, Google said it had started development of an “ultra low-cost” ADS-B transponder that will be cheap enough that every operator will be able to afford it. “If you can’t afford it, you can’t afford to fly, in my opinion,” he said. “That means we need to make sure everyone can afford it.”
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"If you're wondering, the initiative aims to establish a feasible system that can manage the flow of traffic for unmanned aerial vehicles, helicopters, planes and gliders that fly 500 feet and below."
According to Richard Kelley, the group's lead scientist, they (everyone involved in the project, that is) "need to devise a system to make vehicles autonomously aware of each other so they can avoid each other, as well as a system to create traffic 'patterns' or navigation protocols that would keep aircraft away from each other in the first place." Kelley will load his software on a drone in the coming months and will begin conducting test flights while connected to a NASA server and under the space agency's supervision. That means he's not only testing his software, but NASA's traffic system itself.
Automated Air Traffic Flow would be a prerequisite for autonomous flying cars. Maybe I'll get to see some flying cars, before I die.
We provided earlier coverage of this in NASA and Air Traffic Control for Drones; there is also a story we ran about a similar effort by google: Google Wants Order in Uncontrolled Airspace So its Wing Drones Can Fly.
Alphabet's Wing launches drone delivery service in Australia
After months of testing, Alphabet's Wing division is launching a drone delivery service in Australia. It will cover roughly 100 homes in the suburbs of Crace, Palmerston and Franklin, just outside the capital city of Canberra. Customers will be able to request small goods, such as medicine, coffee and groceries, from a range of local businesses including Kickstart Expresso, Capital Chemist, Pure Gelato, Jasper + Myrtle, Bakers Delight, Guzman Y Gomez, and Drummond Golf. Wing says it will slowly expand to more neighborhoods "in the coming weeks and months" and "connect with more local businesses" to expand the products that are available to order.
It's a huge moment for Wing. The team, which started as a massively-ambitious "moonshot" project inside X (then called Google X) has been testing drones in Australia since 2014. The company had planned to launch a commercial service in 2017, but clearly fell short. Instead, Wing teamed up with Mexican food chain Guzman Y Gomez and pharmaceutical retailer Chemist Warehouse for some advanced trials in October 2017. Since then, Wing has delivered 3,000 packages to homes in Fernleigh Park, Royalla and Bonython -- three communities just south of Canberra, close to the border between Australia Capital Territory and New South Wales.
Previously: Google Wants Order in Uncontrolled Airspace So its Wing Drones Can Fly
Alphabet/Google-Chipotle-Virginia Tech Burrito Delivery by Drone
Related: Donuts in Flight in First US-Approved Drone Delivery
Amazon Reports First Ever Successful Autonomous Drone Delivery
New World Record Set for Longest Drone Delivery
Walmart Files Patent for a Blimp Warehouse
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 31 2015, @09:25AM
For an orderly society, Google will make the laws. Google will tell you what to do. You LOVE Google, now serve Google. Abolish all government, and make Google your Lord and Master. Forever. Election 2016 will be the last election ever. Vote GOOGLE.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Friday July 31 2015, @01:17PM
That reminds me of Paranoia, a role-playing game I played at a gaming convention in the 80's:
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by c0lo on Friday July 31 2015, @09:53AM
No sky-diving either without a per-approved detailed free fall/landing plan, Google can't be held liable if a drone collide or tangles your parachute cords.
We shall examine bungee-jumping later.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 31 2015, @10:51AM
Well, I'm sure you'll be able to buy Google-approved parachutes that communicate their current position so that Google's drones can avoid you. Any other parachute will, of course, be forbidden, for safety reasons. Don't complain about the price; that extra technology costs! What? Privacy? Do you have something to hide? Are you a criminal? You know, criminals may use parachutes for smuggling, therefore it's necessary that all parachute uses are recorded. Also, if something goes wrong, wouldn't you like the ambulance to quickly find you?
Oh, and BTW, jumping is only to be done from Google planes. The parachute's DRM will ensure that using it to jump from non-Google planes will not work. No, it will be your fault if it fails because you're trying to jump from another plane; after all, it was written clearly in the safety instructions that this parachute is only to be used to jump from Google planes.
(Score: 2) by iwoloschin on Friday July 31 2015, @01:20PM
What about the birds?
(Score: 2) by Joe Desertrat on Friday July 31 2015, @05:43PM
Hence forward, it is forbidden to fly a low tech kite or release helium balloons, Google's business would be under threat.
Reading about the little that gets leaked out about the TPP, this sort of thing might be law in the near future.
(Score: 3, Funny) by Bot on Friday July 31 2015, @10:31AM
"Sorry dear, I'm late, apparently my manual car has not obtained the permit to wander off my garden."
YAY for PROGRESS! (Disclaimer, this joy might be unwarranted if you're not a bot yourself)
Account abandoned.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by tibman on Friday July 31 2015, @01:41PM
I think it's a decent idea only if it is for corporate access to the airspace. These rules should not be for any hobbyist and personal drone. It could affect the hobbyist if they wanted access to airspace around airports and other current no-go areas though.
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(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 31 2015, @01:55PM
How about drone operators be required to operate their devices with a single pilot controlling it at all times (and said pilot may only be controlling one drone at a time,) and that the drones must be equipped with onboard radar and motion detection cameras, and that it is the drone's responsibility to avoid all other traffic in the sky. (The last being the rule for every non-hobbyist aircraft in flight currently.)
Better yet: Continue the ban on all commercial uses of drones, because the economy and society really DOESN'T need it.
(Score: 2) by Nerdfest on Friday July 31 2015, @04:05PM
The rule doesn't need to be lifted, the drone operators just need to have someone in a very high altitude balloon or dirigible at all times (for each city/area).
(Score: 1) by PistonRing on Friday July 31 2015, @06:56PM
When will people start to say Enough is Enough when it comes to these things flying over our home 24/7?
If these companies start flying drones in the numbers they plan then the incident last wekend where a drone was shot down won't be the last.
Drones are not the solution to everything. something has to be done before one of these thinkgs kills someone.
(Score: 2) by darkfeline on Friday July 31 2015, @07:56PM
Why not just use radar? That sounds much easier than trying to tag every bird out there with an RFID chip, and it's not like you have to do any advanced pattern matching: if it has a radar image, don't fly into it.
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