Page 13 - MathCounts 2018 - Final Draft for Publishing

REGULATORY HURDLES
One of the biggest hurdles to mass adoption of drones is the numerous regulations that restrict what
drone owners and operators can do. In the U.S., the Federal Aviation Administration has several regula-
tions that have hindered drone market growth.
The most prevalent of these restrictions is the one colloquially known as the "line of sight rule," which
mandates that drone operators keep the unmanned aircraft within eye shot at all times. This clearly re-
moves any potential application for drones in the delivery space, as the need to keep a drone in line of
sight at all times defeats the purpose of sending off a drone to drop off a product at a consumer's home.
But there are different FAA drone regulations for commercial use and for recreational use. Recreational
drone laws are in some ways more lax than commercial ones, but the line of sight remains pivotal.
The FAA understands the commercial and practical potential for drones in the market place, however the
agency must weigh public safety concerns that drones may pose on other manned aircraft, especially
those operated by amateur flyers near airports and high traffic airspaces. Loss of control or mechanical
failures of drones can cause injury, death, and damage to property. And of course, there are privacy con-
cerns. With the ability to record and track individual movements far from the operator’s immediate loca-
tion, spying and eavesdropping with unclear intentions is of concern. As the political and regulatory land-
scape slowly addresses these issues to ensure public safety, protection and privacy, a vast amount of
industries have begun to implement drones in a variety of applications within the confines of the current
laws and regulations. Some of these uses are as follows:
CIVIL ENGINEERING AND CONSTRUCTION
UAVs and drones have made a significant impact in recent years in the fields of civil engineering, survey-
ing, land planning, and the construction industry.
Small drones with high resolution cameras are used in land planning and civil engineering to provide real-
time information and imagery to scan terrain and assist in identifying potential construction sites, view
construction progress, and provides a new input during all phases of a construction project life cycle. The
ability to quickly model from above in 3D with increasing precision will provide a important way to check
on projects, compare to plans, as well as better coordination of materials on the job site.
Drones can reach difficult-to-access locations like eroded coastline or mountaintops and acquire very high-
resolution data to create 3D maps.
Operators can share the imaging with personnel on site, in headquarters and with sub-contractors. Plan-
ners can meet virtually to discuss project timing, equipment needs, and challenges presented by the
terrain.
The technology is already available to amateurs and professionals, enabling them to collect data and
instantly download the imagery. Some are even using the collected data to contribute to crowd-sourced
mapping applications like OpenStreetMap.

13