Just like road users do. To that end, more thorough training, licencing should be in
place. They will also have to have robust safety procedures in place’.
Legal concerns such as liability, data protection and risk undoubtedly require substantial attention within UAV regulation. However in the face of a newly developing
industry, and complicated by increasing hobbyist usage, such matters do present a
challenge to effectively regulating the UAV industry and are likely to remain a continually evolving process in the years to come.
A key step in the evolution of UAV regulation will occur with the development of
comprehensive sense and avoid technology. Existing regulation enforces safe practice of UAVs by restricting UAV activity, including requiring line of sight operations
and restricting the location of UAV flights. Sense and avoid technology would provide a key advance in the safety of UAVs. The technology would enable UAVs to automatically detect other aircraft and objects within their surroundings and permit the
UAV to move should a collision appear imminent. As a consequence sense and avoid
technology would increase the safety of UAVs, thus allowing regulation to develop
and enable greater freedoms for UAV usage, particularly in the commercial sector.
Professor Bird has highlighted the importance of such technology to the evolving
UAV industry, ‘The thing we’re all looking for is the Holy Grail and that is a system
called sense and avoid. That’s a little box that will go into every flying machine in the
world including UAVS. As soon as something comes in range of this machine inside
the UAV it will go the other way. That’s what we’re all waiting for but it’s not going to
happen for another 4-5 years’.
Future UAV regulation is likely to be shaped by technological developments such
as the arrival of autonomous UAVs. Joseph Dalby has commented that ‘achieving a
regulatory framework in which autonomous UAV’s can operate will be a major milestone. True autonomy removes pilots from the equation, and instead the UAV will
operate according to programmed algorithms. Autonomy is therefore very technologically dependent. Autonomous UAV’s must be able to navigate, sense and avoid.
Most crashes are due to pilot error. Provided there is effective technology in place,
autonomous UAV’s “may” lead to safety improvements. Significant R&D will be needed. Whereas current regulation is based on visual line of sight and constant oversight
by the operator. Like with other areas, the regulation will have to walk hand in hand
with technology in transitioning to the ultimate objective’.
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