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Only Self-Awareness Can Keep Drones Out of Do Not Fly Zones
szczys writes: Chris Anderson is on the bleeding edge of the drone world, having founded 3D Robotics (drone manufacturer) and DIY Drones (enthusiast site). He takes on the issue of people flying drones where they shouldn't, and concludes that making drones self aware is the best solution. This isn't the "robots are trying to kill you" type of self awareness. Instead, it considers drone type, operator, and location, to establish if all those factors equate to a safe flight area. This is an important issue — in the last few months, there have been several stories about drones in places they should not have been. This included incidents like disrupting the efforts of airborne firefighting and interfering with a police manhunt.
Problem not solved. Sure you can arrest and charge someone for breaking the rules but the vast majority of these cases are people not knowing any better. If these drones are interfering with full-sized aircraft, penalties don't prevent the danger presented by naive operators. This is an educational problem -- people need to know there are places you're not allowed to fly and that it's important to stay out of those with their hobby equipment.