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Walmart Applies To Test Drone Use For Delivery and Inventory Checking (faa.gov)
An anonymous reader writes: Retailing giant Walmart has submitted an application to the Federal Aviation Administration requesting permission to run drone trials. The tests are to include not only home delivery — with the permission of residents within the 'flight path' — but also inventory-checking procedures at Walmart parking lots. It only costs $5 to make an application of this nature to the FAA, and until some hint of concrete legislation comes to light from the newly-formed UAS task force on November 20th, that's probably about as much as any company would want to spend on speculative drone-delivery research.
Walmart is Skynet.
So now I get to worry about one of these things smacking me in the face while I'm cutting my grass? No thanks. Space is already at a premium in urban areas. I don't think Walmart should get to take up even more of it.
And/or medium-sized drones carrying Velveeta and beer!
Stop talking...
Same goes for Amazon...
No. Legislation comes from the legislature. The DoT's new regulatory efforts are not only NOT legislative (they are regulatory, from the administration running the executive branch), but they are talking about doing things that fly in the face of a law that WAS passed by the legislature. The DoT is talking about regulating classes of RC toys that congress explicitly ruled as off-limits from exactly that sort of action by the administration.
Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
Wouldn't a better headline be:
"Walmart Applies [for] Test Drone Use [in] Delivery and Inventory Checking"?
until some hint of the FAA on November 20th. you can play, too.
"... inventory-checking procedures at Walmart parking lots ..." (drone follows you in parking lot and says [in robot voice]) Did you just buy that, please show your receipt, return to store now, last warning, 3, 2, 1 [pew! pew!]
When?
The FAA has had rules for R/C Aircraft for decades.
You used to need and FCC License too.
DoT?
What Law did congress Pass and a President sign that covers this>
Are they sucking to not just test it in a field?
Pathetic.
They don't have rules, the have suggestions for safe operation that they encourage people to follow.
https://www.faa.gov/uas/model_...
09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B - D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 45 5F E1 04 22 CA 29 C4 93 3F 95 05 2B 79 2A B2
The FAA has had rules for R/C Aircraft for decades.
This is factually incorrect. The FAA has had rules against interfering with aviation ... but that applies to everything and everyone (hot air balloons, ultralights, kites, RC models ... everything).
You used to need and FCC License too.
Increasingly academic, as many systems use freely available FX and levels of power (roughly like using WiFi). Long-range FPV operators STILL need FCC licensing, but of course most just blow that off.
DoT?
Department of Transportation
What Law did congress Pass and a President sign that covers this
The FAA Modernization And Reform Act of 2012.
Among other things, note section 336, which explicitly denies the FAA authority to pass any new regs regarding recreational use of RC (model aviation). More to the point, the law required the FAA to incorporate UAS technology into the national air space by August of this year. The administration has blown that deadline, and dragged their feet the entire time. They don't like the law that congress wrote, so they're getting around it by turning to the DoT, instead of the narrowly defined FAA has referenced in 336, in order to regulate hobbyists despite the law that says they can't.
Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
Nope, no way automation is going to eliminate any jobs, and even if it were (which it's not) we can just lower pay to compensate and prices will fall until the lower pay has equal buying power, right?
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Drones are best to kill humans.
Therefore, Walmat for greatest profit need to re-direct drones to kill recipients therefore gaining money from death (of recipients) and failure to deliver (recipients dead)!
Ha ha
translation....
rfid reader, wifi/cellular radio, license plate reader, and camera equipped surveillance drones for customer metrics, survey data, and loss prevention and evidence gathering (the 'inventory' part)..
So reuters reports an application.
I see no such link on the faa docket, no link to the application.
I call BS, this story is a fabbed one until I see a faa application vs what "reuters says" and using phantoms as delivery testbed is somewhat naive. They are camera drones, not [robust] delivery drones.
DoT?
Department of Transportation
In this case, since it involves RC stuff, I think DoT == Department of Toys . . .
Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
I really don't want every business setting up their own fleet of drones to fly over my house. Having heard the motors on some of those drones, it's gonna get pretty noisy. So now we all get to live near airports. The FAA should just limit these licenses to hobbiests until the tech is quieter, plus there's no need for drones. FedEx/UPS/USPS have trucks that are nearly as intrusive as these things will be plus they do a pretty good job of getting things to their destination.
Meaning watching customers headed for their cars with presumably stolen merchandise? Counting the shopping carts? Spying on RVs they allow to park there for the night?
New section to be added to the People of Walmart web page : aerial reconnaissance photos.
Have gnu, will travel.