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Comment by jccooper | Hacker News Reader

Unless you're collecting your data under 400 feet, this ruling isn't going to enable such a system. Only "model aircraft" operation is involved.

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Actually I'm exclusively interested in data under 400 feet! Surface-level pressure observations are my target; recent research suggests that a dense network of atmospheric pressure observations (taken on the surface) will produce a significantly higher accuracy forecast. Smartphones work nicely for this except for their lack of even geographical distribution.

That may be useful then. I don't think there's any specific rule against a fully-autonomous system, though it would certainly raise some eyebrows. If you do it with enough safeguards and in a safe area, you might get away with it.

If I recall correctly, you still technically need "line of sight" to the drone.

Somewhere I think I saw something about requiring the ability to take manual control too, which would require line of sight.

Maybe I'm thinking of AMA requirements though... (think model airplanes, not doctors - although, doctors also require line of sight)

I thought I saw those too, but haven't been able to find them in the FAA notices for model aircraft. There is such a clause in the 2012 for small unmanned aircraft (sUAS) use by a "government public safety agency".

I would presume the FAA will try to apply such a rule to civil use after this ruling.

Edit: Federal Register Notice 14 CFR Part 91 says they "expect line of sight" for model aircraft. It does not seem to be required--and at least one administrative judge thinks that such a notice does not carry much weight.

Yeah, line-of-sight/manual takeover might just be a requirement for the AMA's insurance coverage.

Get in touch . I'm working on making a low cost sensor box from Raspberry Pi's for wide dissemination; atmospheric/temp sensors, precision GPS receiver, software defined radio for grabbing AIS and ADS-B data, etc, and then open sourcing all of the collected data sets and the live streams.

I would love to integrate with Cumulonimbus! My email address is in my profile.

Cheaper than a cubesensor? Where can I subscribe?

Different market per se. Not cheaper; its made to help contribute to a sensor fabric, less about your home environment.

Are you sure that's the case? The 400 feet rule comes from FAA Advisory Circular 91-57 (in 1981), which is essentially a public memo with ambiguous (weak at best) legal status.

AC 91-57 (pdf): http://rgl.faa.gov/Regulatory_and_Guidance_Library/rgAdvisor...

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