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EAM-4993 Final Project

Adam Wilson

4/22/17
Summary 1:
The FAA separates registered drone pilots into two categories: commercial, and hobbyist.

If a pilot is going to receive compensation in any way from the use of his drone, he must be

classified as a commercial pilot. Compensation does not exclusively apply to money. If some

guy received a drone as a gift, and then takes some pictures of a friends property, thats fine by

the FAA. But, if that friend buys the pilot a beer or cooks him dinner, then the pilot is breaking

the law. If the FAA finds out (this often happens over social media), they have the right to start a

convoluted, months-long process to punish you.

Many other regulations on hobbyist drone fliers make sense, however. With the number

of Americans registered to fly drones expected to reach the millions by 2020, regulation is

necessary. One such regulation is to never fly near an airport. The standard height limit for

recreational drones is 400 feet, but near airports, planes will be within that limit. In previous

years, there have been several incidents with drones causing flight delays when they are flown

too close to other aircraft.

Drones and UAVs have the potential to greatly influence major areas of business. When a

homeowner submits a claim on their flood insurance to the government, it can take over a year

for a payment to be received. This is in part due to the time restraints of using human inspectors.

Drones are not limited by the physical traits of a structure. Flying a drone over damaged property

ensures the safety of the inspector, saves time, and allow for a wider variety of structures to be

assessed. Emergency response and rescue can also greatly benefit from the use of drones. Drones

allow an area to be surveyed from better angles without having to traverse difficult terrain.

Survivors can be located and assisted without unnecessarily dispatching responders. Drones are

beginning to be recognized as a valuable tool in a variety of fields.


Summary 2:
This week focused primarily on becoming accustomed to operating a drone. Each student

connected their iPad to the controller, and could fly the drone up to four-hundred feet. A camera

allowed us to take photos as well. After figuring out which joystick actually controlled the front

and back movement, I was able to maneuver the UAV pretty well. I got to see that, from above,

Witherspoon looks just as boring and outdated as the rest of the building. That was a surprise.

The amount of precision we had whilst operating the drone was impressive. Its speed

could easily exceed 50 miles-per-hour and it experienced almost no difficulties from the wind.

The camera had an extreme range of motion, allowing us to take pictures from a wide variety of

angles. This drone also had the ability to automatically return to its takeoff location, and circle a

designated point autonomously. In the future, Id like to have the opportunity to photograph

other parts of the campus.

Im excited to begin using the 3-D mapping software during the next session. Ive gotten

to use 360-degree cameras in the past, and the things you can do with them are incredible. 3-D

mapping is a similar process, with applications in a growing number of fields.

After seeing the campus from the perspective of a drone, I am fully convinced that flying

drones on public land poses no threat to individual privacy. With the drone, nothing, other than

rooftops, could be seen that could not already be seen with campus security cameras. If a person

has no concerns about standard security cameras, then he has no reason to fear a camera-enabled

drone.
Campus Layout Suggestions:

Example A: Gates
Many buildings on the Tech Campus have large, well designed, and perfectly useable
roads connecting them. However, for the majority of the year these are gated off. This makes
navigation on campus more difficult than necessary for vehicles, and pedestrians. In addition,
mapping software is not always aware of the gates. As a result, drivers may be instructed to
continue down El Paso through two gates and Centennial Circle.
Example B: Abnormal Crosswalks
In several locations across campus, crosswalks are unclear, sometimes covering an
excessive amount of space. These crosswalks fail to cover the areas most frequently traveled by
students, and clutter the visual landscape. Ineffective crosswalks as seen above frustrate
pedestrians and result in many students disregarding them altogether. Crosswalks should connect
directly from one sidewalk to another, ideally while being perpendicular to the street. Many
sidewalks on campus connect to the street without having a crosswalk available (far-left middle).
This is confusing for drivers and pedestrians.
Example C: Unnecessary Crosswalks
The photo above is taken in front of Witherspoon. This sidewalk leads to the middle of a
high-traffic parking lot. Situations like these seem to indicate that instead of correcting problems,
Tech has in the past merely added more crosswalks in an attempt to provide more options. A plus
with these crosswalks is the physical appearance. These look professional and intentional. Others
on campus have a different design that looks sloppy (Image B).

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