Irish Drone Regulations have been updated – read about the new rules here. Drones have seen a massive rise in recent years around the world, thanks to the availability of advanced and lightweight technology which makes it possible for almost anyone to fly their own personal aircraft. In this fast-moving sector, the regulations and controls surrounding drones have been slow to update, with a major Europe-wide rule-set still in the works. Right now it’s relatively easy to get your hands on a drone in Ireland but one big question remains: WHERE CAN I FLY MY DRONE?! The answer comes down to a couple of distinctions but the main one is what you plan on doing with the drone. If your purpose is mainly recreation there’s one set of rules but if you’re planning on using it for any kind of commercial purpose, things get a bit more complicated. So let’s assume you’ve picked up a new drone like the Parrot A.R. 2.0 Elite Edition. You’ve assembled it and you’re raring to go – are there are restrictions on where you can take it for a spin and what you can do with it?

Parrot A.R. Drone 2.0 Elite Edition | By the rules of the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) this kind of craft comes under the (Rockets and Small Aircraft) Order, 2000. parrot ar drone v1 vs v2And a few important rules apply, mainly when it comes to safety around other flying vehicles.ar drone 1 prezzo For example, you must ensure that nothing dangerous can fall from the drone while in flight. parrot ar drone financeYou can also not fly within 5 kilometres of an aerodrome boundary or near any kind of controlled airspace. parrot ar drone wifi hackAnd you must not fly higher than 400 feet.ar drone central cross mod

The basic brief is that you shouldn’t present any danger to either people on the ground or aircraft, so these rules come down to common sense. In certain cases, like if the drone weighs over 20 kilograms, you also need to get written permission to fly from the IAA.dji phantom aerial uav drone quadcopter for gopro buy dji innovations There are other guidelines for safe and considerate drone flying, including the strong recommendation that you take out some form of insurance, but that isn’t part of the rules. Now if you’ve become adept in the ways of the drone and think you might like to shoot some fancy HD footage from a glorious height with the aim of selling it on for profit, that’s where things get a lot more complicated. Drones used for commercial purposes come under the definition of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems. This means that you not only have to obtain a license from the IAA but also written permission from them 90 days ahead of your proposed flight.

In addition, you must give evidence of completing an IAA approved training course, with four currently operating in Ireland. That is unless you are already a licensed pilot and aware of the mechanics and systems of piloting. After you’ve obtained the correct permits, training and permission there remain some restrictions on where you can fly an RPAS. For the most part it must be over unpopulated areas or in a specially designated zone. Urban use is prohibited as it its operation near large groups of people. While no users in Ireland have been prosecuted for illegal drone use yet, the introduction of similar Europe-wide laws could change that in the near future. For now, it’s best to ensure that you use the stunning footage captured during your flights for your own enjoyment and perhaps don’t monetise them on YouTube. There’s a lot of information and misinformation floating around about drone use in Ireland and with the technology emerging so fast it’s going to take a little while for the dust to settle.

The basic message is this – it’s fine to use your personal drone for your own recreational uses in many areas where it doesn’t pose a safety risk to other people or pilots. Put more simply – use your own common sense while flying and respect other people’s privacy and personal space. And go out and have fun with drones! The Irish Aviation Authority has a wealth of additional information. Read about the updated rules here. And don’t forget to head to Harvey Norman to find the drone that’s right for you – pricing starts at just €299.The recent AUVSI show was the place to find flying, rolling, walking and floating drones and robots of all shapes and sizes. Right now I want to concentrate on the quadrotors that we saw at the show as well as other recent shows where quadrotors have been on display. You can check out all our AUVSI 2014 videos on Engineering TV and more images in Machine Design’s AUVSI gallery. Quadrotors have four propellers that allow them to deliver a very stable flying platform.

They also come in all shapes and sizes from microdrones that will fit in the palm of your hand to larger systems that have longer flying times. Most of the smaller quadrotors are electric and have a flight time from 10 to 20 minutes. Larger ones tend to have gas engines with a longer flight duration. Here are some of the quadrotors we have seen in our travels: I saw Spiri (Fig. 1) at this year’s Freescale Technology Forum. It was a successful Kickstarter project (see “Kickstarter Changes How Consumer Electronics Ideas Turn Into Gold”). One thing that makes Spiri stand out is that it is an autonomous drone that is also an open development platform. The Spiri has a 1 GHz Freescale i.MX6 Dual Lite with dual ARM Cortex-A9 cores (see “Cortex-A9 Incorporates Electronic Paper Display Controller”) to handle the HD camera, a time-of-flight camera and communication while an STmicroelectronics STM32 handles navigation using the various sensors (Fig. 2). It also handles the low resolution downward facing camera.

It has a 1300 mAh lithium power battery. The time-of-flight camera is a bit unique and meshes well with the open development environment since this is an area that has yet to be exploited. It actually runs Ubuntu Linux on the i.MX6. We first got a look at Parrot’s AR Drone 2.0 at CES 2012. I talked with Michael Pastor of Parrot about the AR Drone 2.0. The AR Drone 2.0 is designed to be a remote control drone that can be flown using a smartphone or tablet. The app uses the mobile device’s touch and tilt sensors to control the drone. The AR Drone 2.0 is semiautonomous. It can hover providing a stable platform. It can even flip upside down and continue flying. Parrot Bebop is Parrot’s newest drone, the Bebop. It boasts a stabilized HD video system that uses digital optic stabilization. It can be combined with the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset and the Parrot Skycontroller to give you a real (well, virtual) bird's-eye view. The standard version has a 300 m range and an extended version is on the drawing board with a 2 km range.