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ASTM Efforts on Small UAS
Quoting from a widely distributed email. I work on one UAS ASTM effort to type Small UAS. Here are their other efforts. Of particular interest is F2908 “Specification for Aircraft Flight Manual (AFM)...
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FAA Position on Contracted UAS Operations by Public Agencies
[The following was written in my role as the Advocacy Director for the National Association of Search and Rescue. A PDF version is available here – Public Agency SUAS-final.] This is an interpretation...
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Public Agency Operations and Part 107
After consulting with a UAV lawyer and an FAA representative, I believe that: Public Agencies (PAs) still have to operate under a COA PAs can also operate non-Public Agency Operations (PAOs) under Part...
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UAV Forensics – version 2
Working with Greg Dominguez and Cindy Murphy, we updated my UAV Forensics presentation from last year to address the Phantom P3, it’s additional data sources, some new tools for analyzing data, and our...
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Dept. of Interior Bans use of DJI products due to national security concerns
[An update to this discussion may be found here. Another perspective from a very respected gentleman who has been covering UAVs for quite awhile may be found here.] The quoted post, below, appeared on...
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DOI/DOE did not ban DJI products, but …
On Friday I wrote a post entitled “Dept. of Interior Bans use of DJI products due to national security concerns.” DOI did not ban anything, but it is a) clear that DJI can collect sensitive information...
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Dept. of Interior agrees to buy 3DR UAVs
The DOI (Department of the Interior) agrees to buy UAVs from 3DR, a U.S. firm. No similar announcement from DJI, lending credence to my earlier reporting (here and here) on an apparent decision not to...
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DJI Phantom 3 Log Analysis Tool
Rowland Johnson developed an excellent tool, DatCon, for analyzing DJI Phantom 3 log files in Java. I arranged to have it ported to Python because I am far more adept with Python and wanted something...
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UAV (drone) forensic analysis presentation available on YouTube
Earlier this year, Greg Dominguez and I developed the second UAV (drone) forensic analysis presentation. I presented it at SANS in Austin this summer and that presentation is now available on YouTube....
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UAVs, IoT, and Cybersecurity
I presented a talk on UAVs, IoT, and Cybersecurity at the LISA conference in Boston on December 7th, 2016. The abstract for the talk was: “Small Unmanned Aerial Systems (sUAS) aka “drones” are all the...
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Legal Challenges Facing Civilian Counter-UAV Systems
Legal Challenges Facing Civilian Counter-UAV Systems Consumer/commercial unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) sales and operations are increasing rapidly according to sales figures, media reports, and...
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Defending Against UAVs Operated by Non-State Actors
The author hopes to help the reader understand the potential impact of consumer UAVs in the hands of non-state actors as well as the technical and regulatory challenges present in the United States...
View ArticleGuidance to UAV Operators Responding to Florida
[I am the Public Information Officer for National Council on Public Safety UAS. This post is written in that role. We will stand up an official location for future announcements.] The Director,...
View ArticleHow to succeed as a startup
Book, in Firefly, once said “Out here, people struggled to get by with the most basic technologies; a ship would bring you work, a gun would help you keep it. A captain’s goal was simple: find a crew,...
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Mavic Pro kit for search and rescue operations
I am assisting a local agency with developing a SAR UAV program. Among other things, we will develop use cases and their attendant requirements to drive platform selection but for the moment we’re...
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Rapid deployment of SAR UAV
We are working on developing a SAR UAV program. This includes SOPs, use cases, equipment load outs, software, training, everything. As part of the R&D effort, I’ve been working on building our the...
View ArticleHow to (Tactically) Succeed
I’ve had an insanely productive week – hired two people, built three antenna masts, built one “go kit” for SAR/EM communications, moved two wildly different critical projects forward, identified an...
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Demonstrating Some UAVs for SAR Challenges
We’re developing a UAV program for SAR in New Hampshire. Lots of things “in flight” on this. Some recent posts: Building a tactical UAV kit for wilderness operations Example of rapid deployment using...
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SAR UAVs: Video examples of IR, optical, and other challenges
We are working on developing a program for UAVs for SAR in NH. Part of this effort involves evaluating and selecting appropriate sensors. Another is “simply” figuring out what works, what doesn’t, what...
View ArticleA Crowd Sourced Non-Fiction Reading List
I read a -lot- of fiction, and was feeling guilty about it. “I should be expanding my awareness of the world!”. (Rather than taking care of my mental health by reading novels for pleasure that allowed...
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