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Off the WSJ via the Oz:

Drone ID systems unveiled

• By ANDY PASZTOR
  
  
• THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
  
  
• 1:47PM JANUARY 14, 2019
  

A Wing delivery drone in action. Picture: Bloomberg

Google’s Wing unit and two other companies say they have demonstrated a novel system to identify airborne drones, potentially paving the way towards expanded commercial uses of unmanned aircraft.

The concept, tested in December near San Francisco, is aimed at tracking different types of drones using disparate software applications linked by a common web-based system. By sharing such data, the companies say the location of drones and identity of operators can be captured easily on laptops and digital devices simultaneously.

Under the concept, operators, government agencies and individual citizens would have access to the data.

The recent test results are expected to provide momentum for proposed package delivery to consumers and many other drone uses currently stalled by regulatory hurdles. US air-safety and law-enforcement officials have baulked at approving extensive commercial drone operations without reliable identification techniques.

In addition to Wing, which is slated to demonstrate fledgling-package delivery procedures in Virginia this year, the flights included drone-service companies AirMap and Kittyhawk. With three of the burgeoning industry’s leading companies backing the approach and promising to step up testing, proponents hope to persuade the Federal Aviation Administration to loosen flight restrictions before completion of fully fledged rule making expected to take years.

The FAA previously said the rules would be designed to keep other aircraft and people on the ground safe. “We have to get this right the first time,” a spokesman said late last year. “We are moving as quickly as possible to address the complex issues” related to airborne identification.

“Today, we already have solutions built by industry” that are able to “solve a large chunk of the problem”, said James Ryan Burgess, chief executive of Wing. He said such an open network promised to be “most comprehensive, quickest to market and the best user experience”.

Icons update locations on a map, and faster drones are depicted with a red line indicating their routes. AirMap, a closely held San Francisco company, has developed a complementary application, which it also plans to market.

The demonstration showed the identification system could be deployed without new industry or government infrastructure, said Ben Marcus, the company’s chairman and co-founder.

The recent moves are among various pilot projects under way to study the feasibility of widespread drone operations. One advantage of a common network, according to proponents, is reduced costs for both drone companies and government.

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