The 6 lucky states that’ll shape the future of drone technology

[unhappycamper]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2013/12/30/the-6-lucky-states-thatll-shape-the-future-of-drone-technology/



The six winning states, along with the 18 other states that submitted applications.

The 6 lucky states that’ll shape the future of drone technology
By Brian Fung
December 30, 2013 at 12:37 pm

For months, drone watchers have waited for the Federal Aviation Administration to decide who'll conduct the nation's safety testing on unmanned planes. Now, two days before the deadline, the FAA has named six winners from the original 25 applicants. They are: the University of Alaska, the state of Nevada, Griffiss International Airport in upstate New York, North Dakota's commerce department, Texas A&M University and Virginia Tech.

Each test site will be responsible for testing drones in a different context. Nevada, for instance, will do much of the research on unmanned vehicles' impact on air traffic control. North Dakota will test the data links between drones and their controllers. New York will test the sense-and-avoid technologies crucial for keeping drones away from people and other aircraft. Virginia Tech is to examine what happens when drones fail. Beyond the technical specialties, the test sites were each chosen for being geographically and climatically different from the others, FAA administrator Michael Huerta told reporters Monday.

"What we have is the platform to conduct broad-based research considering a wide variety of factors," said Huerta in a conference call. "We'll see where this research takes us."

In addition to working with aerospace contractors and the government, the test sites will be open to anyone who strikes an agreement with them, Huerta added. That could even include consumer-oriented companies like Amazon, which has proposed using drones to deliver light packages to its customers. (Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.)