American airspace regulators might be having a change of heart about rules that ban robotic couriers. Sources for the Wall Street Journal are hearing that the Federal Aviation Administration will announce studies for drone flights that go beyond the operator’s sight, paving the way for automated deliveries and other services where a nearby pilot just wouldn’t be practical. Officials aren’t commenting, and one WSJ tipster suggests that there likely won’t be any reform until after the initial rules are finalized in 2016. Don’t expect to see corporate drones zooming overhead anytime soon, then. Even so, this is a big step forward for Amazon’s Prime Air or Google’s Project Wing, both of which would stay grounded in the US if the FAA maintained its status quo.
Filed under: Robots, Transportation, Internet, Google, Amazon
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Source: Wall Street Journal