All of the control board parts and electronics have arrived, only to realize that the connectors for a lot of our parts don't fit. The next big step is to figure out what adapters and such we need to get everything hooked together. The State Championships are done as well and I'm glad to announce that Richard and I took second place in additive manufacturing (3D printing) in product design. That little hold up is, of course, replaced by serious 3D printer malfunctions on my friends printer. We had him try to print one of the four limbs and it pulled off the build plate and warped so we had to stop the print ten hours in. Perhaps it was for the best because with what we did end up getting printed, I found places where the design could be improved to fit together better. To solve this he is ordering a heated build plate for the printer which should prevent warping, however this may take a while.
Here are a couple of pictures of the misprinted limb. As you can see in the bottom pic, we had to end it less than half way through because of the bending and warping. You can see some of this in the pictures and its even worse in real life.
So we were supposed to incorporate a theme or message to talk about in this weeks blog. Richard and I both drew "Caring" which is unfortunately the only one that our project seems to really miss all together. Instead of focusing on how our project cares for others or how we can help people, I've decided to use this opportunity to talk more about why people should care and how we can care more about people.
It has come to my attention via my teacher that not everyone is fond of the technological break throughs or expanding capacity of things like drones or multicopters. In fact some are put off or uncomfortable with the idea. While I agree there is potential for some serious misuse of the increasing abilities of unmanned aerial vehicles, there is the potential for any new technology to be abused. These are issues of public safety as well as the security of privacy.
I've decided to look more into the laws surrounding such devices and how to use them in a way where it will bring about interest instead of fear or concern. There's a lot too it, but a lot of it we don't have to worry about as much. The big things include licensing which is unnecessary until you hit a certain size or unless you're using camera drone for commercial reasons. Other restrictions include not flying near airports or crowded places for obvious safety reasons.
There also comes the issue of privacy and private air space. Who really owns the air above your house? Generally above 500 feet is considered public highway, however up until then is still undecided. While the FAA, which is for the most part "the end all be all" of air craft, has declared all US airspace under their control, many local and state government have been trying to pass laws solidifying restrictions on flight in cities, in public areas, or over private property.
Hopefully this (very brief) overview has helped some people think about whether or not they should care about drones and laws regarding them in one way or another. I've learned what can be done and where to fly to help people feel reassured or safer when we're flying. While you can probably figure out where my opinion falls, I'd love to hear about what your think about all of this.
Until next time,
Spencer.
