Hi Friends,

Even as I launch this today ( my 80th Birthday ), I realize that there is yet so much to say and do. There is just no time to look back, no time to wonder,"Will anyone read these pages?"

With regards,
Hemen Parekh
27 June 2013

Now as I approach my 90th birthday ( 27 June 2023 ) , I invite you to visit my Digital Avatar ( www.hemenparekh.ai ) – and continue chatting with me , even when I am no more here physically

Sunday, 2 September 2018

Drone – a – Charya




Economic Times write about the INDIA DRONE POLICY , at :






Highlights :


Drones must only be flown during daylight and maintain full visual line of sight at all times


Drones must not drop / discharge material without explicit clearance . Drones must not be operated from mobile platforms like moving vehicles
 

Digital Sky is built around the principle of  No Permission-No Takeoff.’  Only if a drone is compliant with this principle, can it even be registered.


Digital Sky will be in charge of handling flight permissions
 

A preflight permission request will contain the geo-fence and timespan outside of which a drone cannot fly. The drone will not turn on if it does not have a valid permission from Digital Sky 


In probably a global first, India’s drone policy has introduced a ‘ No Permission- No Takeoff ’ (NPNT) clause.


It means drone hardware have to be configured in such a way that unless regulatory permission is given, the drone cannot take off.


Digital Sky has demarcated the Indian airspace into three distinct categories: Red (no-fly zones), Yellow (restricted permissions), and Green (all access). 




MY  TAKE  :


I urge ,

·         Shri Jayant Sinhaji - Min for Civil Aviation  [ Jayant.sinha19@sansad.nic.in ]

·         Shri B S Bhullarji  - DGCA  [ dgoffice@dgca.nic.in  ]

·         proposed Drone Regulator

  
·         Drone Federation of India [ info@dronefederation.in  / http://dronefederation.in/ ]

to invite comments from all the stakeholders on my following suggestions by publishing on their respective web sites :




#  Just like today car manufacturers stamp , CAR ENGINE NUMBER and CAR CHASIS
    NUMBER , each drone ( coming out from the manufacturer’s factory ) , will have a
    UNIQUE , “ Drone Number “ ( which , manufacturer would obtain online from the
    web site of the Drone Regulator by registering each “ Model “being shipped out )




#  Each drone would be embedded with GPS and Internet Connection ( Internet of
    Things ) and will confirm to the ( planned ) protocol of the ( proposed ) National
    Trusts Centre for “ Machine-to-Machine “ communication / certification , in respect
    of  Security by Design


   This will ensure that no drone can take to sky unless the owner logs into the web
   site of the Drone Regulator ( using a Mobile App ), and files its FLIGHT PLAN /
   LOCATION / DURATION / HEIGHT / DRONE CATEGORY / PURPOSE etc and the
   Regulator Web site grants clearance for take off




#   Web site of the Drone Regulator will continuously track / monitor the flight of
     each and every drone ( all over India ) on a monitor screen ( similar to tracking
     of Airplanes in an Air Traffic Control ( ATC ) room . Constant contact is the key !



     Call this :  Drone – A – Charya  [  Drone Traffic Controller - DTC  ]



     Controllers ( sitting in DTC ) will have facility to immediately “ Ground /
     Immobilize “ any drone at any time , if security is about to be compromised or if
    any drone is flying outside of its “ Geo Fence



Context :






#   One real serious concern is with regard to thousands of drones flying all over the
     sky of a metropolis and colliding with one another 

 
     I urge the ( proposed ) National Trust Centre , to develop a software and make it
     mandatory for all drone manufacturers to pre-install this software into the drones
    , before shipping out . This is described at :







    This condition will require all drone manufacturers ( local and foreign ) , to give an
    appropriate “ Undertaking “ to the Drone Regulator . 



Failure to give such an
    undertaking will ensure that such drones are grounded / confiscated !


   
   Permission will not be granted to manufacturers of drones meant for war-like
   activities ( dropping of bombs etc )





#   Frequent violation of the Flight Rules , should lead to “ Black-listing “ of any
     particular drone and it should be “ immobilized “ ( for varying periods , depending
     upon the frequency / severity of violation )



     Context :


   

  

   After all , many elements of “ Traffic Control “ on the roads , are also relevant to
   traffic control in the Sky ( especially when , say , 10 milion drones are flying )




#   Drone Regulator should announce clear rules in respect of :


·         Insurance [ crashing / hurting / damaging ]

·         Scraping / re-selling / transfer / gifting of drones

·         Registration by new buyer




          #   Registration Form ( filled online through mobile app ) should require following
               data :


·         Buyer category ( Individual / Commercial Company / Organizations etc )


·         Aadhar No / PAN No / Mobile No




          #   Since most drones would be deployed by E Commerce companies for delivering of
               goods, govt may consider  “ pre-installing “ ( in the mobile app ), an ADDRESS
               MAP , based on the technology developed by www.What3Words.com , which will
               enable better traffic control based on TRAFFIC  DENSITY on different locations ,
              apart from ensuring precise delivery to 3 meter x 3 meter squares of India’s land





         #   There will be many applications in which drone-mounted SENSORS ( including
              cameras / mikes etc ) will be collecting / compiling , “ Personal / Private “ data of
              persons or things ( eg : Photos / Videos / Images etc )



             Strict law must be enacted that the owners of the drones cannot sell / share /
            transfer such data to any third party other than a party which has “ contracted “ for
            such data collection / compilation



            A very important “ Security Feature “ must ensure that the device ( drone ) by itself
           on its own , does not transmit any data to the drone manufacturer nor to any
           owner / licensee of an Operating System ( eg : Google’s Android / Apple’s iOS etc )



           All Mobile Apps which interact with a drone hardware or its embedded software (
           including Drone Operating System ), will need to be approved by Drone regulator




            All such “ Data Collection Contracts “ would require prior registration with the Drone
           Regulator , providing full details of the contract ( especially the nature of the data )





          #  Drone Policy must take into account that within the next 5 years , there will be in
             our skies , “ Person Carrying Vehicles “ which may fall short of being classified as “
             Aircraft “ . Such vehicles must be classified as “ Drones “ and be subject to Drone
            Policy  ( eg : Uber Lite aerial taxies )



       =====================================================
   
 03  Sept  2018


              
      

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