Yeah, this kind of sucks. After a year of construction and planning, we find out that there is an international weapons treaty that says that you cannot sell certain weight vehicles internationally that have autonomous guidance systems capable of free flight beyond a certain range. Ok, I get it. Who wants Tom, Dick or Harry building a 150lb (70kg) pop rocket and flying it half way across the planet to make a real mess.
When you think about it, they are just setting rules to make it hard for the forces of evil. I have no interest in being one of the "dark side." My master tells me so. Ok, no more Star Wars references, but I make no promises. If anyone knows more about the "". Or what the real rules are about any of this, please let me know. There is no interest in using this device for any government purpose. I want to pull banners at the beach or to do small scale spraying of crops.
Another question that would be great to hear some explanation of and/or some reasonable listing of what can be discussed between international unmanned vehicle (UAV/UAS/UGV) colleagues. I would hate to blip someone's radar because I was talking about a simple guidance system idea at the pub. Yeah, yeah this is a real problem, I am more likely to be drinking a pint than trying to sink a 40' put on the back nine of Pebble Beach.
I am pretty sure that this is a messy topic and probably best left well-enough alone. However, if there is a chance to get this sorted and get the Fat Man to fly as more than a giant-scale RC plane that would be freaking awesome. Any qualified help is appreciated, I know that the FAA has been pretty draconian in their official guidelines.
Buzz Labs' unmanned vehicle blog and cool DIY remote controlled stuff blog. For techies by techies, maybe also some interesting tidbits about small business and international business.
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