Insurers Expected to Expand Use of Drones to Survey Damage With Rule Change
New Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) rules are expected to clear the way for expanded commercial use of drones, which are increasingly being used by insurers to assess property damage.
The updated Operations Over People rules, which took effect on April 21, allow certified commercial drone pilots to fly over people and moving vehicles while in transit and at night, subject to certain conditions. Drones must weigh less than 250 grams (0.55 pounds) and cannot contain rotating parts that can lacerate human skin.
The rules allow heavier drones to fly over people and vehicles if the operator can demonstrate to the FAA that their drones conform with performance standards, demonstrating that they have mitigated the risk of harming people if they fall. The agency said it intends to release performance standards in the next nine to 12 months.
Updated FAA Rules May Expand Insurer Use of Drones to Survey Damage
New Federal Aviation rules are expected to clear the way for expanded commercial use of drones, which are increasingly being used by insurers to assess property damage.
The updated Operations Over People rules, which took effect on April 21, allow certified commercial drone pilots to fly over people and moving vehicles while in transit and at night, subject to certain conditions. Drones must weigh less than 250 grams (0.55 pounds) and cannot contain rotating parts that can lacerate human skin.
The rules allow heavier drones to fly over people and vehicles if the operator can demonstrate to the FAA that their drones conform with performance standards, demonstrating that they have mitigated the risk of harming people if they fall. The agency said it intends to release performance standards in the next nine to 12 months.
$10M gift will help fuel discoveries at Innovation Campus
Published Monday, Jan. 18, 2021, 12:10 am
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Mehul and Hema Sanghani. Photo courtesy of the Sanghanis/Virginia Tech.
Virginia Tech’s growing impact in the greater Washington, D.C., metro area will receive a significant boost thanks to a multimillion-dollar gift from Octo founder and CEO Mehul Sanghani and his wife, Hema Sanghani.
The couple’s $10 million gift primarily supports the newly renamed Sanghani Center for Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics, which will be headquartered in the first academic building at the university’s Innovation Campus in Alexandria.
Virginia Tech’s growing impact in the greater Washington, D.C., metro area will receive a significant boost thanks to a multimillion-dollar gift from Octo founder and CEO Mehul Sanghani ’98 and his wife, Hema Sanghani ’99.
Credit: Alexandria Hounshell
Because of land use and climate change, lakes and reservoirs globally are seeing large decreases in oxygen concentrations in their bottom waters. It is well-documented that low oxygen levels have detrimental effects on fish and water quality, but little is known about how these conditions will affect the concentration of carbon dioxide and methane in freshwaters.
Carbon dioxide and methane are the primary forms of carbon that can be found in the Earth s atmosphere. Both of these gases are partially responsible for the greenhouse effect, a process that increases global air temperatures. Methane is 34 times more potent of a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, so knowing how low oxygen levels within lakes and reservoirs affect both carbon dioxide and methane could have important implications for global warming.