MATTERNET RECEIVES TYPE CERTIFICATION BY FAA

[dhirota]

When I saw this notice, I did not know what TYPE CERTIFICATION by the FAA really described.

Check out the landing pad??

MATTERNET.jpg

So I called the Chief UAV pilot of a major world aerial imaging company to find out. This is what he told me:

"Matternet (I do not think it is the same company or related to Matterport) basically got their drone certified to manned aircraft standards. This should open them up to flying over crowds of people/busy freeways/beyond visual line of sight etc without needing parachutes or other gimmicks.

This is around a 5 year process. So their drone they got certified is using tech that is 5+ years old at this point, which is a long time ago with how rapidly drones are evolving.

The good news is they spent the money to get the FAA to start seriously tackling how to airworthiness certify drones. The hope is the FAA will get faster, more adept and more intelligent about it so that more manufacturers can do this as well without such a long process."

This will have a significant effect on the use of UAVs in scanning.