OK, so we agree it is autonomous. Can we not agree that with the follow me function, and speeds of up to 35kph, it can be whizzing around if you are on a bike, or a segway?
Quite honestly nothing would surprise me! However, in this instance I think that is possibly the case, certainly as far as Australia is concerned, because the proposed new regulations only appear to have been made available in December of last year, and won't be implemented until September 2016. So IOT couldn't have known about the Part 101 Amendments when they were developing ROAM-e. OTOH, this article makes it clear that not only are autonomous drones not allowed pre-Part 101 Amendments, but control via virtual reality is not acceptable either (my emphasis):
“Piloting RPAs (remote piloted aircraft) via first person view is currently not permitted, as the operator is required to maintain line-of-sight with the aircraft,” the spokesman said.
“
The safety concept behind this is that by maintaining line-of-sight, the operator can see how the aircraft is situated in relation to its surrounding environment.”
The Australian spoke with CASA about new, autonomous drones on show at last month’s Consumer Electronics Show that can be preprogrammed with a flight plan to fly without being manually piloted. CASA said these drones could be flown legally provided the piloted was still in control. “Fully autonomous flights are still some way off,” the spokesman said. “Current technology enables users to pre-program a specific route. But this kind of flight is by no means ‘autonomous’, as the operator is still required to pilot the aircraft over the designated route.
“Operators are able to fly using pre-programmed capability, as long as they abide by the safety regulations.”
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/bus...-/news-story/f52bc2e1ee48ab687e0681a6b44326d9
So the prime safety aspect is the operator maintaining line-of-sight contact on the drone, which seems to preclude "follow me" applications unless you are moving backwards so as to keep l-o-s.
Anyway, I've emailed CASA about it - I'll let you know their reply.
