PrecisionHawk announced earlier this week that they have joined the Small UAV Coalition to help pave the way for commercial, philanthropic, and civil use of small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) in the United States and abroad. Chief among the organization's goals is to advance a regulatory environment that will support safe, reliable, and timely operation of small UAVs.

The Small UAV Coalition includes other pioneers in the industry including:

  • 3DR
  • Aerialtronics
  • Airware
  • Amazon Prime Air
  • DJI Innovations
  • Google[x]'s Project Wing
  • GoPro
  • Skyward IO
  • Parrot

"The members of the Small UAV Coalition believe, as we do, that this technology has the potential to improve business operations across a wide variety of industries," said Christopher Dean, PrecisionHawk CEO. "Our extensive work in the many of these civilian industries, such as agriculture, mining and forestry, to name a few, will offer added insight to a group full of innovative thinkers and industry leaders."

Small UAVs weigh under 55 pounds and typically fly at an altitude of less than 400 feet AGL. These highly maneuverable, energy-efficient devices operate on rechargeable batteries and are equipped with the latest in safety features. They can be flown by a remote operator or an automated program in the UAV.

"The Small UAV Coalition believes safe commercial, philanthropic, and civil use of small UAVs will benefit the lives of consumers and promote U.S. competitiveness," said Michael Drobac, executive director of the Small UAV Coalition and senior advisor at Akin Gump. "We look forward to working with the FAA, FCC, the Administration and Congress to ensure this industry can flourish."

Currently the FAA permits the use of UAVs in the United States for research purposes with certain institutions. PrecisionHawk has developed strategic and university partnerships with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Texas A &M, Cornell University and the New York UAV test site, as well as several others. These relationships have proven invaluable for fine-tuning the product development process for PrecisionHawk as well as giving the company the experience that will help to inform the dialogue of the regulatory framework for the UAV sector moving forward. 

PrecisionHawk and the Small UAV Coalition will be represented at The Commercial UAV Show October 21-22, 2014 at Olympia in London. Visit with Chris Harry Thomas, Precision Farming Consultant and PrecisionHawk representative, during his roundtable session on UAVs in agriculture.

For more information on the Small UAV Coalition, please visit www.smalluavcoalition.org