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by hackernewds 990 days ago
why does this read like tech that should not be reasonably legalized for civilian use
2 comments

I think it would be very useful for scouting in woodland/backcountry use including search&rescue.

At 50 km/h, it moves 10-20 times faster than a hiker, and at <1000$ it's more than 100x cheaper than a plane or helicopter.

But requiring line of sight is a strong limitation because it means that you need to fly over the tree canopy and might not see under it, and you need to fly really high if target is on the other side of a mountain or hill and again you might not see well.

And of course cell phone coverage is not guaranteed so you can't use the easiest solution of putting a cell modem on it.

Don't know about anywhere else but my local laws says you need to see the drone to operate it and you aren't allowed to control it in FPV mode.

Local law also say there are very little places I could really use it in 50km radius from home.