In one of last month’s posts, I mentioned that, in addition to recently investing in a modern DJI drone (a pair of them, actually, whose identity and details I’ll save for another day), I’d also decided to hold onto (therefore batteries-resuscitate) the first-generation Mavic Air I’d bought back in mid-October 2021:
Why? Here’s a reiteration of what I recently noted:
The Mavic Air was still holding its own feature set-wise, more than six years after its January 2018 introduction. It supports, for example, both front and rear collision avoidance and accompanying auto-navigation to dodge objects in its flight path (APAS, the Advanced Pilot Assistance System), along with a downward-directed camera to aid in takeoff and landing. And its 3-axis gimbal-augmented front camera shoots video at up to 4K resolution at a 30 fps frame rate with a 100 Mbps bitrate.
But there was also this…
Other recent government regulatory action, details of which I’ll save for a dedicated writeup another day, has compelled me to purchase additional hardware in order continue legally flying the Mavic Air in a variety of locations, along with needing to officially register it with the FAA per its >249g weight.
That “another day” is today. But before diving into the Mavic Air-specific details, I’ll start out with a requirement that’s drone-generic. Effective June 2021, the FAA requires recreational drone pilots to pass no-cost online certification called The Recreational UAS Safety Test (TRUST). The FAA has a list of partners that administer the test on its behalf; I took mine on the Boy Scouts of America website (Cub Scout and Webelos alumnus here, folks). It’s quite easy, not to mention informative, and you can take it an unlimited number of times until you pass. Upon successful completion, the partner site generates a certificate for you to print out (I also saved it as a PDF for future reference) and carry with you as proof wherever and whenever you fly.
What constitutes a “recreational” drone flyer? Glad you asked. The FAA website has a descriptive page on that topic, too, which first and foremost notes that you need to “fly only for recreational purposes (personal enjoyment).” However, there’s also this qualifier, for example:
Many people assume that a recreational flight simply means not flying for a business or being compensated. But, that’s not always the case. Compensation, or the lack of it, is not what determines if a flight was recreational or not. Before you fly your drone, you need to know which regulations apply to your flight.
Non-recreational drone flying include things like taking photos to help sell a property or service, roof inspections, or taking pictures of a high school football game for the school’s website. Goodwill can also be considered non-recreational. This would include things like volunteering to use your drone to survey coastlines on behalf of a non-profit organization.
If at all in doubt as to how your flying intentions might be perceived by others (specifically the authorities), I encourage you to read the FAA documentation in detail. As it also notes, “if you’re not sure which rules apply to your flight, fly under Part 107.” Part 107 is the Small UAS (unmanned aircraft systems) Rule, where “small” refers to aircraft weighing less than 55 lbs. Commercial operator certification involves taking a more involved test, this time at a FAA-approved center at least the first time (renewals can be done online), which costs approximately $175. If you don’t pass, you need to wait at least two weeks before you try (and pay, unless you’ve also paid upfront for prep training at a center that will compensate) again.
Regardless of whether you fly recreationally or not, you also often (but not always) need to register your drone(s), at $5 per three-year timespan (per-drone for commercial operators, or as a lump sum for your entire drone fleet for recreational flyers). You’ll receive an ID number which you then need to print out and attach to the drone(s) in a visible location. And, as of mid-September 2023, each drone also needs to (again, often but not always) support broadcast of that ID for remote reception purposes, which is where the “electronic augmentation” phrase in this post’s title comes in.
DJI, for example, firmware-retrofitted many (but not all) of its existing drones with Remote ID broadcast capabilities, along with including Remote ID support in all (relevant; hold that thought for next time) new drones. Unfortunately, my first-generation Mavic Air wasn’t capable of a Remote ID retrofit, or maybe DJI just didn’t bother with it. Instead, I needed to add support myself via a distinct attached (often via an included Velcro strip) Remote ID broadcast module.
When I first started researching Remote ID modules last year, in the lead-up to the mid-September 2023 rule going into effect, they cost well over a hundred dollars, especially for US-sourced offerings. The FAA subsequently delayed enforcement of the rule until mid-March of this year, and module prices have also dropped to below $50, notably courtesy of China-based suppliers’ market entry (trust me, the irony here is not lost on me). I’ve picked up two, from different companies, both with extended warranties (since embedded batteries don’t last forever, don’cha know) and functionally redundant (so I’m not grounded while I wait, if I need to send one in for repair or replacement). They’re from Holy Stone (on sale for $34.99 from Amazon at time of purchase), with dimensions of 1.54” x 1.18” x 0.51”/3.9 x 3 x 1.3 cm and a weight of 13.9 grams (plus Velcro, 14.2 grams total):
And Ruko (promotion-priced at $33.99 from Amazon at time of purchase), with dimensions of 1.3” x 1.1” x 0.5” and a standalone weight of 13.5g (0.48 oz):
I also got a second Holy Stone module, since this seems to be the more popular of the two options) for future-teardown purposes. And a third common, albeit less svelte, candidate comes from Potensic ($33.99 from Amazon as I write this), 3.7 cm x 3.1 cm x 1.6 cm in size and weighing “less than 20g (0.7 oz)”:
Size and weight (since the module is additive to the drone itself), battery life, recharge time, broadcast distance and GPS accuracy are all factors (among others) that bear consideration when selecting among options. Also, you may have already noticed that all three suppliers mentioned are also drone manufacturers. DJI conversely doesn’t sell standalone Remote ID modules for retrofits of existing drones, but pragmatically, given its market segment share dominance, it’d probably prefer that you just buy a brand-new successor drone instead.
In closing, I’ll elaborate on my earlier repeated “often but not always” qualifier. As alluded to in my earlier Mavic Air battery teardown, drones weighing less than 250 grams (including battery, Remote ID module, etc.) are excluded from the FAA’s registration and Remote ID requirements. In an upcoming writeup, you’ll see how this “loophole” factored into my next-gen drone selection process. And regardless of the drone’s weight, you don’t need to register or Remote ID-enable it if it’s only being flown within the boundaries of a FAA-Recognized Identification Area (FRIA), several of which are within reasonable driving distance of my residence. Conversely, regardless of your registration and Remote ID status, keep in mind that specific municipalities may restrict your ability to fly in some or all locations.
By the way, the FAA DroneZone home page is a good starting point for resources on these and other drone-related topics. And on that note, if it wasn’t already obvious, the information I’ve obtained and am sharing here is United States-specific; other countries, for example, might not offer the sub-250 gram no-registration and/or recreational-flyer exemptions. If you’re not in the US, I strongly encourage you to do your own research based on whatever country you’re currently located in. And with that, I’ll sign off for now. Stay tuned for future posts in this series, and until then, sound off with your thoughts in the comments!
—Brian Dipert is the Editor-in-Chief of the Edge AI and Vision Alliance, and a Senior Analyst at BDTI and Editor-in-Chief of InsideDSP, the company’s online newsletter.
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