Saturday, August 22, 2015

LED City bid proposal suggestion

                                                               

2415 Southwell Rd.                                                                             Date: Aug 22, 2015
Dallas, TX. 75229
www,ledcityusa.com
(972) 488-2489


Bid Proposal: Valaro Gas Station Lewisville.



                                                                   Price           Qty                         Total

Lexin 300                                                   $920.00        1                           $920.00

Smart Tube                                                $15.00           20                        $300.00

                                                         
Canopy Light 100 watts                          $372.28          4                          $1,489.12


                                                                                                 Sub-Total: $2.708.12
                                                                                                        +Tax:   $162.49

                                                                                                        Total: $2,870.61
 

Sunday, May 24, 2015

It will happening with or without you


It is all about the money

With advent of the 333 exemption the Drone/UAS industry is getting a little traction, just a little. I have a database of over 200 Drone/UAS pilots who are in business, making money but only five of them that I can count has a pilot’s license. Now there are two flight training schools that I am going to promote Sky Warrior Inc. George Sigler the proprietor of the school has been training Navy pilots and NFOs their basic flight training since Vietnam and he is one of the first people I even talked to about the drone industry three and a half years ago. Now he has a light sport that is limited for certification but it is good enough to get the 333 exemption. Then there is Learn2Fly4Less in Carrollton a suburb of Dallas. Kevin O’Conner is the proprietor there. He has unique system that utilizes a simulator that you can practice on for significantly less than it would cost for an instructor to go up in the air with you or rent the plane to practice in. The average cost for an instructor is between $30 and $40 per hour, a plane will cost around $80 per hour. You need 20 hours, 10 with an instructor and 10 solo. Then there is the check ride with an FAA evaluator which is $450 and then exam which is $150, not including the course online which is around which you can find between $100 and $300. So going for a range, you are looking at between $2,600 and $3,000.

Now, once you acquire your license and 333 exemption which there is no fee for, there are jobs out there paying between $500 per day and $65,000 for the job but that includes the CAD work and processing. The average CAD profession will want $25 per hour or more and they are in high demand from surveyors, civil engineers and Drone/UAS pilots who need someone to do this for them.

Investment                                                                               

This industry is taking off like a rocket even though investors and geospatial professionals are slow to embrace it. I have had several people point out to me the valuation of DJI but if they are looking at DJI, they are looking backwards. Companies like DJI and 3D Robotics just to name a few are keeping the market honest and seeding the market with low cost systems that can do some basic cinematography.  The big problem is keeping up with the demand. When your shipment is allocated before it is even hit the port, which is a quality problem. DJI is currently seeking a $10 billion valuation to raise capital. With X-Fold's cinematography platforms with a greater payload and duration of flight capability, with a base price under $7,000 for the basic platform, which they can’t keep in stocked either. Cinematographers are gobbling them up. They know what they need and what their quality is because of their history in the industry already. B&H bought out their first shipment as soon as they received it. The developer of X-Fold took DJI as far as they could go, until they had to develop a more robust system. All of those DJI fliers are the market for X-Fold, if they want to do real work with the real cinematography cameras or any other technology.

Geospatial

The demand in the cinematography industry is impressive but once the surveyors and geospatial professionals figure out that the film and movie industry is way out in front of them, they aren’t going to waste a lot of time and money investing in developing Drones/UAS but focusing on the integration of these already developed systems that are stable, robust and easily integrated, they are going to move their product. I have four entities who are either looking at integration of LiDAR for everything from high tension power-line inspections to DOT applications or measuring the sediment flow in major rivers. With the stable system to start off with using the X-Fold System as a jumping off point, the growth in the cinematography industry will be eclipsed. There are a lot more surveyors out there who would be able to be trained to fly a Drone/UAS than there are Drone/UAS pilots who could or would learn surveying.

Sunday, May 10, 2015

The Yuma, Hollywood connection


Sharing the knowledge

There was so much to learn when I first started in the UAS/Drone business. Well there has been a lot of water under the bridge and I have learned a lot, now I am seeing the benefit of what I have learned. Now industry is starting to consider where to start using UAS/Drone because of the recent 333 exemptions and the reduction in the requirements for a “Private Pilot’s license” to a “Light Sport License”. That means 20 hours vs 30 hours and no physical. The cost is only around $1,800.00 if you show around, the country. Now that industry professionals can see how to legally use this new technology, no it’s time to figure out what tools are the right ones for the jobs.

Fixed wing vs VTOL

I was asked by John Minor the Provost of The Unmanned Vehicle University (UVU) to locate training areas for the fixed wing UAS training program. The UVU wishes to conduct their fixed wing UAS training nationwide. I found several of my former Navy SEAL buddies who have range training areas who have from 100 to 300 acres who are interested in hosting this type of training but there are a couple of areas that have come online aside from the six FAA designated test sites. That makes eight so total.

Why fixed wing? There was a Crop Science/Ag Consulting firm that put a ton of money into a single rotor, mini-helicopter system capable of heavy lifting. The problem was that the longer rotors created a harmonic vibration that could not be masked. They couldn’t baffle it with rubber washers or software, this caused them to miss all of last year’s growing season. Fixed wing platforms do not have nearly as great problems with harmonic vibrations. The challenge is the payload capacity.

There is the AeroMapper by 3D Robotics, the Maverick by Peoria, the Precision Hawk not to mention the Aerovironment and Insitu systems for the military. The problem is the payload capacity, five to seven pounds max. Then there is the price between: $196,000 to $385,000.

Cinematography expertise and experience

T.J. Diaz the proprietor of XFly Systems and primary trainer for UVU helped design the X-Fold systems for cinematography. He designed the rotors to be coaxial which not only stabilizes the platform but gives it great lift. The Dragon system by X-Fold can carry 100 kilos for 21 minutes and the price point starting under $8,000. The cinematography UAV pilots understand the benefit of these systems with the heavy lifting, the stabilization of the coaxial rotors, the long duration of fight and the price points.

Yuma

UVU has centralized their VTOL training to Phoenix, AZ and they specifically asked me to locate a training area for the fixed wing systems in Arizona, I contacted the Yuma EDC and they sent me right to the  Yuma County Airport Authority which manages Rolle Field near San Luis, Arizona. This facility is set up specifically for UAS research and development. What makes it so appealing is its close proximity to Hollywood and the motion picture industry. They work with the weapons Naval Weapons testing range, they have major connection with the Arizona Department of Agriculture but the proximity of the UAS/cinema photography professionals in Hollywood is what is really exciting. Their expertise with the cameras coincides directly with photogrammetry, LiDAR, Multi-spectral and Hyper-spectral aplications.     

Thursday, May 7, 2015

The time for drones is now!


Disruptive technologies

The best training I ever had in marketing disruptive technologies was insurance and financial planning, trying to get someone to give up their money to be used at a later date. You can show people the track record, the historical return and the tax benefits but what really needs to happen is the trust has to be established. Sometimes you have to come in like a bull in a china shop and get in their dish a little “So Mr. So And So, when do you plan on retiring? When do you plan on starting your savings plan to get there? Do you think the taxes on your savings plan, once you do start saving will hurt you or help you? What is Mrs. So And So going to do if, God forbid, you get hit by a bread truck stepping off the curb? Mrs. So And So, how do think you are going to remember you husband if something like that were to happen and he didn’t have any insurance protection? What will you have to do to replace his income and maintain your life style? Will you have to eat a different cut of meat, will you have to drive a different car, live in a different house, do you children have good enough grades to get the financial aid and scholarships to pay for their college? Would you move in with your parents or his? Will your parents or your in-laws let your adult children move in them too?” When I talk to surveyors it can be like that.

All it takes is one

I participated in last month’s meeting of the San Diego branch of The California Land Surveyors Association, following Dave Wooley a well know surveyor and author from Orange county California. Right off the bat he went into how many jobs we lost last time new technology was introduced. I was not feeling the love. Then he went into the other problems in the survey industry that are hurting it, not related to the new technology, he transitioned to the industry being proactive, keeping up with their continuing education and advances in the technology and become the masters of it. I still didn’t feel that much enthusiasm when I got to get up and talk but at the end of the meeting, eight surveyors gave me their business cards so I could get them a trial Pix4D 10 day license. So far, nobody has activated their license.

No more excuses

I followed up and actually had a chance to talk to one of these surveyors and he told me “We have a guy with a Phantom but the problem is, it is still not legal!” I was expecting that kind of response and I put on my financial planner, closing hat and told him “When I tell you how it is legal, will you listen?” Then after he agreed to listen I explained to him how the FAA has relaxed the requirements to qualify for a 333 exemption to only a “Light Sport” pilot’s license and how there is a light sport plane at Palomar Airport, there are facilities all over Texas and Kansas as well as Sky Warrior Inc. out of Pensacola, Florida just bought a light sport plane specifically for UAS/Drone pilots to qualify for their 333 exemptions. Then he very enthusiastically responded “We are interested, we will come to Texas or Florida, where ever we have to so we can use the drones legally. We really like the Pix4D software, we know it works!” Then I told him that “I am going to quote you!”

More exemptions granted

My mother called me today to tell me “Oh you probably already know but the FAA just granted three more exemptions” Well I didn’t know so I had to look them up. The FAA is partnering with CNN for a Drone testing program for news outlets to see what the benefit is. Then the American Red Cross is doing a study for the benefit of UAS for disaster relief and a production company in Tampa is the first to get a 333 exemption in Tampa. I stumbled on another article about Corporate America putting pressure on the FAA to speed up the process of getting the approved restrictions approved. Companies that were named were Amazon, L3, Chevron and BNSF Railway. Then I looked up exemptions for surveying just because it is what is what’s on my mind right now. I didn’t find anything specific to surveying but I found a press release published May 6th, yesterday about the US Department of Transportation initiative through the FAA with industry mostly pertaining to line of sight and beyond line of sight operations. All I had to read was “Department of Transportation” and as far as I’m concerned, that means surveyors. I will post more information as I become aware of it.

 

Sunday, April 26, 2015

Business is open


Wake up Drone industry “Business is open!”

After listening to Lisa Ellman the FAA Attorney working with Stampede Global and the Unmanned Vehicle University explaining that the 333 Exemption are being issued for every application where there has been a pervious exemption issued. Then she went onto say that the license requirement has been reduced to a “Light Sport” pilot’s license here there are no medical exam and 20 hours instead of 30 hours of instructor supervised stick time. Most flight schools will still try and get you to sign up for the full “Private pilot’s License”, getting wrapped around the minutia involved with someone who actually want to be airplane pilots, instead of just punching the ticket requiring a “Light Sport Pilot’s License” so they can make a living flying UAS/drones. Understand that the proposed rules before congress no requirement for any form of licensing. Congress might adopt the creation of a Commercial UAV/Drone license but that could take a couple of years. However, with a pilot’s license of any kind, it is legal RIGHT NOW!

Maximizing the opportunity                                             

In the vent that you do not own a Phantom, I would work on whatever you need to do to get your “Light Sport Pilot’s License” first. If you re someone in the business of providing equipment or services for UAS/Drone pilots, I would put out my shingle. Start your marketing campaign. I had a meeting with Paul Linnel of MTSI while we were both in San Diego Friday and he talked about “It is probably going to be easier to find a land surveyor who will learn how to use a drone and Pix4D than it will be to find a UAS/Drone pilot who is willing and able to plot points and dig up monuments and they all are going to need someone to do the CAD overlays, plot the points and take the data and create a usable product.”

Cellular is where it’s at

Both Paul Linnel and David Copenhaver from NexGen Now talked about how the cell phones no have the capabilities of used to called “Super Computers” 20 years ago. As soon as they mentioned this I thought of Michael Creamer of FAVNET and his talk at the drone pavilion at NAB and the suitcase packed data-connectivity technology. Bringing your data with you. If cellular is going to be the method of collecting data and imagery, you’re going to need access.

Where is the financial sweet spot?

I received a text from T.J. Diaz while he was at the AV show in New York saying “TV and cinema is where it is at, these guys have the budget and they know that this technology is where it’s at!” That is great for him that is his business. When it comes to me working with the so called “Smart people” in the survey industry, agriculture, energy and geospatial applications, I am bogged down in the process of teaching a bunch people who think they are smarter than me that this the direction they need to go. Well I found some who see the vision, now I just have to help them over a little hurdle in getting a “Light Sports pilot’s License” then they are out in front of the field. The best pricing I could find for the “Light Sports Pilot’s License” is $30 to $40 per hour for instructor airtime and $450 for a check ride and $150 for the written test. That is $1,200 to $1,400. How many surveys would it take to make up this expense? If you could go to your civil engineering with your 333 exemption in your hand, how fast do you think they would start giving you their business?

A pilot’s license is a license to print money

George Sigler the proprietor of Sky Warrior Inc. was at the Sun and Fun airshow in Lakeland Florida last week and he was looking at buying a specific “Light Sports” Aircraft that is limited in use for pilots but just enough for UAS/Drone pilot’s is quickly and inexpensively get their license and qualify for a 333 exemption but he said to me “Reuben, I can buy this aircraft and even a Phantom but unless you can show me how people are going to make money with this technology, who is going to want to pay for the training?” I have working in this industry for three and a half years and I have talked with the highest levels on the surveying industry, State DOT in California, Texas, Michigan and Florida, Ocean Spray Cranberry, the leading seismic surveying company in North America told me that they were ready to use this technology as soon as the FAA authorizes it. Well, it is authorized now!

Thursday, April 23, 2015

Commercial UAS operations are now LEGAL!


Commercial Unmanned Operations are now legal!

According to Lisa Ellman a Counsel in the Washington, DC office of McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP, as long as your 333 exemption submission describes use of an unmanned aerial system (UAS) similar to what they have approved before, you will also have your 333 exemption approved. She also informed the group at the National Association of Broadcaster’s, Drone Pavilion that the threshold for licensing has been lowered to a Light Sport Aircraft Pilot’s license. That is, until the Congress passes the proposed rules submitted by the FAA in which no license is required. So in the event you wish to make a living with you Phantom or other UAS technology, you can try and push your congressman into acting on the proposed ruling for which they don’t really have motivation to do so since the FAA has opened the door with the 333 exemption or you can go through the process of obtaining your sport pilot’s license.

The Lay of the Land                                         

The majority of pilots who hold a Light Sport Pilot’s license are experienced pilots who either may not be able to pass the stress test of physical required to maintain the private pilot’s license. Now in San Diego California there is only one Light Sport Aircraft to test on in the whole county and it is located at Palomar Airport in Carlsbad California. Julie King (760)703-1967 would be the one to contact for flight time with this aircraft. Now to log your 20 hours of instructor supervised flight time, you do not need to fly a Light Sport Aircraft, only for your check ride. George Sigler the proprietor of Sky Warrior Inc. is looking into the ERCO_Ercoupe plane just for those specific students trying to qualify for a 333 exemption for commercial unmanned operations. This would allow him to keep the cost down. Texas seems to have the greatest number of Light Sport aircraft training facilities, probably due to the abundance of wide open areas to fly. The cost very, depending upon where you are located anywhere from $2,800.00 to $15,000.00 depending upon where you are located. When you buy your UAS system through XFly/X-Fold, if you have a pilot’s license, give them the description of your commercial application and they will have Lisa Ellman submit for your 333 exemption, so when your system is delivered you will be legal to fly too.

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Fear of the FAA?


They are afraid of the FAA

I have been talking to UAS/Drone pilots across the country and I mean hundreds of them and they are flying and making money. Then I start introducing the opportunity to surveyors and oil and gas exploration companies and I hear “What about the FAA?” or “They are afraid of the FAA”.  I got into a debate with the FAA attorney with Stampede Global and the Unmanned Vehicle University about flying for hobby is authorized but flying for profit isn’t but I didn’t want to make her my enemy and I realized that she makes it easy. She is an expert of applying for and getting exemptions and for commercial UAS/Drone operations. There is something called a 333 exemption. The FAA just reduced the requirements from a civilian pilot’s license to a sport pilot license. So I looked up the requirements for a Sport Pilot Licence (Link).

As I was investigating the costs to obtain such a license I stumbled on a link to Gleim Sport Pilot Course for $104.00. Now that is just the test prep and course material. So far the best price for the pilot instructor hours is $30.00 to $40.00 per hour. That is a minimum of 20 hours which come to $600.00 to $800.00. The FAA written test is $150.00 and the practical test is $450.00. If you can find a flight instructor who charges these rates and honors the Gliem Sports Pilots course. You are looking at $1,504.00. I paid more than that for my Series 6 and 63 Exams. George Sigler is currently at the Sun and Fun Air Show in Lakeland Florida, the second largest airshow in the country. There have been approximately 1,890 authorizations filed and approved through the FAA. What is there to be scared of?
 
If you need any further assistance feel free to contact Lisa Ellman
1900 K Street NW
Washington, DC 20006
TEL: 202.496.7184
FAX: 202.496.7756

Monday, April 20, 2015

UAS Platforms compatable with Pix4D

If you go onto the Pix4D website under Products, UAV+ Software under the Our UAV Partners tab you see a list of systems.

Going down the list the SenseFly is priced between $10,600 and $12,000.

The AERON Labs Sky Ranger does not show pricing on the website but I did see a quote between $2,000 and $5,000.

The 3DR Aero-M is $5,400 and their X8-M is $5,400.

The DJI Phantom Vision 2+ V3 can be found on Amazon from between $825.01 and $1,625.00 with case and through the Xflysystems.com site you are looking at $1,099 but you better move fast their inventory is running out.

Everyone is either going to the Inspire price through XFly at $2,899.00. I know that T.J. Flew the Inspire in 20+ MPH winds and had no problems. According Antoine Martin "You can already process Inspire 1 (Spec) images with Pix4D. The capture app will be compatible with the Inspire in about a month".

Delait Tech DT18 is priced around $40,000.

I could not find a price for the Skydrones Bumblebee V. They are a Brazilian company.

I could not find a price for the Topodrone100, they are an Australian company.

Aeronavics BOT on Google show $329.99 but I think they are a New Zealand manufacture.

I could not find any pricing on the ATyges site but they do have some awesome Pix4D videos.

I do know that the Phantom 3 is coming out if it is not already and if you buy the full Pix4D package I can get you some discount via XFly for an Inspire.

UPDATE!!!!! Phantom 3 pre-order

Sunday, April 19, 2015

Escambia high school place 19th at the NASA Mars rover challenge

My son Collin Lowing as part of the autonomous engineering class at Escambia High School Mars Rover Challenge Team. I am very proud of my son.
  See who they competed against: NASA Mars rover challenge entries

Saturday, April 18, 2015

Fighting inertia


Disruptive technologies

I am the guy who can get people to understand and figure out how to use new and disruptive technologies. I just received an email this morning that said ““Life is thickly sown with thorns, and I know no other remedy than to pass quickly through them. The longer we dwell on our misfortunes, the greater is their power to harm us.”― Voltaire. It all depends upon your perspective. I thought Dave Woolley was clever in his presentation starting off showing how this new technology is going to cause a loss of jobs in the survey industry, then transitioning into the flaws in the industry void of the new technologies and I learned something I never knew about the industry. When I was in school, I didn’t have the confidence to go to college. I failed algebra II but I got A’s during the trigonometry portion of the class. I only now am finding out that you don’t need a degree to be a surveyor. In the Navy it was called “Striking”. I was a Tradevsman or “TD”. Technicians on training devices like submarine and flight simulators. I learned about the Navy SEALs and I struck for the Internal Communications Electricians rate. I passed and made Third Class and Second Class Petty Officer. Then I struck for Engineman but I never worked or went to school for the rate, I only completed the courses. As a civilian, I only took the California Real-Estate Principles Course. I passed the tested and I averaged $200,000 per year for five years consecutive. When the industry slowed down, I took the Life and Health Insurance license test and past, then the series 6 and 63 for securities and then the Investment Advisor’s Series 65 exam and passed. There are less than 1% of the population who has all of the licenses I have had. So what I am hearing from Dave is that it’s the Wild West for data collection and surveyors can’t compete. What I have found is that with UAS Pilots, very few who are flying are willing to go through the process of getting certified for anything. Everyone is complaining about the threshold to fly commercially for UAS/Drones but the FAA just lowered the bar, only requiring a “Recreational Pilot’s license”. Stampede Global’s enterprises with XFly, X-Fold and The Unmanned Vehicle University in conjunction with Lisa Ellman have it so that when you purchase a system and outline your specific use 333 exemptions are part of your package.

Adopting existing licensing models

As a Real-Estate agent, I could not just got out and sign up listings or represent buyers, I had to be affiliated with a broker. The same with my insurance and securities licenses, it is the same for construction. If you are doing anything to your property or business that structurally changes your property, you need plans approved and you have to either hire a licensed contractor or be registered as the general contractor and the building department doesn’t have to sign off on you being the general contractor unless you can demonstrate that you are competent.

Subcategories                           

At the NAB Drone pavilion Lisa Ellman addressed the attendees several times explaining the labyrinth of rules the FAA has drafted, amended and granted exemptions for. She offers her attorney services to help streamline the process, then the representative for AUVSI basically mimicked her, offering their consulting services to do the same thing. There is a UAS professional in Dallas who has the templates for the exemptions for the film industry. He paid over $30,000 for them. I would not be surprised to see similar templates on Legal Zoom fairly soon. What these attorney’s need to do is go to the insurance, real-estate, construction, energy and survey industries and help them draft license guidelines and training for unmanned pilots to work in their specific fields. You don’t get an exemption unless you have it. I think the different chapters of the California Land Surveyors need to become dealer for Stampede Global Systems and offer guidance on how to implement certification in their industry, they would have access to the most recent technologies and applications to expand the opportunities for employment and revenues. I have now sympathy for anyone who lets a test of continuing education get between them and a better job, higher income and opportunity.

Roy Jones Sr. used to call it being “Lazy minded” Pretending you are ignorant or that you can’t remember how to do something you have been shown or told to do, multiple times just to get out of doing it. In this situation just doing what you need to do to produce is what Dave Wooley was saying.  

Friday, April 17, 2015

The creation of an awesome story


It all started when I left

I went home to Michigan for Easter to visit family and then my business partner and I drove to Las Vegas in two days. The first day we drove out to meet with T.J. Diaz for the Drone Pavilion field trip out to El Dorado mine. We followed the GPS to a dirt turn off and we drove and drove and drone, heading to a canyon and the road started getting softer and more difficult when we came around a bend and saw two pickups with their drivers and we let them know where we are? They responded “Are you with those broadcasters?” They told us to go back and to turn left and then right and we will see the mine. We parked and there were about four different groups throughout the western style town. We were told that the XFly group had left. Then Manny from UVU told us that T.J. Diaz was down behind one of the barns. We went down and he introduced me to his partner Ziv. We watched T.J. take one of his cinematography student UAS pilot’s octocopter out for its shakedown flight.  Then I stood next to a guy flying his Phantom FPV, out almost two miles. Then someone else had an Inspire and it just launched off of the ground at about a 45 degree angle. Then another gentleman broke out a space aged looking quad-rotor called a “Yuneek” the operator flipped it around trying to get it to synchronize with a GPS satellite, it buzzed and whistled until all of the lights turned green. Then he flew it around and it sounded as if it was a slower RPM than the Phantoms we have heard flying. Then as we watched the octocopter flying around on its’ shakedown flight we heard a load crashing sound and we saw the “Yuneek” crash into a mock plane crash.   






Suggestions

I would have liked to have seen a eight by ten foot, high resolution video wall on a cart to be able to see what the Phantom that was out nearly two mile flying FPV. I would also want to see a drone obstacle course for those manufactures and pilots who want to show off their capabilities.

Monday

On Monday I introduced Michael Creamer of QCTV. I introduced him to T.J. Diaz and we talked about data connectivity with a suitcase sized case. Then we got to listen to Lisa Ellman the FAA Attorney talk about the FAA recommended guidelines what was allowed and how applications which has been granted COAs and exemptions were more apt to be approved. I always get hung up on how hobby flight over land owned by the operator or where the operator has been given permission, under 55lbs, below 500 feet, within line of sight and outside of five miles from an active airfield is legal but operations conducted under these same exact criteria are not authorized where there is financial compensation. When it comes to Jurisdiction, I say that on private property, with property owner’s authorization there is nothing the FAA can say about UAS operations and she said that the FAA claims jurisdiction from six inches and up. I countered with “Law enforcement doesn’t enforce guidelines. If the FAA fines or prosecutes outside of airport runways and approaches, they convictions won't hold to appeal, unless the municipality or agencies like the parks department prosecute for violation of their ordinances. Afterwards I felt bad about being confrontational and I wrote her an apology via email. Unlike FAA cease and desist orders I hope she is able to recognize it. I have her email and I will refer her to anyone who is attempting to file for exemptions or COAs.

Then T.J. Diaz asked Michael Creamer to speak on his suitcase sized, remote data transmission solution to the NAB Show Broadcast Engineering Conference. He had all of the attendees sitting on the edge of their seats. The funny part with me is that he wasn’t trying to hype or sell at all, he was just stating the facts about the technology available. Well I will promote and sell for him. Michael has a system called “Little Blue” remote broadcast trailer. Michael is selling this technology for an extreme discount because since he took his position with QCTV hasn’t been able to utilize his creation.




Tuesday

T.J. Diaz told me he wanted me to talk to someone, the Provost for the Unmanned Vehicle University John Minor. T.J. introduced us and John told me “We are getting a lot of demand to bring back the fixed winged training program. We have centralized the VTOL training in Phoenix but we want to offer the fixed wing training nationwide. Now I already had my team lined up because T.J. had informed me that there wasn’t enough approved airspace available for training. Right away I thought of my retired SEAL buddies who have 100+ acres they use for range facilities. He asked me to help line up facilities to conduct the UVU training program. After 3:30PM we left for San Diego but T.J. Diaz participated in a panel with Lisa Ellman and several experts.

Wednesday

I got into San Diego around 11:00PM, I got a good night sleep and called all of my buddies from cross the country out the possibilities of hosting the UVU fixed winged training at their facilities and they were all receptive. I even picked up two others, one in San Diego and the other in Arizona. The San Diego facility used to have a COA. Then I attended the California Land Surveyor’s Association meeting in Carlsbad. I was to follow Dave Woolley a well-respected and published surveyor. He started off talking about how technology has caused reduction of survey jobs. I wasn’t feeling loved but then he started ranting on how the model of the industry is effecting it as much or more as technology. He made me think. He finished with encouraging these surveyors to engage this new technology and master it. I got up and told my story and promoted T.J. Diaz, XFly, X-Fold technology and UVU. I talked about how Stampede Global has divided UVU into the pilot training, the masters and doctorate program and research and development. I talked about Pix4D and offered trial, seven day licenses to those surveyors who were serious and would be willing to purchase the full license. I told them “If you just want the monthly lease, go online and buy it!” Then I talked about how Boy Scouts and 4-H have geospatial, aviation and surveying categories that drones are being used now to achieve. I suggested that if I were a surveyor, I would become a Scout master and host a Geospatial 4-H group and cultivate my own work force. I would offer to UAS professionals who were only doing cinematography and offer them my expertise for CAD and quality control of their data and get paid on their hustle. At the end of the meeting eight surveyors lined up for trial versions of Pix4D. I fell asleep that night sending them their licenses and composing emails with links to Pix4D.

Thursday

I woke up and finished emailing my emails and followed up with the surveyors and composed an email to John Minor describing the relationships with the owners of the land and facilities I have lined up for the UVU fixed winged UAS pilot training.

On the agenda Friday

I have some follow up on the business that has been lined up for Pix4D for surveyors and the fixed wing training facilities. I have been hustling for the last three years with very little monetary benefit for my efforts but I can say that I can be considered a subject matter export. I cannot claim all the positive developments are due to hard and persistence but I have to give credit to T.J. Diaz with his knowledge and expertise, his competence is unrivalled. His competence gives me confidence and that confidence is would has my contacts ready to commit and except this technology.     

 

 

Saturday, March 21, 2015

Work for drones is out there


It is not magic

In sales I capitalize on my extensive relationships from former Navy SEALs, former boxers, trainers and fans that I know and their referrals. Recently a surveyor in Texas who has been following from the beginning of my endeavor with the unmanned industry. He used to work for a very good friend of mine in San Diego but he as the company they both worked for had a shakeup, he left California and back to Texas where he had an opportunity to work in the in the oil industry and raise his kids in Texas. When I came to Texas I looked him up and he introduced me to the GSR survey applications. Now moving the clock forward, with oil prices dropping, things are hard for him now and he decided to jump in and buy a UAS and Pix4D. The survey company he works for supporting the oil industry let him go. I reached out everywhere and looked for someone to hire him but before I could line anything up our mutual friend in San Diego snapped him up and hired him and he is headed to San Diego right now. The three of us got on a call and our San Diego connection told us how a real-estate development company asked him to survey an area where the terrain would make it very difficult and expensive job to do and then he realized our buddy was coming and he told the developer “I have someone coming to work for me with a drone and he can fly over this problem area, gather the data with his drone and save you time and money.” The real-estate developer said “I’m in, let’s do it”.

Getting comfortable and finding the need

I had been talking with my friend in San Diego since the very beginning and we have never done any business. Now this other surveyor, made the plunge, bought a system and got the training, researched Pix4D and got excited about it. That was enough to make our buddy in San Diego to consider it. We were on the call talking about all of the possibilities. Aerial image gathering for commercial architects and developers, ALTA mapping for title companies, flood plain mapping, bridges and overpasses. Then our buddy in San Diego has an account with the trolley and rail systems where the terrain would be difficult for a man on the ground but would be a snap for a UAS.

Red tape

Under the current FAA guidelines, they say “No commercial use” but there are hundreds of certifications issues and exemptions authorized. These 333 exemptions require that the UAV pilot hold a privet pilot’s license which has no bearing on what it takes to fly a UAS. Then the rules presented to congress to be passed into law does not require the operator to hold a pilot’s license. I have a list of over 100 UAS pilots that are making money but do not hold any type of pilot’s license. They are flying over private property with the property owner’s written permission. The current FAA guidelines and restrictions are problematic because the FAA’s authority is limited to airports, runways and their approaches. Municipal code supersedes FAA guidelines. So when someone is found to be violating the FAA regulations they have to get the local law enforcement to site them. Law enforcement officers do not enforce guidelines, only laws. There is no federal laws and that means that the state, county or city has to have passed a law for them to enforce. All states have left it up to the federal government which they haven’t. In some cases the cities have laws in place for RC hobbyist that apply. Now these guys brought up that they have retired pilots that they can list as the “Pilot in Charge” which is a concept that had been brought to my attention from someone working with the FAA rules committee. This would be a solution for DOT and operations over public property, until congress finally rules on the FAA rules.

Duplication

I have a lady who owns an LED manufactures rep company that is fascinated by drones and their imagery and I told her about this situation and she referred me to the small survey company next door to her business and I have contacted them. Then I started calling surveyors in the Dallas area and what I found was some interest but no follow through. I will spoon feed them information on the capabilities and I have asked my two buddies to give me their insight. I have had some of the gate keepers, receptionists who answer the phone telling me that they are not interested and I asked them “So you’re not interested in saving time, money and have more accurate data?” and they said “No” and hung up. We will just see what their customers say when another surveyors calls their clients and leads with the time and money savings with a better quality data.

    

 

Sunday, February 1, 2015

All of the pieces make a whole


Ramping up

This last Friday Lena Vander Stap traveled from Mankato Minnesota to Eau Claire Wisconsin for training on Pix4D and the Power of Ground technology developed by Joe and Christina Hupy. Lena is writing and evaluation on the Pix4D at the request of T.J. Diaz of XFly T.J. has been asked to be the key note speaker at the drone pavilion at the National Association of Broadcaster’s convention in Las Vegas in April.

Combined solutions

I was asked by Steve Heise the president of the San Diego branch of the California to find brush penetrating LiDAR, I knew right where to go RiEGL. The funny thing is Steve Heise first introduced me to RiEGL in 2012. At that time UAS/Drones wasn’t really on their radar. Now they have their own UAS/drone product but if you buy their stand-alone LiDAR system with their IMU and integrate with the XFOLD CINEMA X8 U7 RTF and a DJI Phantom Vision Plus Version 3 with Pix4D and save significantly from what you would pay for the RiEGL LiDAR with their UAS solution.