WASHINGTON — As interest in drones by businesses grows, the University of
Maryland has opened a drone test facility on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.
While strict rules bar companies from flying drones, businesses can partner
with the university to get the projects in the air, The Baltimore Sun reports.
Matt Scassero, a former Naval aviator, heads the test facility.
He tells The Sun companies are already on the drone bandwagon.
The Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative wants to use them to inspect its
infrastructure and check out downed lines in remote areas.
Scassero says drones also may be used to assess fish populations in the
Chesapeake Bay.
And, University of Maryland Eastern Shore researchers are investigating how
drones may be able to help farmers by targeting fertilizer to specific parts
of fields that need it.
On Friday, Scassero says the facility launched a Talon 240 drone at the
facility.
The test flight, he says, will help to create the research and database that
will enable the Federal Aviation Administration to write the rules and
regulation needed to allow industry and the public to use drones.
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