Operators of small and recreational drones may be unaware of regulations and laws, and would not know of all the no-fly areas or people who have requested privacy over their property. But, hobby operators would not only use PROWL to comply with the law, they want to ensure that their drone does not get lost or damaged, and do not want to have to retrieve their drone from a dangerous location or angry property owner. By using PROWL, it is possible to keep their drone out of dangerous or prohibited areas, away from obstacles and still keep flying and capturing that video and great photos!
Rules and regulations can change and be complex. Casual or pleasure users can’t be expected to spend hours researching all areas that they are not allowed to fly, to look up who has property that they want privacy for, or to investigate what events might be happening at a local sports ground in a few hours – they just want to fly. For those people who want to fly their drone to the perfect vantage point to get that great sunset view, may not know that they are over a person’s private property, or that the area they are in is categorised as National Park and inaccessible for them to recover their aircraft. The PROWL system will enable users to be better informed as to the areas that they should not enter.
Hobby operators do not want to lose or damage their drone, or be slapped with a fine – that is more than their drone is worth! By using flight planning software that accesses the PROWL data source, the drone operator can define safe areas for their flight, boundaries which they should not cross, and have prior awareness of known hazards that might include rapid air movement or temporary hazards like high-speed train lines and crane operating areas.