# FAA’s landmark approval for American Robotics & its impact on drones

- Show: [The Robot Report Podcast](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-robot-report-podcast)
- Published: 2021-01-22
- Length: 39m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-robot-report-podcast/2021-01-22-faas-landmark-approval-for-american-robotics-its-impact-on-drones
- Listen: https://soundcloud.com/robot-report-podcast/american-robotics-landmark-faa-approval-and-its-impact-on-commercial-drones

## Summary

Reese Mozer, CEO and co-founder of American Robotics, explains the company's landmark FAA approval to operate automated drones without human observers on site, detailing the remote monitoring system and safety stack. He discusses how this enables unlimited daily flights for agriculture and infrastructure missions in rural areas, marking a shift from previous 'beyond visual line of sight' waivers that required local pilots. The episode also covers the regulatory hurdles, the distinction between technical autonomy and economic/legal viability, and the broader industry context including Boston Dynamics' Atlas robot and Cruise's autonomous vehicle expansion.

## Chapters

- [0:06](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-robot-report-podcast/2021-01-22-faas-landmark-approval-for-american-robotics-its-impact-on-drones#t=6) Introduction and Robo Business Direct Sponsor Read
- [1:20](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-robot-report-podcast/2021-01-22-faas-landmark-approval-for-american-robotics-its-impact-on-drones#t=80) American Robotics FAA Approval Details
- [4:13](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-robot-report-podcast/2021-01-22-faas-landmark-approval-for-american-robotics-its-impact-on-drones#t=253) Comparison to Autonomous Vehicles and Tele-operators
- [5:35](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-robot-report-podcast/2021-01-22-faas-landmark-approval-for-american-robotics-its-impact-on-drones#t=335) Mission Types: Agriculture and Infrastructure
- [6:33](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-robot-report-podcast/2021-01-22-faas-landmark-approval-for-american-robotics-its-impact-on-drones#t=393) Technology Stack and Safety Systems
- [8:46](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-robot-report-podcast/2021-01-22-faas-landmark-approval-for-american-robotics-its-impact-on-drones#t=526) Scaling Operations and Human-in-the-Loop Ratios
- [11:05](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-robot-report-podcast/2021-01-22-faas-landmark-approval-for-american-robotics-its-impact-on-drones#t=665) FAA Regulatory Process and Education
- [13:56](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-robot-report-podcast/2021-01-22-faas-landmark-approval-for-american-robotics-its-impact-on-drones#t=836) Political Neutrality and Industry Impact
- [15:44](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-robot-report-podcast/2021-01-22-faas-landmark-approval-for-american-robotics-its-impact-on-drones#t=944) Business Model and Revenue Generation
- [17:36](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-robot-report-podcast/2021-01-22-faas-landmark-approval-for-american-robotics-its-impact-on-drones#t=1056) Commercial Drone History and Misleading Expectations
- [19:18](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-robot-report-podcast/2021-01-22-faas-landmark-approval-for-american-robotics-its-impact-on-drones#t=1158) Drone Delivery Reality vs. Hype
- [20:21](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-robot-report-podcast/2021-01-22-faas-landmark-approval-for-american-robotics-its-impact-on-drones#t=1221) Company Origins and Boston Robotics Cluster
- [21:34](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-robot-report-podcast/2021-01-22-faas-landmark-approval-for-american-robotics-its-impact-on-drones#t=1294) Technical vs. Economic Viability of Drones
- [22:53](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-robot-report-podcast/2021-01-22-faas-landmark-approval-for-american-robotics-its-impact-on-drones#t=1373) The Misleading Term 'Autonomous'
- [24:35](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-robot-report-podcast/2021-01-22-faas-landmark-approval-for-american-robotics-its-impact-on-drones#t=1475) Safety Thresholds and Failure Rates
- [27:09](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-robot-report-podcast/2021-01-22-faas-landmark-approval-for-american-robotics-its-impact-on-drones#t=1629) News: Boston Dynamics Atlas, Levandowski Pardon, Cruise Funding

## Topics

- [Certification & compliance](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/certification-and-compliance)
- [Robotics & autonomy](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/robotics-and-autonomy)
- [Validation & product-market fit](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/validation-and-product-market-fit)
- [Leadership, teams & culture](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/leadership-and-culture)

## Most relevant to

early-stage companies

## Mentioned

- American Robotics (company)
- FAA (other)
- Boston Dynamics (company)
- Atlas (product)
- Uber (company)
- Waymo (company)
- Cruise (company)
- Microsoft (company)
- GM (company)
- Honda (company)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [Roger Pecina: Drones as First Responders, Flying Cars, Minority Report, DJI | Hard Tech Podcast #12](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hard-tech-podcast/2023-09-03-roger-pecina-drones-as-first-responders-flying-cars-minority-report-dji-hard-tec) (Hard Tech Podcast)
- [The Blueprint for Scaling: Google’s A2A protocol, GPT-4.1, Memes and more](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/built-2-scale/2025-04-30-the-blueprint-for-scaling-googles-a2a-protocol-gpt-4-1-memes-and-more) (Built 2 Scale)
- [18-Year-Old Founder: Why America Needs Its Own Drone Industry](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/ontrack/2025-07-31-18-year-old-founder-why-america-needs-its-own-drone-industry) (OnTrack)
- [Skydio CEO Adam Bry explores how autonomy and AI are reshaping drones; what happened after a Waymo killed a cat; revisiting the history of civilian drones](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/go-no-go/2025-11-11-skydio-ceo-adam-bry-explores-how-autonomy-and-ai-are-reshaping-drones-what-happe) (Go/No-Go)
- [Episode 127: Robots exploring other planets - Frances Zhu](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/robot-talk/2025-10-03-episode-127-robots-exploring-other-planets-frances-zhu) (Robot Talk)

## Citing this page

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