Integration of UAS in the civil airworthiness regulatory system: present and future

The last years are witnessing a number of initiatives worldwide devoted to assess the safety levels of the unmanned aircraft. These initiatives are very heterogeneous; some of them are centred in airworthiness aspects while others focus on operations. From the point of view of a potential UAS manufacturer the actual situation is plenty of uncertainties in relation to the regulations to be applied for certifying the design, manufacturing and maintenance, and from the point of view of the potential operator the situation is analogous with respect to operational procedures. In the present work the emphasis is on the manufacturer’s situation. The objective of this work is to clarify the present civil airworthiness regulatory scene by summarizing all the regulatory efforts up to date and preparing a comparative analysis of them. In this comparison, the manned regulations are included too. The most representative state-of-the-art UAS are analyzed from the point of view of the existing and the future regulatory framework. The main aspects to be considered are related to the airworthiness certification (performances, structural design, etc) for which a quantitative comparison is established in order to clarify how the new regulatory framework, mainly based on the conventional aircraft certification codes, will affect future UAS, compared to the existing regulation

The future of UAS: standards, regulations, and operational experiences [workshop report]

This paper presents the outcomes of "The Future of UAS: Standards, Regulations and Operational Experiences" workshop, held on the 7th and 8th of December, 2006 in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The goal of the workshop was to identify recent international activities in the Unmanned Airborne Systems (UAS) airspace integration problem. The workshop attracted a broad cross-section of the UAS community, including: airspace and safety regulators, developers, operators and researchers. The three themes of discussion were: progress in the development of standards and regulations, lessons learnt from recent operations, and advances in new technologies. This paper summarises the activities of the workshop and explores the important outcomes and trends as perceived by the authors

Small unmanned airborne systems to support oil and gas pipeline monitoring and mapping

Acknowledgments We thank Johan Havelaar, Aeryon Labs Inc., AeronVironment Inc. and Aeronautics Inc. for kindly permitting the use of materials in Fig. 1.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Local Government Policy and Planning for Unmanned Aerial Systems

This research identifies key state and local government stakeholders in California for drone policy creation and implementation, and describes their perceptions and understanding of drone policy. The investigation assessed stakeholders’ positions, interests, and influence on issues, with the goal of providing potential policy input to achieve successful drone integration in urban environments and within the national airspace of the United States. The research examined regulatory priorities through the use of a two-tiered Stakeholder Analysis Process. The first tier consisted of a detailed survey sent out to over 450 local agencies and jurisdictions in California. The second tier consisted of an in-person focus group to discuss survey results as well as to gain deeper insights into local policymakers’ current concerns. Results from the two tiers of analysis, as well as recommendations, are provided here

Drones for parcel and passenger transportation: A literature review

Delivery drones and ‘air taxis’ are currently among the most intensely discussed emerging technologies, likely to expand mobility into the ‘third dimension’ of low-level airspace. This paper presents a systematic literature review of 111 interdisciplinary publications (2013 - 03/2019). The review systematizes the current socio-technical debate on civil drones for transportation purposes allowing for a (critical) interim assessment. To guide the review process four dimensions of analysis were defined. A total of 2581 relevant quotations were subdivided into anticipated barriers (426), potential problems (1037), proposed solutions (737) and expected benefits (381). We found that the debate is characterized by predominantly technical and regulatory problems and barriers which are considered to prevent or impede the use of drones for parcel and passengers transportation. At the same time, definite economic expectations are juxtaposed with quite complex and differentiated concerns regarding societal and environmental impacts. Scrutinizing the most prevalent transportation-related promises of traffic reduction, travel time saving and environmental relief we found that there is a strong need to provide scientific evidence for the promises linked to the use of drones for transportation. We conclude that the debate on drones for transportation needs further qualification, emphasizing societal benefits and public involvement more strongly.TU Berlin, Open-Access-Mittel - 201

Use of airborne vehicles as research platforms

This is the accepted version of the following chapter: Gratton, G. 2012. Use of Airborne Vehicles as Research Platforms. Encyclopedia of Aerospace Engineering, which has been published in final form at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9780470686652.eae604/full. Copyright @ John Wiley & Sons 2012.The use of aircraft is often valuable to position airborne sensors or to conduct experiments in ways not possible purely on the ground. An airframe, typically an older one, must be selected then adapted to the role – likely to include inlets, windows, structural changes, power supply, computing and data recording capacity, and likely the provision of external hardpoints. Once the research vehicle is created, the instruments on board will require calibration, either in isolation or by intercomparison against already calibrated instruments on board another aircraft. This calibration process will continue throughout the life of the airplane. Additionally, an operating organization must be created and obtain any necessary organizational approvals. For some specialist applications, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) may also be used, which carry some special considerations of autonomy and interoperability, but similar concerns of instrument, vehicle, and operational integrity

Study of operational requirements in hostile and congested areas with unmanned air vehicles (UAV/RPAS)

The target of this study is analyse the operational requirement of UAV/RPAS activities in special conditionsThis study analyses and determines the operational requirements for unmanned aerial vehicles and remotely piloted aircrafts when operating in congested and hostile areas. In order to do so, a study of present regulatory framework from different countries is done and proposals published by regulating authorities from Europe and America as well, concluding this initial approach to unmanned aerial vehicle’s regulations with a benchmark of best practices. Afterwards, a risk analysis and a safe study are done by identifying potential risks, taking into account all possible situations and scenarios that can be produced during an operation in a congested area. Once the risks are adequately identified, an evaluation of them is performed, obtaining as a result a safety level which is acceptable or unacceptable in order to ensure the integrity of people on ground, and consequently developing the operation or not. Finally, for those operations associated to a risk that result in an unacceptable safety level, mitigation measures are proposed to reduce the likelihood of hazard happening and the severity of the consequences. It may be noted that these mitigation measures consist in adding technology to unmanned aircraft systems and establishing operational procedures

U.S. Airspace Integration: Perspectives of the FAA UAS Test Site Program

In an effort to integrate unmanned aircraft into the national airspace system, congress mandated action by the Federal Aviation Administration under the Federal Aviation Administration Modernization and Reform Act of 2012. It required the formation of six test sites that would conduct unmanned aircraft operations in an effort to assist the FAA in its task to form safety regulations regarding unmanned aircraft. The FAA has been heavily criticized for its slow movement and inability to meet deadlines. The purpose of this study is to gather perceptions of the FAA’s unmanned aircraft systems test site program. Using a qualitative approach, interviews were conducted with some of the test sites to gain insight of the current status of the test site program after its first year. This study provides information on what otherwise is a very limited researched area, and discovers the complexity of the test site program including the advancements made and the difficult system in which it operates. As a result, themes emerged including lack of support from the FAA, confusion of test sites roles, and the uncertain future of the test site program

A Behavioral Research Model for Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems for Data Gathering Operations

According to Hitlin (2017) of the Pew Research Center, only 8% of U.S. citizens own an unmanned aircraft. Additionally, regarding feelings if U.S. citizens saw an unmanned aircraft flying close to where they live, 26% say they would be nervous, 12% feel angry, and 11% are scared. As of March 9, 2018, there were 1,050,328 U.S. small unmanned aircraft system (sUAS) registrations compared to 947,970 November 29, 2017. While sUAS use has increased in the U.S., it has lagged when compared to other items for personal use available to U.S. citizens as 92% own cell phones (Anderson, 2015). This slower acceptance rate identifies a potential need for more research as to why. No studies have specifically focused on individual factors for the behavioral intention of using sUAS for data gathering, encompassing the variables used in this study, nor a Structural Equation Model that shows relevant factors and associated relationships. Also, current ground theories fall short, lacking appropriate variables or modeling ability. Thus, this dissertation study developed a new behavioral research model termed VMUTES to determine the factors that influenced individuals’ intentions to operate small sUASs for data gathering and relationships between those factors. A sUAS system is comprised of integrated hardware, software, processes, or firmware. Data gathering is defined in this study as the transmission or recording of audio, pictures, videos, or collection of other data for modeler, civil, or public use. The new VMUTES model integrates portions of the technology acceptance model (TAM) and theory of planned behavior (TPB) model integrated with new factors: perceived risk and knowledge of regulations. The study used random sampling of Amazon Mechanical Turk® (AMT) members using an AMT Human Intelligence Task (HIT) that included a link to an online cross-sectional large-scale survey to collect data. Data Analysis included descriptive statistics analysis and the SEM process. Besides developing and validating a model and determining influencing factors, attention was also on verifying the relationships between constructs. Study limitations and future research recommendations are also discussed. Results indicated the VMUTES model had a strong predictive power of sUAS use for data gathering with seven of the ten original hypotheses supported while having a good model fit. Four new hypotheses were also identified with three supported. Additionally, all VMUTES model factors except for facilitating conditions were determined to have either a direct or indirect effect on behavioral intention and/or actual behavior with the TAM and TPB related factors having the strongest effects. Practically, this study filled an aviation research knowledge gap for sUAS use for data gathering. It also provided a research model and identified influencing factors of individuals’ behavioral intentions related to sUAS for data gathering. Thus, the newly developed model incorporating new variables can be used for further sUAS research and can provide an adaptable model for aviation and other technology areas to predict and facilitate new technology implementation where current models fall short. Finally, this study explored new and verified previously existing demographic variables for individuals who use sUASs for data gathering