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

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

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

Architecture and Information Requirements to Assess and Predict Flight Safety Risks During Highly Autonomous Urban Flight Operations

As aviation adopts new and increasingly complex operational paradigms, vehicle types, and technologies to broaden airspace capability and efficiency, maintaining a safe system will require recognition and timely mitigation of new safety issues as they emerge and before significant consequences occur. A shift toward a more predictive risk mitigation capability becomes critical to meet this challenge. In-time safety assurance comprises monitoring, assessment, and mitigation functions that proactively reduce risk in complex operational environments where the interplay of hazards may not be known (and therefore not accounted for) during design. These functions can also help to understand and predict emergent effects caused by the increased use of automation or autonomous functions that may exhibit unexpected non-deterministic behaviors. The envisioned monitoring and assessment functions can look for precursors, anomalies, and trends (PATs) by applying model-based and data-driven methods. Outputs would then drive downstream mitigation(s) if needed to reduce risk. These mitigations may be accomplished using traditional design revision processes or via operational (and sometimes automated) mechanisms. The latter refers to the in-time aspect of the system concept. This report comprises architecture and information requirements and considerations toward enabling such a capability within the domain of low altitude highly autonomous urban flight operations. This domain may span, for example, public-use surveillance missions flown by small unmanned aircraft (e.g., infrastructure inspection, facility management, emergency response, law enforcement, and/or security) to transportation missions flown by larger aircraft that may carry passengers or deliver products. Caveat: Any stated requirements in this report should be considered initial requirements that are intended to drive research and development (R&D). These initial requirements are likely to evolve based on R&D findings, refinement of operational concepts, industry advances, and new industry or regulatory policies or standards related to safety assurance

Multi-authored monograph

Unmanned aerial vehicles. Perspectives. Management. Power supply : Multi-authored monograph / V. V. Holovenskiy, T. F. Shmelova,Y. M. Shmelev and oth.; Science Editor DSc. (Engineering), T. F. Shmelova. – Warsaw, 2019. – 100 p. - ISBN 978-83-66216-10-5.У монографії аналізуються можливі варіанти енергопостачання та управління безпілотними літальними апаратами. Також розглядається питання прийняття рішення оператором безпілотного літального апарату при управлінні у надзвичайних ситуаціях. Рекомендується для фахівців, аспірантів і студентів за спеціальностями 141 - «Електроенергетика, електротехніка та електромеханіка», 173 - «Авіоніка» та інших суміжних спеціальностей.The monograph analyzes the possible options for energy supply and control of unmanned aerial vehicles. Also, the issue of decision-making by the operator of an unmanned aerial vehicle in the management of emergencies is considered.

Airspace Integration of New Entrants and Safety Risk Management Models

In recent years, the demand for airspace access of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) increased significantly and is continuously increasing for different altitude-types UAS. A similar evolution is expected from Commercial Space Operations (CSO) in the next years. These aviation/aerospace systems will need to be seamlessly integrated into the National Airspace System (NAS), at their operational altitude levels, and accounted for from all perspectives, including proactively addressing their safety hazards. This thesis captures the requirements for the new entrants’ integration, and then identifies and analyzes the safety risks added to the NAS operations by its new entrants, the future omnipresent UAS on different NAS levels, and the coming CSO age. Methodologies such as Functional Hazard Analysis, Subsystem and System Hazard Analysis, and Safety Risk Management are explored and integrated into the airspace new entrants’ framework and models. In addition, techniques such as state-machine modeling and simulation are used on an identified use case of UAS operations in crowded airspace

UAS in the Airspace: A Review on Integration, Simulation, Optimization, and Open Challenges

Air transportation is essential for society, and it is increasing gradually due to its importance. To improve the airspace operation, new technologies are under development, such as Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS). In fact, in the past few years, there has been a growth in UAS numbers in segregated airspace. However, there is an interest in integrating these aircraft into the National Airspace System (NAS). The UAS is vital to different industries due to its advantages brought to the airspace (e.g., efficiency). Conversely, the relationship between UAS and Air Traffic Control (ATC) needs to be well-defined due to the impacts on ATC capacity these aircraft may present. Throughout the years, this impact may be lower than it is nowadays because the current lack of familiarity in this relationship contributes to higher workload levels. Thereupon, the primary goal of this research is to present a comprehensive review of the advancements in the integration of UAS in the National Airspace System (NAS) from different perspectives. We consider the challenges regarding simulation, final approach, and optimization of problems related to the interoperability of such systems in the airspace. Finally, we identify several open challenges in the field based on the existing state-of-the-art proposals

Urban Air Mobility Market Study

The Booz Allen Team explored market size and potential barriers to Urban Air Mobility (UAM) by focusing on three potential markets – Airport Shuttle, Air Taxi, and Air Ambulance. We found that the Airport Shuttle and Air Taxi markets are viable, with a significant total available market value in the U.S. of $500 billion, for a fully unconstrained scenario. In this unconstrained best-case scenario, passengers would have the ability to access and fly a UAM at any time, from any location to any destination, without being hindered by constraints such as weather, infrastructure, or traffic volume. Significant legal and regulatory, weather, certification, public perception, and infrastructure constraints exist, which reduce the market potential for these applications to only about 0.5$2.5 billion, in the near term. However, we determined that these constraints can be addressed through ongoing intra-governmental partnerships, government and industry collaboration, strong industry commitment, and existing legal and regulatory enablers. We found that the Air Ambulance market is not a viable market if served by electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) vehicles due to technology constraints but may potentially be viable if a hybrid VTOL aircraft are utilized