NASA highlights, 1986 - 1988

Highlights of NASA research from 1986 to 1988 are discussed. Topics covered include Space Shuttle flights, understanding the Universe and its origins, understanding the Earth and its environment, air and space transportation, using space to make America more competitive, using space technology an Earth, strengthening America's education in science and technology, the space station, and human exploration of the solar system

Study of extravehicular protection and operations

Extravehicular protection and operation

The Challenges of Drone Application in the Construction Industry

Drone technology is currently being used in many areas, and the increasing prevalence of drones is evident in all areas. Drones were first used for military purposes and now they have become an important part of military actions. In recent years, drone technology has become widespread in various industries including journalism, filmmaking, aerial photography, shipping, delivery. However, drone technology is still in its infancy and has not had a significant impact on the construction industry in Malaysia. Therefore, the study's objective was to assess the challenges preventing the application of drone technology in the Malaysian construction industry. The methodology used for this research was qualitative, which is data collection through interviews with three drone experts. The respondents in this research were directors of construction companies that use unmanned aerial vehicles for their operations. The findings showed that drones faced the challenges of unfamiliarity, lack of knowledge, reticence to adopt new technologies, privacy issues, and security issues. These challenges faced by drone technology will not prevent its application in the Malaysian construction industry. However, Government support is important in promoting the use of drone technology and raising people's awareness of drone technology in the construction industry

Continuous Autonomous UAV Inspection for FPSO vessels

This Master's thesis represents the preliminary design study and proposes the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) -based inspection framework, comprising several multirotors with automatic charging and deployment for 24/7 integrity inspection tasks. This project has three main topics. First one describes the operational environment and existing regulations that cover use of UAVs. It forms the basis for proposal of the relevant use-case scenarios. Third part comprises two chapters, where design of concept and framework is being based on the previous factors. It shows that before implementation of fully autonomous inspection system, there is a need to cover both regulatory and technical gaps. It can be explained by the fact that there does not exist any autonomous inspection system today. Thus, this project can be seen as a base for future development of the UAV-based inspection system, as it focuses on creation of a general framework

UAV Based 5G Network: A Practical Survey Study

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are anticipated to significantly contribute to the development of new wireless networks that could handle high-speed transmissions and enable wireless broadcasts. When compared to communications that rely on permanent infrastructure, UAVs offer a number of advantages, including flexible deployment, dependable line-of-sight (LoS) connection links, and more design degrees of freedom because of controlled mobility. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) combined with 5G networks and Internet of Things (IoT) components have the potential to completely transform a variety of industries. UAVs may transfer massive volumes of data in real-time by utilizing the low latency and high-speed abilities of 5G networks, opening up a variety of applications like remote sensing, precision farming, and disaster response. This study of UAV communication with regard to 5G/B5G WLANs is presented in this research. The three UAV-assisted MEC network scenarios also include the specifics for the allocation of resources and optimization. We also concentrate on the case where a UAV does task computation in addition to serving as a MEC server to examine wind farm turbines. This paper covers the key implementation difficulties of UAV-assisted MEC, such as optimum UAV deployment, wind models, and coupled trajectory-computation performance optimization, in order to promote widespread implementations of UAV-assisted MEC in practice. The primary problem for 5G and beyond 5G (B5G) is delivering broadband access to various device kinds. Prior to discussing associated research issues faced by the developing integrated network design, we first provide a brief overview of the background information as well as the networks that integrate space, aviation, and land

Unmanned Systems Sentinel / 24 June 2016

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The Design Fabrication and Flight Testing of an Academic Research Platform for High Resolution Terrain Imaging

This thesis addresses the design, construction, and flight testing of an Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) created to serve as a testbed for Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) research topics that require the rapid acquisition and processing of high resolution aerial imagery and are to be performed by academic research institutions. An analysis of the requirements of various ISR research applications and the practical limitations of academic research yields a consolidated set of requirements by which the UAS is designed. An iterative design process is used to transition from these requirements to cycles of component selection, systems integration, flight tests, diagnostics, and subsystem redesign. The resulting UAS is designed as an academic research platform to support a variety of ISR research applications ranging from human machine interaction with UAS technology to orthorectified mosaic imaging. The lessons learned are provided to enable future researchers to create similar systems

The Japanese Impact on Global Drone Policy and Law: Why a Laggard United States and Other Nations Should Look to Japan in the Context of Drone Usage

The global Unmanned Aircraft System, or unmanned aerial systems (UAS) revolution is poised to have an impact across a broad range of industries from agriculture to filmmaking. The United States has taken a difficult and slower path to implementing UAS policy, with Congress essentially mandating the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to take action in 2015. The FAA\u27s 624-page rulebook marks the first attempt of any comprehensive plan to regulate remote-controlled and commercial aircraft activity. Across the globe, Japan, a country with a proven track record in electronics and technology, is outpacing other countries in devising regulations that will increase UAS use to benefit the nation\u27s citizens. This paper argues that Japan\u27s historical experience with unmanned aviation vehicles (UAVS), beginning mainly in the 1980s in the agricultural sector, allowed the Japanese government to coalesce more quickly in revising their civil aviation law than most developed countries. This note examines Japan\u27s influence on UAS policy with the formation of regulations and adoption of new technology. More specifically, it looks at the United States as a case study as evidence of Japan\u27s influence on other developed nations

Utilizing UAS to Support Wildlife Hazard Management Efforts by Airport Operators

The FAA requires airports operating under the Code of Federal Regulations Part 139 to conduct a wildlife hazard assessment (WHA) when some wildlife-strike events have occurred at or near the airport. The WHA should be conducted by a Qualified Airport Wildlife Biologist (QAWB) and must contain several elements, including the identification of the wildlife species observed and their numbers; local movements; daily and seasonal occurrences; and the identification and location of features on and near the airport that could attract wildlife. Habitats and land-use practices at and around the airport are key factors affecting wildlife species and the size of their populations in the airport environment. The purpose of this ongoing study is to investigate how UAS technologies could be safely and effectively applied to identify hazardous wildlife species to aviation operations as well as potential wildlife hazard attractants within the airport jurisdiction. Researchers have used a DJI Mavic 2 Enterprise Dual drone with visual and thermal cameras to collect data. Data have been collected in a private airport in a “Class G” airspace. We have applied different risk mitigation strategies to mitigate risks associated with drone operations in an airport environment, including a visual observer during data collection, and an ADS-B flight box to obtain information of manned aircraft at and around the airport. Multiple flights were conducted in different days of the week as well as different times of the day. Noteworthy to mention we have had the technical support of QAWB throughout this study. Preliminary findings suggest that UAS can facilitate the observations made by a QAWB during a WHA, including the identification and assessment of potential wildlife attractants (e.g., wetlands), and the identification of wildlife species (e.g., White ibis). Additionally, initial findings indicate that UAS facilitates data collection in areas that are difficult to access by ground-based means (e.g., wetlands). Another key finding of this study was that our team could observe, and with the assistance of the QAWB identify different wildlife species and habitats simultaneously during each UAS flight. In different words, from a single image (video and/or picture) a QAWB could obtain valuable information about different wildlife species and related habitats. Lastly, results suggest that the versatility and speed of UAS (including their high-quality cameras and sensors) ensure that data can be collected more thoroughly and faster over large areas during a WHA

Validation of simulation models: Mine-hunting case-study

Simulation Models