UAS Q2 2015

Q2 2015

Plus

Small UAV Firms Find Commercial Niche Page 18

AND

Behind The First 99 FAA Exemptions Page 16

www.UASmagazine.com Printed in USA

Safety Shining Through General Atomics' Iconic UAVs Pioneer Sense-And-Avoid Technologies Page 26

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CONTENTS Q2 2015

VOLUME 2 ISSUE 2

FEATURES 18 OPERATIONS

26 ENGINEERING & DESIGN

With the regulatory future for small unmanned aircraft systems more clear, sUAV startups and proven firms alike each work to establish a competitive edge.

The large unmanned aircraft vehicle, General Atomics Ikhana—widely associated with the term drone—may reshape the capabilities of UAVs, thanks to recent sense-andavoid testing.

The Big, Small UAV Industry

By Emily Aasand

Transforming Our Perception of Drones

By Patrick C. Miller

06 EDITOR’S NOTE

Forget What You Know About UAS

By Luke Geiver

08 UAS NEWS

UAS News and Trends DEPARTMENT 34 OPERATIONS

UAS Test Sites: The Evolution Continues

Unmanned aerial system tech parks, major funding rounds and advanced research are now the norm for several of the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration selected UAS test sites.

By UAS Magazine Staff

ON THE COVER: NASA's Ikhana unmanned aircraft vehicle was equipped with sense-and-avoid payload technology and tested with other manned flight vehicles during an early-morning flight in May 2014.

PHOTO: KEN ULBRICH / NASA

www.UASMAGAZINE.com

5

EDITOR'S NOTE

Forget What You Know About UAS

The first 99 unmanned aircraft system (UAS) companies or entities to receive a Section 333 exemption—a regulatory necessity provided by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration allowing for the commercial use of UAS—will forever be remembered. Our UAS Magazine team has made

Luke Geiver

Editor, UAS Magazine

lgeiver@bbiinternational.com

6

UAS MAGAZINE Q2 2015

sure of it. For our second quarter issue, we crafted an infographic to display the number and type of unmanned aircraft vehicles (UAV) that received an exemption through April 3, along with the entities’ titles and their respective UAS application plans. The effort was rewarding, as we believe you’ll see on page 16. The two-page spread, complex and requiring many iterations––we almost scratched it altogether––ultimately tracks the UAS industry’s evolution to the present.

Through March, 68 UAS firms capable of running commercial options were granted exemptions. The jump of exemptions––from 19 in February to 30 in March––at the time, seemed to show true progress in the industry. Looking back, our team was excited to display such an increase through the timeline created by our graphic designer. Then came April, and by April 3, the FAA suddenly changed everything; it provided as many exemptions in three days as it had for all of March. The barrage of exemptions forced us to rethink the information we had intended to display on the two-page spread because the high number of commercial UAS firms approved held more data than we had page space for.

Our Q2 glimpse of the UAS industry offers a unique, fitting and, if nothing else, lucky, description of how rapidly the industry is changing. In Q1, the mood of the UAS world was frustration, but our documented snapshot of 99 UAV firms shows that the industry has a real backbone. And, the best news is not the information we included, but what we did not. Since this issue went to print, it’s safe to say that following the number of newly exempted companies we include in Q3 UAS Magazine, we will use the same comment we used to end our company list: To be continued.

Along with the infographic, Staff Writer Emily Aasand tells the stories of several small UAV companies working to find a financial foothold. Her story yields a stark reminder about UAV platforms and the perspective of end-users looking to UAVs for future use.

Regardless what small UAV providers believe, they will be best served to remember, as Ernest Earon, president of sUAV firm PrecisionHawk, told her, “Our customers don’t want planes, they don’t want pictures, they want answers.”

To address the major industry issue of sense-and-avoid, Staff Writer Patrick Miller reached out to NASA and General Atomics for his story, “Transforming Our Perception Of Drones.” He learned about the collaborative effort between the two major aeronautical mainstays involving a large UAV that, until now, has been known as the icon associated with drones. Their work could be a precedent-setting, sense-and-avoid testing effort or a new safety option for both manned and unmanned aircraft. But most importantly, perhaps, it will likely positively transform our perceptions of the entire UAS industry with every flight hour recorded daily by UAVs of all sizes.

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www.UASmagazine.com VOLUME 2 ISSUE 2

EDITORIAL Editor Luke Geiver lgeiver@bbiinternational.com Staff Writer Emily Aasand eaasand@bbiinternational.com Staff Writer Patrick C. Miller pmiller@bbiinternational.com Copy Editor Jan Tellmann jtellmann@bbiinternational.com

PUBLISHING & SALES Chairman Mike Bryan mbryan@bbiinternational.com CEO Joe Bryan jbryan@bbiinternational.com President Tom Bryan tbryan@bbiinternational.com Vice President of Operations Matthew Spoor mspoor@bbiinternational.com Vice President of Content Tim Portz tportz@bbiinternational.com Business Development Manager Bob Brown bbrown@bbiinternational.com Account Manager Austin Maatz amaatz@bbiinternational.com Sales & Marketing Director John Nelson jnelson@bbiinternational.com Circulation Manager Jessica Beaudry jbeaudry@bbiinternational.com

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Subscriptions Subscriptions to UAS Magazine are free of charge to everyone with the exception of a shipping and handling charge of $49.95 for any country outside the United States. To subscribe, visit www.UASmagazine.com or you can send your mailing address and payment (checks made out to BBI International) to: UAS Magazine/Subscriptions, 308 Second Ave. N., Suite 304, Grand Forks, ND 58203. You can also fax a subscription form to 701-746-5367. Reprints and Back Issues Select back issues are available for $3.95 each, plus shipping. Article reprints are also available for a fee. For more information, contact us at 866-746-8385 or service@bbiinternational.com. Advertising UAS Magazine provides a specific topic delivered to a highly targeted audience. We are committed to editorial excellence and high-quality print production. To find out more about UAS Magazine advertising opportunities, please contact us at 866-746-8385 or service@bbiinternational.com. Letters to the Editor We welcome letters to the editor. If you write us, please include your name, address and phone number. Letters may be edited for clarity and/or space. Send to UAS Magazine/Letters, 308 Second Ave. N., Suite 304, Grand Forks, ND 58203 or email to lgeiver@ bbiinternational.com.

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7

UAS NEWS

UAV NEWS & TRENDS

MISSOURI FIELD FOCUS: Researchers at the University of Missouri are utilizing sUAVs equipped with cameras to monitor cattle and agroforestry areas throughout the state.

PHOTO: UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI WURDACK RESEARCH CENTER

Growing UAS research fields Research efforts connecting unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) with precision agriculture applications continue to mount.

Research initiatives led by both the private and public parties are highlighting the role UAS will play in future agriculture applications. And, with two of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) selected unmanned aircraft systems test sites now offering major access to airspace—North Dakota allows UAS research flights over two-thirds of the state, Kansas allows UAS research flights above the entire state— precision agriculture-based UAS offerings appear to have a long runway. These research efforts have already begun.

In Missouri, researchers 8

UAS MAGAZINE Q2 2015

affiliated with the University of Missouri’s Wurdack Research Center are using the Maveric fixed-wing unmanned aircraft vehicle (UAV) outfitted with cameras and special sensors to monitor cattle, forage, timber and agroforestry systems. The flights are taking place in rural Cooks Station, Missouri, on a 1,200-acre site. The university received a certificate of authorization (COA) for the research. Dusty Walter, Wurdack superintendent, said the school will be applying for additional COAs for other research centers. “I hope that this can help spur new industries in Missouri to not only benefit the producers, but the rest of the state as well,” he said.

Farmspace Systems LLC, a

Tennessee-based UAV firm with an agriculture focus, is utilizing experience gained from Argentina research for its U.S.-based UAS offerings. Formed by former U.S. Marine Corp. Lt. General John Castellaw, the company is providing clients with consulting services, platform options, flight training and service after the sale.

Earlier this year, the company spent time in Argentina surveying fruit tree fields and other agriculture areas of the country in an effort to help its Argentinian affiliates, and to perfect its flight modeling for U.S. clientele.

The company has also formed a working relationship with Middle Tennessee State University and its team of UAS experts including Doug Campbell, operations

manager for MTSU’s aerospace department of UAS. Two years after receiving its first FAA COA, Mississippi State University has advanced its UAS efforts from sUAV operation to its current work with automated computer programs capable of recognizing individual seedlings to quickly determining plant density in a given field. Robert Moorhead, director of MSU’s Geosystems Research Institute and a professor of electrical and computer engineering, said the school’s current UAS work is like applying prescriptions to fields using site-specific data. The work relies on remote-sense imaging and near-infrared capture. Last year, in a study of acres planted in three separate areas, UAVs were used

UAS NEWS

POTENTIAL DEMONSTRATION: Field flights, as the one pictured here, offer students and interested parties a chance to see a sUAV's relevance to agriculture.

PHOTO: UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI WURDACK RESEARCH CENTER

to collect plant population data showing emergence progress, plant heights, growth stages, plants per acre and numbers of unfurled leaves. “Precision ag is one of probably six areas in which commercialization will occur early,” Moorhead said.

“There’s a ton of cost-savings

that could be had if the FAA would just accept the technology.”

Texas public institutions have also officially entered the UAS research field. At Texas A&M-Corpus Christi through Texas A&M AgriLife Research, a team has been granted a COA to

use a fixed-wing UAV to capture images to help in determining crop health. Although the current COA is for a fixed wing UAV for state agency use only, Michael Starek, assistant professor of geographic information science and geospatial surveying engineering, said the school is already

Iowa gauges future UAS use

FARM STATE PREPARES: Iowa, the nation's largest corn producer, has great interest in UAV use. A recent report provides insight into how the state may accept greater UAV use.

The Iowa Department of Public Safety has issued a report on the state’s view and regulatory stance on unmanned aerial systems. The report came at the request of legislators looking for answers regarding the state’s stance on UAVs. “There are several factors that must be balanced when looking at private use regulations. It is important that we protect our citizens from bad actors in such a way that does not overly inhibit First Amendment rights and the free market,” the report said. “It was apparent from the responses

awaiting word on a permit to use a roto-copter for individual field problem monitoring. “I see small-scale UAVs becoming an integral tool for growers, big and small, enabling them to target their needs to better manage crops,” he said.

received to the UAS questionnaire that the commercial potential for unmanned aircraft in Iowa’s future is broad,” and that, “there was a general consensus among stakeholders against the blind overregulation of an industry that has the potential to benefit growth in Iowa.”

A questionnaire used to create part of the report was sent to 31 applicable entities—11 responded.

On the idea of regulation, the report said, “It may be beneficial for Iowa to take a page from the history books and regulate unmanned aircraft technology as regulation is needed rather than a preemptive manner.”

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9

UAS NEWS

SITUATIONAL AWARENESS: An application developed by Botlink can be run from a smartphone or a tablet, enabling UAV operators to see restricted airspace and where other UAVs and manned aircraft are in relation to their UAS. PHOTO: BOTLINK

UNDER CONTROL: The commercial version of Botlink's software is designed for commercial operators who must monitor a fleet of UAS in the field. The dispatcher can plan a flight path for each UAV. PHOTO: BOTLINK

Software innovations improve public, UAS safety Whether it’s a 2-pound quadcopter flying 50 feet off the ground or a 13-ton Global Hawk operating in the stratosphere, all unmanned aerial systems (UAS) need software to operate safely and to assure that the data they collect serves a useful purpose. Throughout the U.S., companies and universities are developing innovative software solutions for UAS. A research team at Texas A&M-Corpus Christie has developed an application called SituMap for law enforcement agencies and emergency first responders. When paired with

10

UAS MAGAZINE Q2 2015

UAS high-resolution imagery and a coffee-table-sized Microsoft Surface Table, the software provides emergency management decision makers with a powerful tool that can help them make plans and provide direction during situations when time is of the essence.

“We collect high-resolution, high-accuracy data because we run proper survey controls,” said Richard Smith, assistant professor in the university’s science and engineering department.

“Then we integrate that into SituMap. The police chief gets it, we have it, and that allows police

to increase their awareness for public safety.”

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi is one of six UAS test sites in the U.S. designated by the Federal Aviation Administration.

Under the university’s certificate of authorization, a senseFly eBee UAV is flown over the campus every two months to gather data.

To make the program appealing and user-friendly, Smith drew on his knowledge of computer games while incorporating ideas from World War II movies and the Matchbox toys from his childhood.

“With SituMap, the idea is to reduce the barriers of entry for mapping,” Smith explained.

“Do I want to draw on the hood of an SUV or draw on SituMap and share it?”

Botlink of Fargo, North Dakota, is commercializing software that provides UAS operators with information on the airspace in which they’re operating, such as where manned and unmanned aircraft are located in relation to their unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). It can work as a smartphone app in the field or on a desktop computer to monitor and direct a fleet of UAVs.

UAS NEWS

QUICK RESPONSE: Alan Gutierrez, chief of the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Police Department, uses SituMap software with a Microsoft Surface Table and high-resolution imagery gathered by a UAV. PHOTO: TEXAS A&M-CORPUS CHRISTI

“At the heart of all our platforms is the safety net,” said Shawn Muehler, Botlink CEO. “We believe that anybody flying should have a safety net feature.

We’re the only platform that has this feature built in as its foundation.”

With Botlink, UAS operators who want to fly safely can.

The program not only creates situational awareness and lets them know if they’re flying in controlled airspace, but it also tells them how to contact the nearest FAA control center should the need arise.

“On top of that, we put in all the regulations—400 feet and the regulations that pertain to UAV flying or that are specific to manned aircraft, but correlate to UAV flying,” Muehler noted. “Our first goal

was to build a safety platform for people to go flying and still have fun, but be legal, to know what they’re doing.”

On a more basic level, Galois of Portland, Oregon, has developed an open-source programming tool called SMACM (Secure Mathematically-Assured Composition of Control Models) Pilot. Designed with security as a priority, it enables programmers to create UAS applications such as autopilots that can be safely and reliably modified.

“Right now, I feel like we’re probably the only solution to having a tool kit that enables you build into a better drone versus software that seven or eight people wrote and nobody else understands or knows how to change,” said

Patrick Hickey, a Galois software engineer. “If something goes wrong in that software, your flying lawnmower goes out of control and could hurt somebody.”

As Hickey explained, it’s not about providing an autopilot program that enables someone to take a UAV to the park and have fun, but instead giving software engineers the ability to write an autopilot program that does what they need it to do.

“I’m more interested in tools than in products,” he said.

“I think we need more tool kits and fewer polished products.”

SMACCMPilot runs on PX4 hardware, a platform used by hobbyists, researchers and developers. The PX4 Autopilot Project is an open-source, open-hardware project led by

the Pixhawk group at ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology). It’s supported by 3D Robotics, a leading manufacturer of open-source unmanned aerial vehicle technology.

“The real value in what we’re doing isn’t the one piece of drone software we made,” Hickey said. “We’ve got a set of tools where you can make changes to the way this drone is supposed to behave. Or you could make a completely new thing, such as software that goes in an automobile or a rocket or a pacemaker—any number of safety-critical applications.”

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UAS NEWS

State laws impact UAS use by law enforcement Are states going too far in passing legislation restricting the conditions under which law enforcement agencies can operate unmanned aerial systems (UAS)?

A panel of legal and law enforcement experts believes so.

The four-member panel gave presentations during the UAS Magazine’s March webinar “Aerial Assets: UAS In Law Enforcement.”

James Mackler, a Nashville criminal defense attorney with the Bone McAllester Norton law firm, specializes in UAS law. He notes that at least 20 states have enacted legislation that requires law enforcement agencies to obtain a warrant “What they do is really limit it far more than it would otherwise be limited by traditional case law or statutes dealing with law enforcement,” Mackler explained.

“The typical model that the states use is to say that evidence obtained using an unmanned system cannot be used in court if it was obtained without a warrant.”

Imposing a warrant requirement on UAS use by law enforcement agencies is contrary to well-developed case law, which generally allows evidence in plain view to be gathered by a police officer and used in court, said Mackler.

“Now, if that same officer or UAS pilot gathers evidence of something in plain view using an unmanned system, by law in many states, it won’t be allowed,” he said.

Alan Frazier, a deputy with the Grand Forks (North Dakota) Sheriff ’s Department and an associate professor of aviation at 12

UAS MAGAZINE Q2 2015

GET A WARRANT: UAS law enforcement experts are concerned that putting special restrictions on using UAVs to gather evidence creates overly complex and inconsistent laws. They recommend a "technology agnostic" approach.

PHOTO: GRAND FORKS SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT

the University of North Dakota School of Aerospace Sciences, says that to protect privacy, laws should be “technology agnostic,” “My fear with these pieces of legislation that focus like a laser beam on unmanned aircraft systems is that they tend to have contradictory language in them,” he explained. “They’re all over the board as to what can be done in one state but can’t be done in another state. That becomes very complex.”

Dean Attridge, co-owner of Sentinel Air in New Mexico, said the hybrid Sky Arrow airplane he flies is an easier sell with law enforcement because it can be operated as a manned aircraft and converted to an unmanned aircraft.

“A number of sheriffs have said to me that they’re very scared of bringing UAVs or drones into

their establishment because a lot of them are elected officials and it could make life very difficult for them,” he said. “I think it’s fear of the unknown; that’s all it is.”

Anthony Galante, a UAS instructor in Florida with the Unmanned Safety Institute and Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, said law enforcement agencies considering incorporating UAS into their operations should be proactive and transparent with their community.

“The second that it looks like you’re hiding something, that’s when you can have the community turn on you,” he noted.

Galante encourages law enforcement agencies to hold public meetings with local leaders, answer their questions and demonstrate the capabilities of UAS.

The community needs to provide direct input and be involved in UAS policy making, he says.

Frazier agreed with the approach, and added, “If your community does not want you to have these, the ultimate answer is: You shouldn’t have them.”

Mackler expects that with time, the courts will help settle the question of appropriate use of UAS for law enforcement.

“We’re all going to benefit from case law as the courts interpret these statutes or form some sort of model or uniform state code so every state can create similar statutes,” he said.

UAS NEWS

of the road to human beings and autopilots,” Evans said. “We are going to show how autopilot can interact with those and not go outside of those virtual lines.”

Drone deliveries, emergency response capabilities, infrastructure inspection and network coordination will all be part of the project dates in each city. Several major sUAV manufacturers have already signed on to participate.

Flights and UAVs used will all be SKY HIGHWAY: Demonstrations in major metro areas like London or Las Vegas will help show how unmanned aircraft insured through Global Aerovehicles can interact over people and with other flight vehicles in a single airspace.

IMAGE: SKYWARD space and in compliance with FAA regulations, according to Skywards. “We are going to demonstrate that there are safety opFollowing a major multicity Blackhawk pilot Jonathan Evans other elements related to UAV timized routes that mitigate risks tour including Las Vegas, London hopes so. Evans has already flight. and Portland, the unmanned created a major place in the UAS The project, Urban Skyways, and that there are safe ways to do aircraft vehicle highway of the industry through his team’s abil- will “demonstrate that there will this with the same standards of aviation safety we have all come sky could be established. At least ity to help UAS operators with be a set of virtual highways in accustomed to,” Evans said.

Skyward, the Portland-based UAS flight plans, insurance compliance the sky. They will be geofenced software firm formed by former checklists, asset management and corridors that designate the rules

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12

Growing Company List 1. Astraeus Aerial 2. Aerial MOB 3. Pictorvision 4. HeliVideo Productions 5. Snaproll Media 6. RC Pro Productions Consulting dba Vortex Aerial 7.

Flying Cam 8. Clayco 9. Trimble Navigation, Ltd 10. VDOS Global 11. Woolpert 12. Douglas Trudeau, Tierra Antigua Realty 13. Advanced Aviation Solutions 14. AeroCine 15. Burnz Eye View 16. Slugwear dba Likeona Tree 17. Total Safety U.S. 18. Team 5 19. Shot Over 20. Helinet Aviation Services LLC 21. Alan D. Purwin 22. Pravia LLC 23.

24. Blue-Chip UAS 25. Asymmetric Technologies 26. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. 27. Chevron UAS, Inc. 28. Capital Aerial Video LLC 29. BOSH Precision Agriculture dba Digital Harvest 30. Picture Factory Inc. 31. Commonwealth Edison Company 32. LowCountryRD Corp.

33. Video Solutions LLC 34. 3D Aerial Solutions LLC 35. Viking Unmanned Aerial Systems Inc. 36. Singer’s Creations 37. FalconSkyCam 38. Build Imagery LLC 39. BNSF Railway Co. 40. Quiet Creek Corp.

41. Aetos Group Inc. 42. Sky-Futures UAS Inc. 43. Aerial Production Services Inc. 44. Solusia Air LLC 45. Mike Johnson 46. Notus Access Group 47. Saratoga Aerial Photo and Video 48. Jeffrey J. Walsh 49. Steven Zeets 50. EnviroMINE Inc. 51. Industrial Aerobotics Inc. 52. Oceaneering International Inc. 53. NextEra Energy Inc. 54. Wilbur-Ellis Co. 55. Vision Services Group LLC 56. Montico Inc. 57. MicroCopter Professional Service Inc. 58. Aeryon Labs Inc. 59. Aerius Flight LLC 60. Phoenix Air UNMANNED 61. Utility Aerial Services Inc. 62. Southern Electric Co. 63. San Diego Gas and Electric Co. 64. Drone Fleet & Aerospace Management Inc. 65. SkyPhilly Inc. 66. Mr. Rogers W. Meyer PLS 67. Bechtel Equipment Operations Inc. 68. Upward Aerial 69. Aviation Unmanned 70. The Dow Chemical Co. 71. First Flight Photography 72. AeroVironment Inc. 73. Avigators 74. SenseFly LTD. 75. The City of Roswell Coalition 76. Darling Geomatics 77. ETAK Systems Inc. 78. HUVRData LLC 79. Hawaii AirVision LLC 80. Elevated Perspective Media 81. Monterey Drone 82. Marek Management Inc. 83. AIG PC Global Services Inc. 84. United Services Automobile Association 85. AirRaid Aerials LLC 86. Nixon Engineering Solutions LLC 87. Danis Building Construction Co. 88. Advanced Aerial Inspection Resources LLC 89. Perfect View Aerial Media LLC 90. CineDrones LLC 91. Shotwell Medial 92. Videe This! Inc. dba Yeah Drones to be continued...

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UAS MAGAZINE Q2 2015

7

Aerial Surveying

Construction

8 Oil & Gas

19

Agriculture

19

Power Transmissions

12

Sports Events

1

Patrolling

4

1

FAA UAS EXEMPTIONS

6

Law Enforcement and Search & Rescue

Operations | Platform

Research & Development

4

30 30

Number of FAA UAS exemptions granted per month

Mining

UAV Platform Stats

Total UAV platforms: 144 Multirotors: 108 Fixed wings: 32 Rotorcraft: 4

(September 2014-April 3, 2015)

April

(as of 4.3)

March

February

January

December

November

October

September

6

1

108

0

Aerial Photography

18

4

32

5 7

The Blanket COA

Applicable to UAS operations with Section 333 Exemption

Aerial Filming

UAV is 55 pounds or less

26

Daytime operation use only Visual line of sight maintained *Overall: 99 total exemptions, 14 exempt UAS operations, 92 exempt companies, 144 overall UAV platform exemptions (duplicate platforms included in total)

Inspections

Wildlife & Forestry

2

20 www.UASMAGAZINE.com

17

OPERATIONS

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UAS MAGAZINE Q2 2015

OPERATIONS

The BIG

Small UAV Industry With the recently published small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, the small UAS industry is rapidly expanding. While companies are exploring various unmanned vehicle platforms, sensors and payload systems, many are also working to find a niche in the industry.

By Emily Aasand

NICHE SPOT: PrecisionHawk has found a niche in the UAS industry by focusing on answering questions with software created for processing, management and analytics, which are necessary to go end-to-end on an information gather task for customers.

PHOTO: PRECISIONHAWK

www.UASMAGAZINE.com

19

OPERATIONS

Into The Industry

PrecisionHawk, a UAS and remote sensing company, believes its place in the industry will be in end-to-end solutions for aerial data gathering, processing and analysis across multiple industries. PrecisionHawk stepped into the UAS industry in 2010, with an initial focus on viticulture under the moniker WineHawk.

Its focus was on providing pest protection for vineyards and soft-body fruits.

“The idea of, while we were

up there protecting the crops from these pest birds, we'd also be able to do rural sensing imaging and give that data back to the grower on a subscription basis,” says Ernest Earon, president and co-founder of PrecisionHawk.

“As soon as we started focusing and got better at gathering the data, general agriculture really picked up on it and took off.

We’ve been trying to keep up ever since.”

In 2013, the company rebranded to PrecisionHawk to

give a better context of the services it provides on the remote sensing and information-gathering side of precision agriculture, the industry that continues to supply the bulk of its business.

The company has eight of the top-10 multinational feed and grain companies as partners, with the energy and insurance sectors rapidly increasing in scope and activity, according to the company.

“Groups of insurers like USAA, need faster and more

accurate assessments and better claim response, whether you’re talking about buildings, crops or infrastructure, so it’s important for them to have a team to send out, to collect really good data— reliably and robustly—over and over again and then have a backend to support dealing with the data,” says Earon. “They need help dealing with that information so they can make accurate claim assessments or just better decisions on what they’re going to do next.”

ComEd Takes Flight Energy provider partners on UAS addition

Commonwealth Edison Company (ComEd), a Chicagobased energy provider, has received approval from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration to use unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) to inspect its power lines.

“This UAS technology will allow us to be more proactive in identifying problems before they interrupt power to our customers,” says Terence Donnelly, executive vice president and chief operating officer of ComEd. “This will be especially useful in remote areas that can be difficult to access and will provide an added layer of safety for our workers by making it possible to inspect lines without sending a person into a hazardous area.

“We have a number of facilities both in transmission as well as distribution that are in hard-to-access areas, so we see a lot of opportunity given our system scale and some of the accessibility of that in order to use unmanned systems to patrol the lines,” Donnelly says.

The FAA exemption allows ComEd to operate DJI Innovation S900 UAS for the purpose of electric transmission and distribution utility system monitoring, inspections and damage assessments.

The project, the company says, is a joint effort with Illinois Institute of Technology. IIT will provide a licensed pilot for the partnership and is evaluating a light, flexible cage around the UAS that may maximize battery usage and protect the UAS, ComEd says.

“IIT is a hometown university and we’ve partnered with them on a number of activities,” says Donnelly. “We partnered with IIT, who actually had been working on UAS, and had some trained pilots as part of their research programs with their students. We figured it’d be a good idea to partner 20

UAS MAGAZINE Q2 2015

KEEPING AN EYE ON ELECTRICTY: ComEd has partnered with Illinois Institute of Technology, which provides the caged UAS used to inspect ComEd's power lines.

PHOTO: COMMONWEALTH EDISON COMPANY

with them on how we can further develop this technology and improve the efficiency of the craft.”

“It’s exciting to be working with ComEd to study robot in real-world conditions,” says Matthew Spenko, associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at IIT. “From a research perspective, this will allow us to learn more about how robots perform in unstructured, outdoor environments.”

ComEd is aiming to launch the technology into the field this summer.

“The use of emerging technologies like UAS and other robotic technologies is an important factor in ensuring the continued resilience of the power grid,” Donnelly says. “We are continuing to seek out innovative technologies that will bring improved benefits to our customers.”

OPERATIONS

A VISUAL PERSPECTIVE: PrecisionHawk began by protecting vineyards and soft-body fruits from pest birds using infrared images, and soon realized that by focusing on gathering data, their services appealed to general agriculture.

EXPANDING HORIZONS: The Lancaster UAV is the company's current platform, but PrecisionHawk says it has other platforms in production.

PHOTO: PRECISIONHAWK

The company currently relies on a fixed-wing aircraft, the Lancaster, but says it has other platforms. The newest platform, in production now, will continue to offer exceptional data capture, a theme the company believes has come to define its operations. “That’s our first priority— data. And our second is ease of use and feasibility,” Earon says.

Along with its fixed-wing platform, it also produces and distributes the back-end software for processing, management and analytics.

“It includes all the planning around your sites, around the areas of interest you’re trying to collect for over time and space, it automatically flows through the aircraft and directs what the aircraft is going to do, shows you

the information—the sensor and payload data that’s being collected—and pushes it up to the cloud,” says Earon. “The cloud does the automatic processing and notifies you when your surveys are done and allows you to apply further algorithmic work to it or to share it and comment and collaborate on it.”

Answering questions is one of PrecisionHawks’ main focuses, according to Earon. “Our customers don’t want planes, they don’t want pictures, they want answers,” he added.

“If we’re doing our job right, people will forget about the airplane and they can focus on the stuff they need to do, which is understanding what decisions they need to make to improve their business,” says Earon.

Uncharted Plan

Like most companies, PrecisionHawk has come across major hurdles. The regulation environment surrounding the sUAS industry has been one such hurdle, Earon says. “That uncertainty has created a lot of risk and that risk made it very difficult for large corporations and large business entities to invest in the strategy around the space,” he says.

“The great thing is that uncertainty is now going away,” says Earon. “The aviation authorities are setting down a fairly consistent approach to this, and that’s really good because it means that those models can now be developed. Those strategies, those initiatives can now be adopted by larger players, and we’re seeing

that. We’re seeing that activity pick up now that people are seeing what the space is going to look like.”

Another challenge the company is noticing is being able to address the needs of several industries—agriculture, oil and gas and insurance—that don’t necessarily know what services they need initially.

“Remote sensing has been around for years, but it’s only now that the technology and the computation capability has allowed us to do this quickly, easily and relatively inexpensively,” says Earon. “People are now trying to understand: What can I learn and how is this going to impact my business?”

Some businesses have clearly defined needs, clearly

www.UASMAGAZINE.com

21

OPERATIONS

‘Our customers don’t want planes, they don’t want pictures, they want answers’ -Ernest Earon, president and co-founder of PrecisionHawk

defined problems that they’re trying to overcome, which PrecisionHawk can help solve, while other businesses are working with PrecisionHawk to better understand what they need and what model they need to maximize, he adds.

“The big thing is, it’s information first. That’s really the way you come at it,” Earon says. “We’re trying to enable people to make decisions. It’s definitely an exploration for a lot of these people to make sure you’re doing it the way that works best for them.”

Future Models

For Earon, there are two ways to look at the future of the UAS industry. In the near term, he believes there’s going to be growth in specific service offerings due to the FAA’s relaxed rules around the 333 exemptions. Long term, he thinks, the industry is going to see a much more general model and place in a wide variety of other applications.

“There will be organizations who are flying themselves, but I think in a lot of cases, particularly the enterprise level clients, there’s

Blue-Chip UAS Branches Out

Exemption clears path for commercial options Blue-Chip Unmanned Aerial Solutions has joined the growing list of U.S. Federal Aviation Administration unmanned aircraft system (UAS) exemptions after receiving a nod to use UAS to provide services across the oil and gas, wildlife, agriculture and aerial photography industries.

With this exemption, Blue-Chip UAS is able to have flight operations within 5 nautical miles (NM) of any airport or airfield inside Class E airspace with an approved certificate of authorization, airport manager approval and issuance of a Notice to Airmen.

“The fact we are approved to operate inside 5NM truly shows the FAA’s willingness to continue moving forward with the integration process,” says Clint Stevens, executive director and co-founder of Blue-Chip UAS. “This provides our company with a significant opportunity, as it dramatically increases our operational area.”

Blue-Chip UAS will be using the Sensurion Magpie UAS to provide consulting and service solutions across multiple industries.

“What’s unique about this aircraft is that it’s the first FAA-certified through its special airworthiness certificate, which they accomplished in conjunction with Nevada Institute for Autonomous Systems test site,” says Stevens. “We felt that was the aircraft to stay with based on the certification. We can go to our insurance companies, for example, with a certified aircraft, with certified pilots and now with the authorization to conduct these operations under this exemption.”

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UAS MAGAZINE Q2 2015

WELCOME HOME: The Blue-Chip UAS team captured this image of a community earlier this year. Among many services it can provide, aerial photography is one of them.

PHOTO: BLUE-CHIP UAS

On the consulting solutions side, Blue-Chip UAS will go in, analyze an organization’s needs and build a program— which the company can decide whether to keep in-house or outsource it to Blue-Chip UAS through its services business.

Blue-Chip UAS then helps each company find the type of aircraft that would best suit its needs.

Blue-Chip is prominent in the oil and gas industry right now, utilizing the Magpie to gain seismic collation data for oil and gas exploration.

“We also have a client that we’re working with to monitor infrastructure—looking at well heads, oil pumps and pipelines—to look at some of the efficiencies,” Stevens says.

OPERATIONS

DECISION MAKERS: Businesses are learning how to implement remote sensing capabilities from UAVs to understand what decisions they need to make to improve their business, according to the PrecisionHawk team.

PHOTO: PRECISIONHAWK

going to be a secondary industry that’s going to build up to service the needs of those clients,” says Earon. “We’re seeing really rapid improvements in platforms and software and the software around the technologies in general, and that’s a good thing. It means that the base level of performance is growing and increasing and that’s a very exciting thing for us.”

As for the future of PrecisionHawk, Earon believes that lies in focusing on servicing and answering questions clients didn’t even know they had.

“I think it’s going to be very exciting over the next couple of years,” says Earon. “I think we’re seeing that there’s a lot of work in building up those models and strategies for our customers and users of this technology to figure out what they’re going to do.

“Companies are taking the time now to do the pilot projects, to understand what those models are going to look like and what they can gain from them,” Eron adds.

PrecisionHawk says it’s seeing very broad adoption in a lot of different industries, but that it’s all happening in a methodical and strategic way.

Author: Emily Aasand Staff Writer, UAS Magazine eaasand@bbiinternational.com 701-738-4976

FLARE FOCUS: Total Safety can now use UAVs to inspect oil well site flare stacks like the one pictured here in the Bakken oil play located in North Dakota.

Total Safety Flare Inspections In-house UAV use for oil, gas clients

Total Safety U.S. Inc., an integrated safety and compliance services provider, was one of the first U.S. companies to use unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) to perform inspections of flare stacks under a recent U.S. Federal Aviation Administration exemption.

“Typically, chemical plants and refineries are no-fly zones, so making these visual inspections is only possible from a distance,” says Lawrence Crynes, general manager of Total Safety Flare Services. “But distance and other factors can compromise the effectiveness of an inspection and they are sometimes impossible to do because of weather, trees, wires, fencing and other restrictions.

“Our goal is to check the mechanical integrity of the flare and visible components to help determine the need for repair or replacement,” Crynes continues. “Mechanical integrity has an impact on the safety of employees, the facility and the community. Plus, a flare that is not performing properly, may also produce emissions that are outside regulatory requirements.”

Total Safety’s UAV technology is a two-person operation, having one technician pilot the aircraft and the other wears special goggles to see what the camera can see and take close-up, highresolution photos and videos for further study.

“This method is faster than other methods and provides an instant record of the inspection,” says Chris Barton, downstream district manager at Total Safety. “Setup for aerial inspection using a Total Safety drone is quick and easy to perform.” www.UASMAGAZINE.com

23

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ENGINEERING & DESIGN

26

UAS MAGAZINE Q2 2015

ENGINEERING & DESIGN

Transforming Our Perception Of Drones The Ikhana, NASA’s unmanned aerial vehicle—a UAV long linked to the image of a drone—serves science while paving the way for UAS integration

By Patrick C. Miller

The distinctive shape of the Predator unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) manufactured by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. has become synonymous with what the public recognizes as a “drone,” mostly in the context of military operations.

However, when the day comes that UAVs are routinely crisscrossing the skies performing tasks ranging from inspecting pipelines to surveying land to providing data and communications during and after natural disasters, NASA’s civilian research variant of the MQ-9 Predator B—the Ikhana—will have played a pivotal role in transitioning UAS from military to civil use through public and private collaboration.

Since 2006 when NASA acquired the Ikhana—a Choctaw word which means intelligent, conscious or aware—from General Atomics to support its earth science missions, the UAV has been used to develop and demonstrate advanced aeronautical technologies and as a test bed to develop capabilities and technologies that improve unmanned aerial systems (UAS).

“You could say that NASA helped develop UAS and that UAS are helping us with our various science projects and research,” says Peter Merlin, NASA senior strategic communications specialist, noting the agency’s 60-year history of UAS research.

The Ikhana has a flight endurance of more than 20 hours and can reach

PREFLIGHT CHECK: Joe Kinn, crew chief at NASA's Armstrong Flight Center in Edwards, California, readies the Ikhana unmanned aerial vehicle for a morning flight.

PHOTO: TONY LANDIS / NASA

www.UASMAGAZINE.com

27

ENGINEERING & DESIGN

DAWN PATROL: The Ikhana, a civilian version of the General Atomics Predator B, conducts an engine run-up before a flight to test the ADS-B tracking technology.

PHOTO: TONY LANDIS / NASA

altitudes above 40,000 feet. The aircraft is 36 feet long with a wingspan of 66 feet. Weighing 10,500 pounds, it can carry a 3,000-pound payload. NASA operates the Ikhana with technical support from the U.S. Air Force Medium Altitude UAS Division and the Nevada Air National Guard.

Aside from their similar shapes, the Ikhana’s bright white color and easily recognizable red, white and blue NASA 28

UAS MAGAZINE Q2 2015

logo are hints that the types of missions it flies are much different from the dull gray U.S. Air Force Predators with their lowvisibility markings.

Main Mission

One of the Ikhana’s recent missions, which will continue through this summer, has produced milestones in the development of sense-and-avoid (SAA) technology that will one day enable UAS to safely op-

erate in the same airspace as manned civil and commercial aircraft.

“One of our goals is to take those baby steps toward integrating unmanned aircraft systems into the national airspace.” says Heather Maliska, deputy project manager for SAA technology at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Center at Edwards Air Force Base in California. Armstrong is the host center for NASA’s Unmanned

Aircraft Systems Integration in the National Airspace System project.

Late last year, NASA, the Federal Aviation Administration, General Atomics and Honeywell Aerospace collaborated in conducting flight tests at Armstrong that successfully demonstrated a proof-of-concept SAA system. Further flight tests scheduled for this summer will advance development of the FAA's Airborne Colli-

ENGINEERING & DESIGN

sion Avoidance System for Unmanned Aircraft (ACAS Xu).

“We got through this flight test and we’re hoping that it will encourage the FAA to continue to invest in this technology, that we think is a key enabler to commercial operations of unmanned aircraft,” says Brandon Suarez, General Atomics project engineer. “For all the negative talk about what the FAA has done or hasn’t done, this is really an opportunity they have to contribute significantly to the commercialization of this technology. We really think it’s important that the FAA continue to invest in ACAS Xu and that they continue to work with the community on standardization of sense and avoid.”

During a five-week period at Armstrong Flight Center, nine flights were conducted which involved 170 encounters and generated more than 50 hours of flight data for the FAA to analyze. Part of the testing involved Armstrong’s Ikhana UAV and a General Atomics-owned Predator B, which marked the first air-to-air collision avoidance encounters between two UAS. “One of the reasons we wanted to get two unmanned aircraft in the flight test was to show that this system could work with itself,” Suarez says.

“That’s really the key. We think it will provide a level of safety even greater than manned aircraft experience today.”

Suarez says General Atomics has a relationship with NASA because of the Ikhana and began working with the FAA more than two years ago to integrate ACAS Xu onto

the Predator B platform. The company brought in partner Honeywell Aerospace, which is developing a sensor fusion algorithm for sense and avoid.

Maliska says having the companies involved is an important part of conducting research and development.

“There’s a combination of what General Atomics brings to what we know of the Ikhana and with the Predator B, they’re the experts,” Maliska explains.

“To have them be involved—at least from the platform side of things—it’s been very helpful.

It’s not the sort of thing you’d do without some collaboration.”

The Ikhana was equipped with the SAA system while the Predator and two manned fixed-wing aircraft served as “intruders.” General Atomics also performed the first flight tests of a pre-production airto-air radar for SAA—the Due Regard Radar—the first radar of its kind designed for a UAV. “Our role was to be the system integrator, bringing together the technology that the FAA was developing and inte-

grating it into the Predator B system—both the aircraft and the ground station—and then provide those bilateral relationships so that the whole project could move forward as a collaboration,” Suarez says.

The flight tests evaluated the performance of ACAS Xu collision avoidance algorithms against air traffic with both the currently used Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS II) and the proof-of-concept ADSB, a device the FAA will require all aircraft operating in U.S. airspace to have by January 2020.

AERONAUTICAL MILESTONE: At NASA's Armstrong Flight Center, the Ikhana made history by testing sense-and-avoid technology against another UAV, a General Atomics Predator B. PHOTO: TONY LANDIS / NASA

www.UASMAGAZINE.com

29

ENGINEERING & DESIGN

‘There weren’t any cases when we weren’t seeing the other aircraft and had to abort.

It was all planned.’

-Mauricio Rivas, NASA

DEMILITARIZED SERVICE: Manufactured by General Atomics, the Ikhana is 36 feet long, has a wingspan of 66 feet and can carry a 3,000-pound payload to heights above 40,000 feet.

PHOTO: LORI LOSEY / NASA

“With the collision avoidance system the FAA has developed, it automatically commanded the aircraft to go to a particular heading to avoid the conflict,” says Maliska. “While there was a pilot on the ground who was there for a safety check, it allowed the aircraft to make the automatic maneuver.

If there was something that we on the ground didn’t expect, the pilot was there to turn the system off and take control of the aircraft to make sure that we were making a safe maneuver.”

Using what Maliska calls a “build-up approach to flight safety,” the tests began with the SAA-equipped Ikhana maneuvering with manned aircraft to trigger a resolution advisory that provides different geometries for the encounters—how

30

UAS MAGAZINE Q2 2015

the Ikhana flies in relation to where the intruder is flying. The Ikhana flew against one intruder at a time with the two aircraft flying at different attitudes.

“We can make sure that our system is telling us what we think it’s going to tell us,” Maliska says. “It’s proving out our predictions.”

The next step was the unmanned versus unmanned flights where the Ikhana flew against the Predator B aircraft.

With its sensing capability, the Ikhana responded either manually or autonomously, conducting a maneuver to avoid the intruder aircraft.

“One of the big achievements was doing the flight test on an operational unmanned aircraft because it forced us to solve all of the challenges re-

lated to integration and getting the system to work in the unmanned architecture,” Suarez notes. “It forced us to solve all of the safety of flight issues related to flying two aircraft on a collision course. None of those problems are really present when you integrate the technology on to a manned aircraft.”

A significant result of the tests was that there were no surprises.

“There weren’t any cases when we weren’t seeing the other aircraft and had to abort,” says Mauricio Rivas, NASA’s Ikhana project manager. “It was all planned. Any time we did get into an encounter, you knew what you were getting, and it was a smooth maneuver to avoid it.”

At the ground control station, the aircraft tracks were fed into a threat resolution module where the collision avoidance maneuver algorithm worked to create self-separation between the aircraft.

“The algorithm computes a resolution advisory—a collision avoidance maneuver,” Suarez explains. “It can be a command to climb or descend if the maneuver is against a cooperative aircraft—a transponder- or ADSB-equipped aircraft. Against a non-cooperative intruder, the maneuver is horizontal—turn right or turn left.”

The collision avoidance commands are sent to the ground control station where they can be manually executed by the pilot or automatically executed onboard the aircraft by sending a command directly to the flight computer.

As Suarez describes the process, the pilot on the ground sees the resolution advisory.

The aircraft waits a few seconds, and if it doesn’t receive a command from the pilot, it will begin to perform the collision avoidance maneuver on its own.

“The pilot has the ability to override that maneuver by taking back control of the aircraft,” Suarez says. “That’s how the majority of the flight tests ended up where the ACAS Xu portion was in automatic mode and the Ikhana was flying back and forth executing collision avoidance maneuvers.”

When the intruder is no longer a collision threat, the ASAS Xu system issues a clear of conflict notice. Usually, the pilot will determine when and how the UAV should return to its previous course or mission.

However, as Suarez notes, “It’s not always obvious after a collision avoidance maneuver what the next step should be.

One of the benefits of having a pilot in command is that they can observe what happens, talk to air traffic control and negoti-

ENGINEERING & DESIGN

IKHANA ACHIEVEMENT TIMELINE Early in its NASA career, the Ikhana proved its worth during the Western States Fire Mission from 2007 to 2009. It carried an experimental wing-mounted pod called the Autonomous Modular Sensor (AMS) that provided timely information on where fires were burning, where they had burned and the fuel potential where they were going to burn. The images were overlaid on Google maps to give an accurate visual representation of the situation.

Mauricio Rivas, NASA's Ikhana project manager, says the AMS sensor developed on the Ikhana is still being used for fighting wildfires, although it’s usually installed on manned aircraft.

Scott Dann, General Atomics’ director of strategic development, works with the company’s civilian customers— including the FAA and international governments—and is responsible for UAS integration into national and international airspace.

He worked with NASA during the Ikhana’s wild fire missions and with U.S. Customs and Border Protection when the agency was flying a Predator B UAV to provide information on spring flooding in North Dakota.

He remembers reaction of firefighters to data collected by the Ikhana.

“We walked into a command center with a colored map of exactly where the fire was at,” Dann says. “The commander was overjoyed.”

The information was also available live to the public via the Internet where the updated maps could be viewed.

“I was able to pull up a map and tell a friend that the fire had missed his house,” Dann recalls.

Despite the value of the information gathered by Ikhana, Scott says it was sometimes difficult to convince firefighters of the technology’s worth relative to “boots on the ground.”

The question, he says, was, “Do you want more accurate data on where fire is burning or 30 more trucks and people?”

Rivas says that when the Ikhana provided live video of the Orion capsule splashdown last December, it not only illustrated how the UAV can operate in coordination with manned aircraft, but also its flexibility in adapting to missions for which it wasn’t originally designed. Cruising at 27,000 feet, its infrared cameras picked up

DON’T FORGET THE FIRE: From 2007 to 2009, the Ikhana was used to monitor and assess wildfires. Real-time data generated from the UAV was provided to residents concerned about possible property damage or emergency route access.

IMAGE: NASA

the capsule and tracked it all the way from parachute deployment to splashdown.

“The public could see what was going on and not just look at a computer-generated version of what was happening,” he says. “The Orion is a big deal for NASA and the country.”

Rivas stresses the importance of the research and development nature of the Ikhana for NASA and the broader UAS world.

“Our goal is not so much to become operational, but rather to demonstrate technologies NASA developed that could be applied for other purposes. I think we’ve been successful in doing that. We have different pods that we can use for different science missions.”

And he notes that the Ikhana has played an instrumental role in both civil and military UAS R&D, training and education.

“We have had other missions where we’ve developed or tested capabilities for the Air Force,” Rivas says. “We gave the FAA a tutorial on UASs. They were part of the crew flying the airplane so they could see the nuances involved with this type of aircraft. That helps them see any issues, plus the benefits of this type of vehicle versus a manned aircraft.”

Although there’s a great deal of technology to be tested and proven before UAS become a common sight in the skies, NASA’s work remains focused on that objective.

THE IKHANA’S MISSIONS INCLUDE: • In December 2014, the Ikhana provided live video of NASA’s Orion crew module when it splashed down in the Pacific.

• In August 2014, the Ikhana completed a deployment to the Hawaiian Islands where new systems were tested that enable it to fly science missions into the Arctic Circle.

• In 2012, NASA used the Ikhana to test an Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) device to determine an aircraft’s location using satellite navigation.

• In 2008, Ikhana served as a test bed for NASA’s patented fiber optic-based sensor technology to measure wing shape changes during flight.

• From 2007 to 2009, Ikhana participated in the Western States Fire Mission where it demonstrated improved wildfire imaging and mapping capabilities using a sophisticated sensor and real-time data communications equipment. www.UASMAGAZINE.com

31

ENGINEERING & DESIGN

ate a return to the clearance or continue on the current flight path.”

The goal is to make UAS operations as transparent as possible to air traffic control by having the unmanned aircraft act like any other manned aircraft.

Flight Test Takeaways

Another unique aspect of the flight testing is the three displays used—two from NASA and one from General Atomics.

“Those three displays communicated over a NASA simulation environment, which is an important thing for testing because now we can actually inject virtual traffic into the test,” Suarez says. “Hopefully in the flight tests coming up, we’ll be able to have both live traffic being tracked by the sensors on board the aircraft and virtual traffic injected from the simulation environment to provide a more realistic environment for the pilot to fly in.”

The data gathered from the flight tests for the FAA will also be used by the Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics RTCA Special Committee 228 to develop minimum operational performance standards for UAS, a key aspect of integrating UAS into the national airspace.

“That standard is what’s going to drive the timeline for implementation and integration into the national airspace,” Suarez says. “It’s the standard that the FAA is going to use as a certification basis, which will take a couple more years to develop.”

“We have had other missions where we’ve developed or tested capabilities for the Air Force,” Rivas says. “We gave the FAA a tutorial on UASs. They were part of the crew flying the airplane so they could see the nuances involved with this type of aircraft. That helps them see any issues, plus the benefits of this type of vehicle versus a manned aircraft.”

Although there’s a great deal of technology to be tested and proven before UAS become a common sight in the skies, NASA’s work remains focused on that objective.

“I think it’s fair to say that the ultimate goal will be to see these remotely piloted and autonomous systems operating in the airspace the same as any other civil and commercial traffic,” Merlin says.

“We’re taking the steps to develop technologies that will help the FAA make the decisions on when they’re comfortable with integrating those airplanes into the traffic pattern. This is the beginning, and I’m sure there’s going to be a lot of work ahead.”

When the history of UAS development is written, the Ikhana might very well be an iconic part of the story.

Author: Patrick C. Miller Staff Writer, UAS Magazine 701-738-4923 pmiller@bbiinternational.com

32

UAS MAGAZINE Q2 2015

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UAS TEST SITE UPDATES

UAS KICKOFF: Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., presents a flag flown over the nation's Capitol Building during a ceremony at Grand Forks (N.D.) Air Force Base to launch the Grand Sky UAS technology park.

PHOTO: UAS MAGAZINE

Site: Northern Plains UAS Test Site Location: North Dakota Of Note: Armed with an FAA-issued statewide certification of

WITNESSING HISTORY: More than 100 gathered in a hanger to witness the signing of an enhanced lease agreement between the U.S. Air Force, Grand Forks County and the Grand Sky Development Co. PHOTO: UAS MAGAZINE

UAS Test Sites: The Evolution Continues From unmanned aircraft systems tech park groundbreakings to historic unmanned aircraft vehicle flights, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration’s designated test sites are starting to realize their respective potential on the U.S. UAS industry and the communities that house each facility.

By UAS Magazine Staff

34

UAS MAGAZINE Q2 2015

authorization allowing UAS test flights over the entire state, the Northern Plains UAS Unmanned Aircraft Systems Test Site of North Dakota is now home to a first in the industry: a UAS tech park.

Through an agreement between the U.S. Air Force, Grand Forks County and the Grand Sky Development Co., UAS payload developers and platform manufacturers will soon have the ability to setup shop in a soon-to-be developed 217-acre tech park. The facility will feature 1.2 million square feet of hanger along with shop, lab and data center space.

“With the facilities we have, we’re going to be able to launch and land the biggest of the bigs,” said Tom Sowyer, Grand Sky president. “We plan on being able to support small- and mediumsized, too, but we have the infrastructure to support Global Hawks and larger. And we also have the infrastructure to support the chase planes and whatever else we need to do to fly safely.”

Northrop Grumman Corp. has already signed a lease agreement to become the first anchor tenant of the facility. According to Sowyer, the tech park will become the first commercial drone airport in the world. “This unprecedented public/private venture between the Air Force, county and the private sector will allow government and private firms to have a home base as they fly their drones in North Dakota and around the country.”

In addition to the Grand Forks facility, the Northern Plains UAS Test Site has other testing locations across the state. And, due to the state-wide COA, Robert Backlund, the test site’s executive director said that, “no matter what specific application a company might be interested in for aeronautical research, we can find a place in North Dakota, and we can help find a cooperative research partner through the universities and the landowners that want to participate.”

UAS TEST SITE UPDATES

IMPORTANT ATTENDEES: During the press briefing announcing the $545,000 fund given to the Pendleton UAS site, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown was on-hand.

PHOTO: OREGON GOVERNOR'S OFFICE

Site: Pan Pacific UAS Test Range Location: Hawaii, Oregon, Alaska Of Note: The three-state test site including Oregon, Hawaii and Alaska has already

gained notoriety for the Alaska UAS test site’s work on BP’s oil pipelines and Hawaii’s weather-related work using UAVs. Recently, the state of Oregon accomplished an impressive feat of its own by announcing a $545,000 funding round into a test site in Pendleton, Ore. “We’ve made a significant investment as a community in unmanned aerial systems and we believe this industry is about to take off,” said Phillip Houk, Pendleton mayor. “We think there are going to be some real opportunities for Pendleton and eastern Oregon that will pay dividends for the state.”

Ryan Frank, spokesperson for Business Oregon, the state’s economic development organization, said the investment will be used to construct an industrial park at the test site. The site could house many of the state’s UAV startups, he said. SOAR Oregon, a nonprofit group funded by the state, will run the facility and the site.

“The main thing that the money is targeted for is the nuts and bolts of the operation,” Frank said. Construction could be complete as early as 2016. Test activity is already underway, however. Currently, two UAS firms have received certification of authorization (COAs) to fly at the sites, and another 20 have also applied and are planning to join the site.

STAFFED FOR SUCCESS: The Lone Star UAS team hopes to add infrastructure in 2015 to accommodate its growing staff that includes 20 members in Corpus Christi, Texas.

PHOTO: LONE STAR UAS CENTER OF EXCELLENCE & INNOVATION

Site: Lone Star UAS Center of Excellence & Innovation Location: Texas Of Note: The Lone Star UAS Center of Excellence & Innovation has the

airspace needed for several short- and long-range flights, and now it is looking to add ground infrastructure. The site has already partnered with Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi and Engineering Experiment Station, the University of Texas at Arlington Research Institute and Camber Corp.

There are currently two COAs for the site.

LSUASC has already tested a ground-based sense-and-avoid system, logged nearly 100 range-operation hours, including more than 17 flight hours, and hired 20 full-time employees in Corpus Christi.

“Our opportunities are basically dependent on our funding stream. Financing our operations is a No. 1 priority for us,” says Ron George, senior research development officer with Texas A&M Corpus Christi. “We believe that we have plans in place, we have things underway at this moment that we believe are going to be fruitful for us, so that’s job one in my office—is the money.”

In 2015, LSUASC plans to complete building its already proposed infrastructure. The infrastructure includes several flight ranges along with building components at each site. The Lone Star Test site team also intends to continue to assess environmental impacts of UAS operations at launch and recovery sites and within the volume of authorized airspace.

www.UASMAGAZINE.com

35

UAS TEST SITE UPDATES

Site: Mid-Atlantic Aviation Partnership Location: Virginia Of Note:

The Mid-Atlantic Aviation Partnership (MAAP) FAA-selected UAS test site located in Virginia, has seen a pent-up demand for UAS technology in business and industry. “Many entrepreneurs and businesses want to fly UAS and to do so in a legal manner,” MAAP told UAS Magazine. “They want to work with MAAP and its partners to make it happen.”

Since September 2014, MAAP has been a constant on the UAS achievement timeline. Last year, it worked with law enforcement officials to use UAV’s in a search and rescue mission for a missing University of Virginia student (the first use of the technology for the application in school history). In March, MAAP conducted its first flight using a fixed-wing UAV to inspect an energy pipeline route.

With the help of its main partners, University of Maryland, the state of Maryland, Rutgers University and the state of New Jersey, the site hopes to achieve three main things this year: advance overall UAS technology by flying more complex operations, conduct more operations in Maryland and New Jersey, and continue research flights using UAS for oil pipeline inspections.

MAAP has also worked on forensic testing for faux crash scenes, detecting radiation for potential use in a Fukishima nuclear power plant disaster situation, surveyed cropland and probed clouds to study microorganisms.

The demand for MAAP’s ability to provide UAS technology to the public through testing can been seen clearly through its work with a coalition of news organizations, according to MAAP. The team at MAAP is currently working with users (reporters) and the FAA to determine the best equipment and training needs for the use of sUAVs on a news site. The group of news organizations includes The Washington Post, The New York Times Co., NBCUniversal, Getty Images and several others.

RIGHT FLIGHT: The unmanned aircraft vehicles used during the pipeline inspections verified right-of-way boundaries.

PHOTO: VIRGINIA TECH UNIVERSITY

Site: Nevada Institute for Autonomous Systems Location: Nevada Of Note: With one major test flight behind it, the Nevada UAS test site has its

eyes on several 2015 initiatives. The site, run by the Nevada Institute for Autonomous Systems includes the Governor’s Office of Economic Development, the University of Nevada, Reno and Las Vegas, and the Desert Research Institute as major partners. In 2015, the site’s main objectives include research on air traffic control procedures and how they might evolve after the introduction of UAS into the civil environment with NextGen; a focus on UAS standards and operations as well as operator standards and certification requirements; improving navigation and control of autonomous systems to develop applications related to environmental science and land management, and to help develop applications such as cloud seeding to fight forest fires.

Earlier this year, the site conducted its first ever test flight using the Sensurion MAGPIE MP-1, fixed wind UAV. At the time of the flight, Joe Burns, Sensurion

36

UAS MAGAZINE Q2 2015

2015 PLANS:

-Research evolution of UAS integration into current air traffic control operations -Develop UAV operator standards -Improving autonomous systems CEO, said that it was a great day for all parties involved and that it was “an important step forward in the unmanned aircraft industry, and for aviation innovation in Nevada.” The UAV used in test flight was one of the first to carry a registration number provided by the FAA. Along with its MAGPIE MP-1 flight, the Nevada site has also been granted a COA to use an Insitu ScanEagle at the Desert Rock Airport and partnered with Flirtey, a technology developer that provides real-time delivery using UAVs.

UAS TEST SITE UPDATES

UAS APPLICATIONS TESTED BY NUAIR:

1. Precision agriculture 2. Wildfire fighting 3. Pipeline patrol 4. Missions for the New York Department of Transportation and Department of Environmental Conservation 5. UAS platform research and development PRECISION AG: Bill Verbettan with the Cornell Cooperative Extension Service carries a PrecisionHawk UAS used for agriculture research in New York.

PHOTO: NUAIR

Site: Northeast UAS Airspace Integration Research Alliance Location: New York, Northern Michigan Of Note: Griffis International Airport is the unofficial home

for some of the New York UAS test siteâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s major achievements. At Griffis, NUAIR has become a fully operational test site, safely flown UAS in the class D airspace at Griffis under tower control without interruption to regular manned-aircraft traffic and even started the installation of a ground-based sense-and-avoid system.

With its three most important partners, the state of New York, SRC Inc.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Saab Sensis Corp. team and Lockheed Martin Corp., NUAIR has already received four agriculture COAs with Cornell Cooperative Extension for fixed-wings UAVs, three with FlyTerra for one fixed-wing and two rotary-wing UAV applications, two with Lockheed Martin Corp. for the U.S. Department of Interior demonstrations using a fixed-wing and rotary-wing UAV, and, one research and development COA with Logos Technologies for a powered parasail UAV. According to the NUAIR team, during the first year of operation, it had roughly 900 test site inquiries that resulted in seven test proponents and approximately 50 test sorties flown. In 2014, there were more than 150 media interviews conducted and articles written on the site. NUAIR has released requests for information on roughly 40 technical or researchbased projects, and received 36 responses. Both NASA and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security have sent teams to tour the Griffis location.

This year, growth at the site will include further work on testing beyond visual line-of-sight and ground-based senseand-avoid systems.

FIGHTING FIRES: Kaman Corp. and Lockheed Martin held a demonstration of firefighting capabilities using K-MAX and Indago UAS at Griffis International Airport near Rome, New York.

PHOTO: LOCKHEED MARTIN CORP.

www.UASMAGAZINE.com

37

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UAS MAGAZINE Q2 2015

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