2.3 - Blog: Unmanned Aerial Systems

Category: “Regulations and Commercial sUAS”

Prior to June of this year, businesses wishing to use their small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (sUAS) for commercial purposes, were governed the same way hobby flyers were administered, under section 336 of Public Law 112-9 (Federal Aviation Administration, 2016). This section prohibited commercial use of the unmanned aircraft (UA), and required the businesses to submit and receive a waiver prior to any commercial activity. For example, a videographer in the real estate business wishing to take aerial pictures of their property listings using an off the shelf quad rotor UAV, were violating the law unless a waiver was granted by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). These waivers were issued under Section 333 of Public Law (Federal Aviation Administration, 2015). It could be a cumbersome process and the FAA heard from users that a more streamlined process was required.

Federal Regulation Part 107

After much public comment, the FAA issued Federal Regulation Part 107. This regulation governs the integration and operation of small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS) in the National Airspace System (NAS) and was published this year (Federal Aviation Administration, 2016). Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (sUAV), as defined in this regulation, are UAVs up to 55lbs maximum takeoff weight. These can now be used for commercial operations according to the new rule published in June (U.S. Government Publishing Office, 2016). The new law describes operating limitations and remote pilot in command (rPIC) responsibilities.

Part 107 limitations

There are limits to the new regulation, for example, maneuvering beyond line of sight (BLOS), night operations or UAVs that exceed the 55lb weight limit are not permitted. A Part 107 waiver is still necessary under these circumstances (Federal Aviation Administration, 2016). Individuals and businesses can apply for these waivers and the FAA has already approved over 100 operators (Federal Aviation Administration, 2016) who wish to exceed the limitations in regulation. An important restriction of Part 107 is the specific prohibition of the BLOS package delivery business model. The language says “No waiver of this provision will be issued to allow the carriage of property of another by aircraft for compensation or hire” (Federal Aviation Administration, 2016). Looking ahead, regulations governing sUAS commercial activity will need to evolve just as the technology and UAV capability increases.

 

Fahlstrom, P. G., & Gleason, T. J. (2012). Introduction to UAV Systems. Hoboken, United Kingdom: Wiley.

Federal Aviation Administration. (2015, January 29). UAS Section 333 FAQs (latest version 01/29/2015). Retrieved from https://oeaaa.faa.gov/oeaaa/external/uas/content/UASSection333FAQs.jsp

Federal Aviation Administration. (2016, June 21). Summary of small unmanned aircraft rule. Retrieved from http://www.faa.gov/uas/media/Part_107_Summary.pdf

Federal Aviation Administration. (2016, August 29). Waivers to certain small UAS operating rules. Retrieved from https://www.faa.gov/uas/beyond_the_basics/#waiver

 

1.5 - Blog: UAS Strengths and Weaknesses

Observation is one of the many missions the military has employed with various Unmanned Aerospace Vehicles (UAV). One of these is the Lockheed Martin Desert Hawk III. This UAV gives operators such as the British Army (Ripley, 2016) a backpack portable UAV with up to two hours observation capability with a two pound payload capacity (Lockheed Martin Corporation, 2015).

The Desert Hawk III is a fixed wing, waterproof, propeller driven UAV that weighs approximately 8 pounds (Lockheed Martin Corporation, 2015). It is very robust, quick to deploy and has been in military use, including combat operations, since 2005 (Lockheed Martin Corporation, 2015). It has a very quiet acoustic signature and can provide warfighters a day/night observation platform that can be assembled and launched within 10 minutes (Barrie, 2015). Emitting low noise is a clear military advantage when you do not want the target of observation to be aware of the monitoring. Since this UAV is a fixed wing platform, hovering is not an option, even though it can fly as slowly as 25 kts (Lockheed Martin Corporation, 2015). If the operator wishes to observe over a fixed point, they can circle the target. Its navigation function is also programmable and can be loaded with a pre-planned Global Positioning System (GPS) route of flight.

Civilian use of the Desert Hawk III could provide search and rescue or law enforcement, the same observation capabilities the British Military employs. It has a “360-degree color electro-optic and infrared Full Motion Video (FMV) integrated camera systems” (Lockheed Martin Corporation, 2015), and is hand launched. The manufacturer has also developed a “plug and play” capability to quickly change out the sensor payload for this UAV (Lockheed Martin Corporation, 2015). The infrared sensor would aid civilian operators detect and monitor individuals in low light environments, just as it would for the military. The low acoustic signature could be used by civilian operators anytime they would like the UAV to remain undetected, such as observation of noise sensitive wildlife.

A competing platform to the Desert Hawk III might be one of the many multi-rotor UAVs in the marketplace, such as DJI Phantom 4 configured with an Exo1 skeleton (Burns, 2016). This is a standard DJI Phantom 4, but with an added undercarriage that can be configurable to carry a payload that is retrievable from the UAV. It’s easy to envision the Phantom carrying a small lifesaving payload to a stranded or trapped survivor. The Desert Hawk III is hand launched and has much more loiter capability than the Phantom, up to two hours versus 28 minutes for the Phantom 4 (DJI, 2016). This extra observation time is beneficial for detection and monitoring, but a fixed wing UAV would most likely not be able to deliver a small package precisely to a stranded person, a clear advantage for a UAV that can hover.

If I looked ahead and tried to see the development path small observation platforms will take, I would expect range, loiter time and payload improvements to continue. Military applications will probably drive these improvements because of the greater resources nation states can bring to the equation. The civilian operators will surely find uses for the improved UAVs.

Barrie, A. (2015, September 21). DSEI: Desert Hawk drone soars in London | Fox News. Retrieved from http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2015/09/21/dsei-desert-hawk-drone-soars-in-london.html

Burns, M. (2016, October 12). Turn a DJI Phantom 4 into a search & rescue drone with the EXO 1 exoskeleton | TechCrunch. Retrieved from https://techcrunch.com/2016/10/12/turn-a-dji-phantom-4-into-a-search-rescue-drone-with-the-exo-1-exoskeleton/

DJI. (2016). Phantom 4 - DJI’s smartest flying camera ever. Retrieved from http://www.dji.com/phantom-4

Lockheed Martin Corporation. (2015). Desert Hawk enhancing warfighter capabilities. Retrieved from http://www.lockheedmartin.com/content/dam/lockheed/data/ms2/documents/Desert_Hawk_Brochure.pdf

 Ripley, T. (2016, June 20). UK transfers Watchkeeper UAVs to helicopter command | IHS Jane's 360. Retrieved from http://www.janes.com/article/61615/uk-transfers-watchkeeper-uavs-to-helicopter-command