UAV News Talk – Drone News, eVTOLs, UAS Policy & Air Mobility

Guest Lawrence H. Brinker is Executive Director and General Counsel for the Northeast UAS Airspace Integration Research (NUAIR) Alliance, the New York and Massachusetts UAS research and test site. Larry is also a former Air Force and commercial pilot.

We talk about the formation of the NUAIR Alliance as the managing UAS site operator for New York and Massachusetts, where the main test objective is going to be air and ground borne sense and avoid radar.

Larry tells us about the facilities at Griffis and Joint Base Cape Cod, and the corridors that will be instrumented for collection of data to establish sense and avoid protocols. Manufacturers and other parties who will use the test range will have the ability to test their technology. The FAA is but one customer of the range. They'll analyze the data to come up with regulations.

Besides collaboration with the other UAS test sites, NUAIR sees public education as part of their mandate. They intend to take a lesson from early commercial aviation where World War One pilots barnstormed across the country, thus introducing airplanes to a population concerned about safety. Larry says public perception and public demand are keys to commercial success.

Visit the NUAIR Alliance website and follow them on Twitter.

This Episode:

At the end of December, the FAA announced the six congressionally-mandated UAS research and test sites that are a key part of the U.S. roadmap integrating UAS into the national airspace. These sites, operated by public entities, will perform research, and develop operational experience and needed technologies.

• FAA selected Six Drone Testing Sites

The Sites:

The University of Alaska

Geography: seven climatic zones, and locations in Hawaii and Oregon.

Mission: standards for unmanned aircraft categories, state monitoring and navigation, safety standards for UAS operations.

• University of Alaska, Frontier Scientists, Alaska’s Unmanned Aircraft Research
• Drone test sites spell opportunity for companies
• Alaska Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration (ACUASI)

State of Nevada

Geography: geographic and climatic diversity.

Mission: UAS standards and operations, operator standards, certification requirements. Also, how air traffic control procedures will evolve with the introduction of UAS into the civil environment, integration with NextGen.

• Nevada Selected as UAV Development Center
• Nevada Institute for Autonomous Systems (NIAS)

New York’s Griffiss International Airport

Geography: The congested, northeast airspace.

Mission: Test and evaluation, verification and validation processes under FAA safety oversight. Sense and avoid capabilities for UAS.

• Northeast UAS Airspace Integration Research Alliance

North Dakota Department of Commerce

Geography: Temperate (continental) climate zone

Mission: UAS airworthiness essential data, validate high reliability link technology, human factors research. (Local officials are hoping to also look specifically into agricultural applications.)

• UND Aerospace, Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems Research
• North Dakota Pitches Itself As a Utopia for Drones
• FAA Selects Grand Forks to Be UAS Test Site

Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi

Geography: geographic and climactic diversity.

Mission: System safety requirements for UAS vehicles and operations, protocols and procedures for airworthiness testing.

• FAA accepts Texas A&M-Corpus Christi’s unmanned aircraft test site proposal
• The Vehicle Systems & Control Laboratory

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech)

Geography: locations in Virginia and New Jersey.

Mission: UAS failure mode testing, operational and technical risks areas.

• Virginia Center for Autonomous Systems (VaCAS)

This Episode:

A successful first sense and avoid flight, a Russian drone killer, UAS test site selection approaches, and a drone hunting proposal is going to the voters.

The News:

General Atomics tests UAV that can “sense and avoid” other aircraft

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. has had a successful first test flight in California of a prototype Sense and Avoid (SAA) system, using a Predator B. Developing SAA is key to allowing UAS in the U.S. airspace. Radar, transponder, and traffic alert systems all worked together for the first time to detect other aircraft. This is not an optical system. Instead, it integrates three systems:

1. BAE Systems’ AD/DPX-7 Identification Friend-or-Foe (IFF) transponder with Automatic Dependent Surveillance – Broadcast (ADS-B) receiver
2. 
   
3. the General Atomics Due Regard Radar (DRR)
4. 
   
5. Honeywell’s TPA-100 Traffic Collision Avoidance System or TCAS.

Russia upgrades Pantsir-S systems to create “UAV-killers”

With unmanned aircraft playing an increasing role in military operations, it was only a matter of time until we began to see UAV-specific countermeasures. The Russians are modifying their Pantsir-S (SA-22 Greyhound) gun-missile system to make it more effective at bringing down UAVs.

Freight-Drone Dream Has U.S. States Vying for Test Sites

Twenty-four States are vying to become UAS test sites where private researchers can study how unmanned aircraft can be integrated into the airspace. The FAA plans to announce the six sites before the end of 2013.

Colorado judge rules in favor of holding drone-hunting vote after legal fight

Remember Deer Trail, that Colorado town that is looking at a proposal to issue hunting permits for drones? A District Judge rejected a legal challenge and so now the town’s 370 voters will decide the matter April 1, 2014. The FAA maintains it’s position that shooting down aircraft is a criminal act.

An annual license would cost $25, and hunters would receive a $100 bounty for “identifiable parts of an unmanned aerial vehicle whose markings and configuration are consistent with those used on any similar craft known to be owned or operated by the United States federal government.”

This Episode:

Guest Bob Schmidt is President, UAV Propulsion Tech, a U.S. technical sales rep firm that markets German and Australian technology into the U.S. Unmanned Aerial Vehicle market. We talk about A Mexico Mayor buying drones, the secret RQ-180, a sub-launched stealth, and drones that heal themselves.

UAV Propulsion Tech solutions include consumer off the shelf (COTs) and custom propulsion and servo solutions, as well as rescue/recovery parachute solutions that protect high value air vehicle and payload assets. Companies represented are: Orbital Australia and Hirth Motors for propulsion systems, Volz Servos for actuators and Skygraphics for rescue/recovery parachute solutions.

The News:

Tijuana Mayor to buy Drones

Tijuana plans to buy 3D Robotics RTF quadcopter drones to monitor traffic, evaluate accident scenes, detect landslides, and control wildfires.

Secret New UAS Shows Stealth, Efficiency Advances

An AviationWeek exclusive describes the secret RQ-180 designed for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions. Developed by Northrop Grumman and now flying, this stealth UAS could be operational in 2015.

U.S. Navy Fires “XFC” Drone from Underwater Submarine

The XFC UAS is an all-electric, fuel cell-powered, unmanned aerial system

Drones learn how to keep flying when damaged

Aircraft maintain flight stability based on a fixed vehicle configuration. When something breaks on a drone, like a rotor blade, it crashes. Unless the control software is intelligent enough to detect the changed configuration and adaptively react.

In this video, the vibrating propellor on a quadcopter breaks off. Without the adaptive software, it drops like a stone. With adaptive software, it starts to tumble, reacts and becomes partially stable, and lands itself quickly and safely.

Max’s Quadcopter:

No flights this past week as Max was taken out by a bad cold.

This Episode:

Using a drone to smuggle contraband into a prison, learn to fly unmanned vehicles at a University, UAV privacy laws carve out drones as a special case, drones are blocked even for humanitarian purposes, the Amazon.com vision for UAS, and how to hack a drone.

The News:

Drones used to try to smuggle contraband into jail

Prison guards, probably among the most perceptive people, noticed a hexacopter over Calhoun State Prison in Georgia. Four people were arrested after the drone was found in a car with some tobacco and mobile phones – desirable items for the incarcerated.

So you want to FLY Drones

After becoming interested in this field, the author joined a Drone Pilot Training Certificate program at the Unmanned Vehicle University (UVU), which was founded in 2012. The three-phase Certificate has students complete an online “ground school” from home, then computer flight training simulation, and finally actual flight school.

Flightless Drones

We think about privacy concerns associated with Unmanned Aerial Systems, but what makes drones so different? Shouldn’t we be looking at privacy from a general surveillance perspective, regardless of the technology? What about other robotic or autonomous devices that can snoop on you?

Civilian Drones Movie

This documentary presents compelling examples of actual search and rescue operations (SAR) where drones played a critical role. These are real people with lost loved ones. The non-profit search team of volunteers has been declared by the FAA to be in an official capacity, not essential, and therefore forbidden.

The Texas Equusearch SAR team featured in the documentary uses a variety of resources (divers, searchers on horseback, etc.) and has conducted 1300 searches across the U.S. They found the RP Flight Systems Spectra to be invaluable in locating missing persons.

Two producers of the documentary were interviewed on Episode 280 of the “All Things That Fly” podcast, about 14 minutes in. Their mission is “Spreading the word about the humanitarian use of civilian drones” and you can find them on Twitter as @CivilianDrones.

Amazon’s Hopes For Drone Deliveries

Amazon.com has produced a concept video showing an octocopter load a package and deliver it to the front walk of the purchasing family’s home. While limited to 5-pound packages, Amazon says that covers 86% of the packages shipped. They say such a service could be deployed within five years.

Flying hacker contraption hunts other drones, turns them into zombies

Well known hacker Samy Kamkar has released the specifications needed to turn a Parrot AR Drone into “SkyJack,” which can hijack nearby Parrot drones.

Max’s Quadcopter:

Max now has a Blade Nano QX quad-copter that he’s learning to fly, although not very successfully so far. The “buy small and don’t spend a lot of money” strategy for the first multi-copter is proving to be a good one since Max crashes the thing a lot.

This Episode:

UAS applications in Alaska, an autonomous drone with a robotic arm, a European “drone club” is formed, Turkey eyes the European drone market, a middle-eastern drone company gets some traction, a small UAV that thinks it’s a jellyfish, the Global Hawk achieves a milestone, and journalists flock to UAVs.

The News:

UAV industry takes off in Alaska

With its remote areas accessible only by air, Alaska is a ripe environment for UAVs: remote sensing, airborne surveillance, wildlife management, sea ice study, and many others. Alaska hopes to become one of the FAA test sites.

Helicopter drones level up, gain belly-mounted robotic limbs

The German Aerospace Center (DLR) has attached a robotic arm to the underside of a small autonomous helicopter. They hope to accomplish tasks that humans can’t reach. DLR would like to create a fleet flying robots with arms that could work in small teams for construction and repair tasks.

Euro-UAVs: Europe opens ‘drone club’ to compete with US, Israel

Some European Union countries have banded together to advance their capabilities with Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) drones and become less reliant on the U.S. and Israel.

Turkey’s Drones Look to Europe, Middle East for Sales

Turkish Aerospace Industries is talking with European governments about their Multi-Role ISR UAV Systems, like the ANKA Medium Altitude Long Endurance UAV System, which have been used by the Turkish Air Force for three years.

Adcom Systems has Three Customers for United 40 MALE UAS

Abu Dhabi-based ADCOM Systems produces a number of UAVs, target drones, and support systems. The United 40 has been sold to three unnamed customers, and is designed for strategic missions, such as combat and battle damage assessment, intelligence and reconnaissance, border protection, and humanitarian aid.

Flying Jellyfish Robot May Be The Next Generation Of Surveillance Drones

Man has always mimicked birds, insects, and other animals to create flying machines. A New York University researcher has now developed a small flying device based on the motions of a jellyfish. VIDEO: A Tiny Mechanical ‘Jellyfish’ That Flies.

First War Mission for RQ-4 Block 40 Global Hawk

For the first time, an RQ-4 Block 40 Global Hawk has flown into a war. This Block 40 HALE is different in that it uses an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar to provide Synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) and Ground Moving Target Indicator (GMTI) data to combatant commanders.

Drones Offer Journalists a Wider View

CNN, the Associated Press, News Corporation, the BBC, and others have discovered that drones can be invaluable journalistic tools – typically for good uses, but not always. VIDEO: Drone flies over debris fields left after Ilinois [sic] tornado.

Mentioned:

“Getting Started with Hobby Quadcopters and Drones” by Craig Issod, published June 10, 2013. A good overview for beginners. Available in paperback or as an eBook.

This Episode:

UAV market growth in the Middle East, Piaggio’s Hammerhead, China sends a UAV toward Japan, autonomous drones in Peru, foam drones, and more UAV crashes, including one fished out of the sea.

The News:

As UAV Market in Middle East Grows, US May Look to Draw Back

Driven by border protection concerns, UAV growth in The Middle East is projected to grow to $3.8 billion over the next decade, with that region accounting for 8 percent of the world market.

MALE Performance Enhancement: Piaggio’s P.1HH Hammerhead UAV

We spoke previously of the P.1HH Hammerhead based on the Piaggio P180 Avanti II business turboprop. The Hammerhead may challenge U.S. and Israeli dominance in the Medium Altitude Long Endurance category. A successful Hammerhead first flight occurred mid-November at Italy’s Trapani “Birgi” Air Force base.

China Unleashes UAVs Against Japan

Similar to the U.S. Predator, the Chinese BZK-005 UAV approached Okinawa airspace in September. Japan responded by scrambling interceptors. The BZK-005 then turned back, but both sides say they’ll shoot down any UAVs that violate airspace.

Flying robot will provide a unique view of the world’s most biodiverse ecosystem

The density of the Peruvian tropical forrest hampers scientists from studying the 390 billion trees that annually absorb 1.5 billion metric tons of C02. The solution: autonomous drones. Two are being considered, an octocopter with a 20 minute flight time, and a fixed wing drone with a flight time over an hour.

Dubai Police introduced to hand-thrown drone at Airshow launch

The autonomous iStart UAS is “unfolded, shaken and thrown into the air with a ground control station to log in details about where it’s meant to look and land,” according to UK producer Blue Bear. This makes it more easily used by operators who do not know how to fly drones.

Malfunctioned drone hits US Navy ship during Navy training exercise

A BQM-74 series target drone manufactured by Northrop Grumman was lost while the USS Chancellorsville was conducting a combat weapons system test. Two sailors suffered minor burns. A few days before that accident, an MQ-9 Reaper crashed into Lake Ontario, about 12 miles from shore.

Trawlers capture drone off Turkey’s Black Sea shore

A Turkish Aerospace Industries “Turna” (crane) drone was netted by fishermen around six nautical miles off the coast of the Türkeli district. This UAV has a wingspan of about 2.5 meters.

Post Photo: The Blue Bear iStart.

This Episode:

We parse the recently released and much anticipated FAA reports on Unmanned Aircraft Systems:

Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Comprehensive Plan: A Report on the Nation’s UAS Path Forward [PDF]

The Plan outlines the path for integration of civil UAS into the National Airspace System. It seeks to transition from individual approvals to a standard process integrated into the NextGen environment. High-level strategic goals provide for public integration leading to civil integration for both small UAS (under 55 lbs.) within visual line-of-sight, and all other UAS.

The Plan is required under the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, and was developed by the FAA Joint Planning and Development Office under the guidance of the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) Senior Policy Committee.

Integration of Civil Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) in the National Airspace System (NAS) Roadmap [PDF]

The Roadmap outlines the tasks, assumptions, dependencies, and considerations needed to enable UAS integration into the NAS. The Roadmap looks at three “perspectives:”

1. Accommodation. Near-term accommodation of access to the NAS on a case-by-case basis.

2. Integration. Establish UAS threshold performance requirements that increase access to the NAS. Near- to mid-term with implementation of sUAS rule, mid- to far-term for other UAS.

3. Evolution. All required policy, regulations, procedures, guidance material, technologies, and training are in place and routinely updated to support UAS operations in the NAS operational environment as it evolves over time.

This Episode:

Guest Sally French, also known as Drone Girl, uses aerial photography from drones to tell a story. She also works in multimedia production at 3D Robotics.

Sally still flies her original DJI Phantom copter with a mounted GoPro camera. She has built her own 3D Robotics Y6, and she looks forward to their Iris. We talk about using drones for journalism and other applications, where to go to learn about drones and how to fly them, and how to get started. As Sally says, “It’s a great time to be in drones.”

The News:

“Crash Happy” Gimball UAS Bounces Off Obstacles

The “Gimball” has a spherical roll cage with a gimbaled copter inside and an accelerometer. It can recover from collisions with objects and proceed toward along it’s specified path.

Get the feeling we’re being watched? Pierce Brosnan is filmed kissing Salma Hayek on beach by drone camera

Hollywood has discovered the utility of cameras on multi-copters to film movie scenes. Besides Brosnan and Hayek in the upcoming movie How To Make Love Like An Englishman. Other movies include Skyfall, Oblivion, Man Of Steel, Star Trek: Into Darkness, The Hunger Games, The Dark Knight Rises, and Iron Man 3.

Post Photo: Sally French’s pink Y6 copter.

This Episode:

Drone safety rules, an affordable Piaggio MALE UAV, a drone incursion that turns out to be birds, the Taranis UAS makes it’s first flight, VTOL UAVs, the Aussie CASA threatens fines, the impact of UAVs on the NextGen ATC system, and looking at drones to deliver cargo in Africa.

The News:

No Seat Belts Required: Drone Hobbyists Talk Safety

Hobbies grow up and then the hard questions come up. Like when do you start to make rules? The FAA is working on regulations but at the local levels, authorities don’t know what to do.

Piaggio touts Avanti-based UAV as European MALE solution

Italian airframer Piaggio believes there is a market for an affordable medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) unmanned air vehicle. They have displayed a mock-up of their Hammerhead intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft based on the Piaggio P180 Avanti II twin-pusher business aircraft.

What IAF thought were Pakistani drones turned out to be migratory birds

India and Pakistan do not enjoy the best relationship, and airspace incursions are treated seriously. So when India detected the approach of unmanned aircraft, they scrambled the Air Force, which found nothing. A mystery. It turns out that with a strong tailwind, migratory birds can fly at high speeds.

BAE Taranis Makes First Test Flight in Australia

BAE Systems had a successful maiden flight of their stealthy Taranis unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) technology demonstrator.

Hybrid VTOL UAVs – Back to the Future

The Aerovel Flexrotor is the first autonomous launch and recovery of an unmanned aircraft from an unmanned boat. The Flexrotor takes off vertically, then transitions from rotor-borne to wing-borne flight.

The Aerie design harkens back to the 1944 Focke-Wulf Triebflügel (thrust-wing) where the wings spun like a rotor for vertical flight then transitioned to a propellor for horizontal flight.

CASA warns bushfire drone operators of potential fines

The Australian Civil Aviation Safety Authority says two remotely piloted drone flights over wildfires in Lithgow and the Blue Mountains put firefighters at risk, and looks to have breached the Civic Aviation Safety Regulations, which state that remotely piloted aircraft must be kept 30 metres from people unless otherwise approved.

UAS Tidal Wave to Hit Future ATC Systems

At the Aviation Week NextGen conference, one panel looked at Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) in light of the DOT report Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Service Demand, 2015-2035 [PDF], prepared for the U.S. Air Force. The report projects large numbers of UAS’s in the airspace, but this was not contemplated when NextGen was originally envisioned.

Can Cargo Drones Bring E-Commerce To Africa?

Countries that lag technologically sometimes leapfrog other more advanced economies. Perhaps the African continent has the opportunity to leapfrog the rest of the world and utilize drones to as a transportation method for goods. The Swiss École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) is launching what they are calling the Flying Donkey Challenge, where teams create unmanned cargo aircraft to fly around Mount Kenya.