6.6 - Research: Automatic Takeoff and Landing

Introduction

                In 1903, the first controllable aircraft was made of fabric and the flight control surfaces were controlled by cables. As technology advances, aircraft systems are getting more complex. Today, commercial aircraft can climb up to 41,000 feet; cruise at 950 km/ h; fly between continents within few hours; and bring passengers safely from one point to another. Interestingly, air transport is still the safest mode of transport compared to the land and sea transports. One of the reasons is the emphasis of ‘safe ‘culture in aviation industries from the human factors perspective. In view of this, the concept of workload is important because it is central to an understanding of pilot performance leading to efficient operation of the aviation system (Orlady & Orlady, 2015)

Aircraft Automation

            According to authors, the definition of workload involves several variables. Excessive workload leads to experiences such as difficulty, discomfort and anxiety. In order to reduce pilot’s workload, one of the solutions is automation of aircraft systems. There are few prominent automation systems such as autopilots, auto-throttles and anti-skid, which are widely used during critical flight phases such as takeoff and landing. In fact, to accommodate two-person crew operation, aircraft systems and subsystems have been simplified and automated gradually. These systems include aircraft electrical; hydraulic; pneumatic and fuel systems.

Autopilot of B787

            Boeing B787 is one of the most advanced commercial aircraft to date. The selling points are lower operating costs, higher revenue potential and visionary designs such as electric-system architecture; composite primary structure; passenger pleasing features; advanced aerodynamics; optimized flight deck and modern efficient engines (Boeing, 2016). Boeing B787 autopilot system is called auto flight function, which is an application resides in flight control module. The auto flight function (AFF) operates on the ground and in flight. The function calculates commands for flight phases such as takeoff; climb; cruise; descent; approach, auto land, rollout and go-around (Boeing, 2014).

Level of Autonomy during B787 Takeoff and Landing

During aircraft take-off phase, auto flight function computes airspeed, pitch angle and thrust limits and displays them on primary flight display and Engine Indication and Crew Alerting System (EICAS). Still, pilot is required to control throttle lever for engine thrust and control column to pitch aircraft during take-off phase. According to Barnhart, Hottman, Marshall & Shappee (2016), they classified auto flight function during take-off as low level autonomy. The pilot interaction is the main component for final execution.

During landing phase, Boeing B787 is capable of full auto land, also known as LAND 3 capability with high degree of autonomy. The system performs redundancy, self-test and also monitors various systems such as ground based Instrument Landing System (ILS) and CAT III airborne and ground equipment. When combined with a properly trained flight crew, LAND 3 allows landing approach to be conducted to visibility as low as zero. The CAT III auto land is widely used in Europe during winter when heavy snow and frequent fog reduced pilot’s visibility.

Level of Autonomy during Predator Takeoff and Landing

            Predator follows a conventional launch sequence from a semi-prepared surface under direct line-of-sight control. Pilot computes and inputs weight of aircraft and payload, takeoff speed and length of runway into the system.  The take-off and landing length is typically 2,000ft. The mission can be controlled through line-of-site data links or through Ku-band satellite links to produce continuous video (Airforce-Technology.Com, 2016) with mid-level of autonomy. The definition of mid-level autonomy refers to 50% - 50% control ratio between pilot and autopilot system. The pilot provides Predator with missions and goals. When ready, pilot must confirm and approve the execution to be performed by Predator.

Conclusion

            The development of automation raises some concerns. From the human factors perspective, does it compromise pilot’s ability to monitor aircraft critical systems effectively? More crucially, how to determine the degree of automation before safety is compromised. Do we allow given systems to shut off automatically or changed without notifying pilot? In view of these concerns, it is important that the automatic operation is accompanied by appropriate feedback and immediate notification to alert pilots with visual, audio and tactile sensory getters (Orlady & Orlady, 2015).      

Reference

Airforce-Technology.Com. (2016, July 9th). Predator RQ-1 / MQ-1 / MQ-9 Reaper UAV, United States of America. Retrieved from http://www.airforce-technology.com/projects/predator-uav/

Barnhart, R. K., Hottman, S. B., Marshall, D. M., & Shappee, E. (2016). Introduction to UAS. Baton Rouge: CRD

Boeing. (2014). Electro-Avionics Systems 2. Singapore: SIAEC.

Boeing. (2016, july 9th). 787 Dreamliner Family. Retrieved from http://www.boeing.com/commercial/787/#/overview

Orlady, H. W., & Orlady, L. M. (2015). Human Factors in Multi-Crew Flight Operations. Surrey: Ashgate.

5.4 - Research: Shift Work Schedule

Introduction

                The UAS are widely used in the military and air force for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions. More importantly, according to authors Pedersen et al (2006), one-third of the U.S Military’s deep strike aircraft are to be remotely piloted by 2010. The operations of UAS involve a group of highly skilled personnel such as pilots, payload/ sensor operators, maintenance engineers and technicians. In view of the versatility of UAS operations, they are required to perform shift works. To understand the impact of shift works on crew’s performance, a study had been carried out by Air Force Research Laboratory. Study revealed that shift workers are particularly vulnerable to increased sleepiness, chronic fatigue, stress and decreased alertness and performance both on and off the job (Hossain et al., 2004). As a result, it is important to systematically and quantitatively evaluate the impact of shift work from the human factors perspective and also the understanding of fatigue, stress and circadian rhythm which affecting performance (Thompson, Lopez, Hickey, DaLuz, & Caldwell, 2006)

Fatigue

            Fatigue is synonymous with tiredness. It is caused by long hours, sleep cycle interruptions, overwork, circadian dysrhythmia and also boredom (Orlady & Orlady, 2015). More importantly, fatigue causes impairment of judgment and decision making mechanism. Excessive fatigue is a serious problem in aviation, especially for the flight crews in the aircraft cockpit. Same authors highlighted two characteristics of fatigue. As fatigue develops, it retards the timing of motor responses. Also, the subject compromises accuracy and performance and willing to accept substandard. Needless to say, both factors lead to inefficiency and compromise productivity. In fact, elimination of fatigue is nearly impossible in manned and unmanned aircraft operations.

Stress

            In physical world, stress is created when a person acts upon conflicting forces. Stress can be acute or chronic. Acute is caused by temporal situation. Chronic is a prolonged life event. Stresses contribute to performance. Moderate stress is actually a stimulation for greater performance. On the other hand, excessive stress lead to unpleasant psychological and physiological symptoms such as fear, anxiety, sweating and fatigue (Orlady & Orlady, 2015). From the study, level of stress varies with each individual, time and environment. The environmental stresses are heat, noise, and vibration, low and high humidity. Occupational and domestic stresses are associated with job and daily living. Most of the times they are chronic and difficult to quantify such as death, divorce, job change, retirement and pregnancies.   

Circadian Rhythm

            Circadian rhythm refers to body rhythms according to earth’s rotation time of 24 hours. Individual variations range from 24 to 27 hours. Circadian cycle is regulated by entraining agents called ‘zeitgebers’ which are sensitive to light. The cycle is important when associate with the human’s sleep and its pattern. Sleep is vital to one survival. In fact, sleepiness degrades human capability and impairs judgment. It is vital for shift workers to realize sleep loss can be acute and cumulative leading to sleep debt. Moreover, sleep loss adversely affects waking performance, vigilance and mood (Orlady & Orlady, 2015).

Conclusion- Shift Work Schedule 

            It is important to design a shift work roster considering the psychological and physiological aspects and to realize the impacts of fatigue, stress and the effect of circadian rhythm towards shift worker. The feedbacks from the crews on 6 ‘ON’ 2 ‘OFF’ shift pattern were insufficient rest after night shift and 6-day working pattern compromises family time. Some complained they have difficulty sleeping after clock-out at 8 am. To improve the situation, alternate shift pattern has been suggested. Crews are required to work 4 days and a day off for ‘day shift’ and ‘swing shift’. To improve sleep quality, crews are given 2-day off after ‘night shift’. For long term improvement, it is important to provide formal education and training on sleep hygiene, alertness management, and coping strategies to shift workers and schedulers. In addition, to apply science-based shift scheduling techniques when developing manpower requirements and developing duty time and crew rest requirements. UAS operations are forecast to become an ever larger portion of military aviation, increased attention should be devoted by the research community to developing tailored fatigue countermeasures for the shift work-prone UAS environment (Thompson et al., 2006). 

Reference:

Hossain, J. L., Reinish, L. W., Heslegrace, R. J., Hall, G. W., Kayumov, L., Chung, S. A., Bhuiya, P., Jovanovic, D., Huterer, N., Volkov, J., & Shapiro, C. M. (2004). Subjective and Objective Evaluation of Sleep and Performance in Daytime Versus Nighttime Sleep in Extended Hours Shift-Workers at an Underground Mine. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 46, 212-226.

Orlady, H. W., & Orlady, L. M. (2015). Human Factors in Multi-Crew Flight Operations. Burlington: Ashgate.

Pedersen, H. K., Cooke, N. J., Pringle, H. L., & Connor, O. (2006). UAV Human Factors: Operator Perpectives. Advances In Human Performance & Cognitive Engineering Research Vol. 7.

Thompson, W. T., Lopez, N., Hickey, P., DaLuz, C., & Caldwell, J. L. (2006). Effects of Shift Work and Sustained Operations: Operator Performance in Remotely Piloted Aircraft. Brook City: Air Force Research Laboratory.

4.5 - Research: UAS beyond Line-of-Sight Operations

Introduction

Predator B (MQ-9) is one of the most popular military UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) in the world. Currently, this aircraft has been deployed by the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, NASA, the Royal Air Force, the Italian Air Force, the French Air Force, and the Spanish Air Force (General Atomic Aeronautical, 2016). The primary mission for this unmanned aircraft is to hunt and interdict emerging targets. The secondary mission is to act as an intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance tools, employing sensors to provide real-time data to commanders and intelligence specialists at all levels (Global Security, 2016).

Platform and Payload

Predator B has an endurance of over 27 hours, speeds of 240 KTAS, can operate up to 50,000 feet altitude. It has a 3,850 pound (1746 kilogram) payload capacity that includes 3,000 pounds (1361 kilograms) of external stores. For stability and reliability, the aircraft is equipped with a fault-tolerant flight control system and triple redundant avionics system architecture (General Atomic Aeronautical, 2016). Although it is unmanned, yet the design is meeting and exceeding manned aircraft reliability standards.

To achieve fuel efficiency and improve performance, the Predator B is powered by the flight-certified and proven Honeywell TPE 331-10 turboprop engine with integrated Digital Electronic Engine Control (DEEC) (General Atomic Aeronautical, 2016). The aircraft is designed to be modular for easy disassembly and assembly on site. More importantly, spares can be replaced easily to reduce ground time. In order to perform surveillance tasks remotely, the aircraft is equipped with Electro-Optical/ Infrared (EO/ IR), Lynx Multi-mode Radar, multi- mode maritime surveillance radar and Electronic Support Measures (ESM) (General Atomic Aeronautical, 2016).

Line-of-Sight (LOS) and Beyond Line-of-Sight (BLOS) Operation

The UAS (Unmanned Aerial System) consists of 5 main components. They are:

•          Aircraft
•          Satellites
•         Ground Control Station
•         Satellite Uplink Vehicle
•          Surveillance targets

The aircraft can be remotely piloted or can be programmed to fly autonomously. In view of this, the communication or data link between unmanned aircraft and ground controller is utmost important. To achieve this, C-Band is used for line-of-sight data link control. It uses 3.7 to 4.2 GHz for downlink and 5.925 to 6.425 GHz for uplink. The lower frequencies that C Band uses perform better under adverse weather conditions (Tech-FAQ, 2016).

BLOS is defined as the distance of 600 miles (966 km) over the horizon between aircraft and ground control station. Controller uses Ku-Band to communicate with aircraft via satellites instead. The Ku band is a portion of the electromagnetic spectrum in the microwave range of frequencies ranging from 11.7 to 12.7 GHz (downlink frequencies) and 14 to 14.5GHz (uplink frequencies) (Tech-FAQ, 2016). Also, the video link from aircraft cameras are downlink to ground controllers and front line personnel using Ku band.

Additionally, when operating BLOS, two different GCSs are required during the hand-off procedures. The launch and recovery crew element (LRE) launches the aircraft from the operating region and the mission control element (MCE) takes control of the flying aircraft. Both the LRE and MCE crews must synchronize GCSs with the same parameters entered into the flight computers to set up system properly. Scenario such as one GCS has the gear handle in the down position and the other GCS has the gear handle in the up position will trigger an over speed condition on the gear.

Advantage of LOS/ BLOS

          LOS and BLOS operations allow UAS missions to be monitored and controlled remotely. Advantage of UAS deploying satellites for up and down link enable integration of UAS into Next Generation (NextGen) platform. It allows sharing of national air space between unmanned aircraft and other manned or unmanned aircraft safely. The FAA has designated C2 communications for point-to-point networking if both aircraft are equipped with ADS-B (Automatic Dependent Surveillance- Broadcast) (Geiver, 2014). Another advantage when operating within LOS is the ability for the pilot to have better situational awareness of environment when aircraft can be seen.

Human Factors

          One of the disadvantages when operating BLOS is the momentary delays caused by the transition from C band to Ku band due to satellite relay. The pictures and video data received from the cameras are sent to the satellite and downlink to the Satellite Uplink Vehicle (Dee, 2014). The delays might lead to distortion of data. Momentary discontinuation of information during battle against enemies could be catastrophic. 
          Another limitation of deploying Predator B is that the pilots can only view images on heads-up display through cameras mounted on the nose of aircraft. It allows pilot to see objects at the front, side and aft of the aircraft only. Pilot has limitation viewing objects above the aircraft. Also, multi-spectral targeting pod (MTS), which has multiple cameras and can be slewed 3600 around the plane, is mounted below the aircraft nose. The FOV (field of view) of the nose cameras is limited to 300. Although the MTS has multiple levels of magnification, when zoomed-in, it gives an extremely limited “soda-straw” perspective of the battlefield (Wheeler, 2012).

Conclusion

          The deployment of Predator B for multiple missions improves performance efficiency and cost saving. More importantly, it reduces pilot’s exposure towards hostile environment such as high altitude, flying above enemy territories, executing repetitive and monotonous tasks for long period of times. But UAV has its shortcomings. Lack of pilot’s situational awareness, sensory and tactile feedback from aircraft movement are some of the challenges that require attention. Camera viewing angle from Predator B leads to limited visual perception of pilot. In turn, it delays decision making process and affects performance efficiency. More crucially, it compromises the safety of aircraft and personnel or property underneath aircraft flight path.

Reference

Dee, L. (2014, November 16). UAS Human Factors. Unmanned Aircraft System beyond Line of Sight. Retrieved from http://aboutuas.blogspot.com/2014/11/unmanned-aircraft-system- beyond-line-of.html

Geiver, L. (2014, December 18). UAS Magazine. NextGen, FAA seeks UAV study participants for beyond line of sight. Retrieved from http://www.uasmagazine.com/articles/908/nextgen-faa-seek-uav-study-participants-for- beyond-line-of-sight

General Atomic Aeronautical. (2016, June 25). Predator B RPA. Retrieved from http://www.ga- asi.com/predator-b

Global Security. (2016, June 25). MQ-9 Reaper. Retrieved from http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/aircraft/mq-9.htm

Tech-FAQ. (2016, June 25). C Band. Retrieved from http://www.tech-faq.com/c-band.html

Wheeler, W. (2012, February 12). The MQ-9's cost and performance. TIME, Retrieved from 

http://nation.time.com/2012/02/28/2-the-mq-9s-cost-and-performance/

3.5 - Research: UAS Integration in the National Airspace (NAS)

Introduction

     The objective of Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) is to envision an airspace system in which network-based information and automation optimize an aircraft’s operations in all flight phases. It starts from the flight planning, take-off, cruising, landing and taxiing to the gate at the end of each flight. More importantly, the system helps to reduce flight delays and maximize airspace capacity while reducing aircraft's’ environmental impacts (Government Accountability Office, 2015).

Future Growth of Aviation Industry

     The air transport is one of the fastest growing industries. Over the next 20 years, Boeing forecasts a need for 38,050 airplanes. The total value is estimated to be more than $5.6 trillion.

The aircraft industry has become more diverse, it is estimated 40 percent of new aircraft will be delivered to airlines based in the Asia Pacific region, especially China. An additional 20 percent will be delivered to airlines in North America and Europe, with the remaining 20 percent to be delivered to the Latin America, the Commonwealth of Independent States, Middle East and lastly, Africa (Boeing, 2016). These figures refer to manned aircraft only. According to Lucintel (2016), the total UAV opportunity is expected to surpass US $7 billion over the next 10 years, driven by increasing UAV demand and UAV procurement

Challenges

     Currently in the United States, overcrowding of national air space and airport capacity are the major challenges limiting the growth of the industry. At any given moment there could be

5000 manned planes in the air; this is expected to be doubled by the year 2025 (Galindo, 2016).

At the same time, the military and commercial UAVs are getting more popular each day, the existing system and air space can no longer support the projected growth of manned and unmanned aircraft for the next 20 years. In view of this situation, congress has mandated FAA to improve the NAS under the program called ‘NextGen’ to accommodate the future growth of the system.

Advantages of Next Generation (NextGen)

     According to Galindo (2016), the NextGen will open the skies in the United States and propel the growth of the industries. More importantly, the new system increases safety while reducing aviation's environmental impact. At the same time, NextGen allows more aircraft to fly closer together and from point to point safely. It further reduces delays and provides unprecedented benefits for the greener environment and the economy through the reductions of carbon emissions, fuel consumption and noise pollution. Integration of UAS and aerospace systems is also part of the NextGen agendas. The system enables a seamless and automated aircraft/ aerospace transportation architecture through the following six 'transformational' programs:

• Automatic Dependent Surveillance- Broadcast,
• Data Communications,
• System Wide Information Management,
•  NextGen Network Enabled Weather,
• NAS Voice System,
• Collaborative Air Traffic Management Technologies

Automatic Dependent Surveillance- Broadcast (ADS-B)

     The ADS-B system consists of a surveillance system that monitors various systems in participating vehicles and a data link transmitter. The system is designed to work with both aircraft and ground vehicles at the airports. Seamless integrated information from air and ground can be easily obtained by periodically broadcasts its GPS-derived position and other information, such as aircraft velocity, over the data link, which is received by a ground-based transceiver for processing and display on air traffic control facility and aircraft cockpit display units (Barson, 2009).

     ADS-B is expected to reduce the risk of midair collisions and weather-related accidents by giving pilots access to the same satellite and weather information available to air traffic controllers according to Barson (2009). To improve the safety of UAV operation in national air space, it is necessary to integrate UAVs into ADS-B system. It is very important for the manned and unmanned aircraft to detect and sense each other. More crucially, the sensing prevents and avoids possible collision if the unmanned aircraft are found uncontrollable due to lost link scenarios.

Conclusion

     The automation of ADS-B system improves safety, efficiency and enhances industries’ productivity. According to Orlandy & Orlandy (2015), pilot complacency and over reliance upon automation are to be observed closely from the human factors perspective. During the long haul flight, auto pilot is normally engaged; pilots inevitably experience inattention and boredom to the extent disregard normal checks and manual operations. It is therefore important to make-work provision to keep the pilot occupied and remain alert. More importantly, to enhance pilot’s situation awareness when abnormal situation occurred suddenly.

References

Barson, J. V. (2009). Broadcast (ADS-B)–The First Step in the FAA’s Next-Generation Air Transportation System. Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine, 422 - 423.

Boeing. (2016, Jun 18). Current Market Outlook 2015 - 2034. Retrieved from

http://www.boeing.com/resources/boeingdotcom/commercial/about-our- market/assets/downloads/Boeing_Current_Market_Outlook_2015.pdf

Galindo, A. A. (2016, Jun 18). Next Generation Air Transport System. Retrieved from

http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20110014967.pdf

Government Accountability Office. (2015). Improved Risk Analysis Could Strengthen FAA's Global Interoperability Efforts. Government Accountability Office.

Lucintel. (2016, Jun 18). Growth Opportunity in Global UAV Market. Retrieved from

http://www.uadrones.net/civilian/research/acrobat/1103.pdf

Orlandy, H. W., & Orlandy, L. M. (2015). Human Factors in Multi-Crew Flight Operations. Burlington: Ashgate.

2.4 - Research: UAS GCS Human Factors Issue

Introduction

     The ‘Predator’ is the most popular military UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) used by the

United States Air Force (USAF) and is manufactured by General Atomics. The UAV system consists of multiple aircraft, ground control station, communication equipment, maintenance spares and crews. It is designed mainly for military operations, the missions include gathering of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. One of the most notable mission of ‘Predator’ was the killing of Baitullah Mehsud, the leader of the Pakistani Taliban on August 5, 2009. Two ‘Hellfires’ missiles were fired from the drone, which was remotely controlled from Creech in Las Vegas. The ‘Predator’ is an efficient weapons to suppress enemy defense, support counterinsurgency operations and to find and eliminate targets.

Ground Control Station

     The main nerve system for entire ‘Predator’ operation is the ground control station

(GCS), also known as mission planning and control station (MPCS). Pilot launches, flies and recovers the vehicle; at the same time, receives and processes data from various sensors and controls those payloads. Equally important for the GCS is the interfaces between outside world and the UAV system from satellites, various communication platforms and terrain map databases. According to Fahlstrom & Gleason (2012), in order to accomplish UAV missions,

MPCS must incorporates the following subsystems:

- Vehicle controls and readouts

- Sensor or payload data displays and controls

- Map displays for planning of mission, monitoring the flight path and location of vehicle.

- Data link that transmit command to vehicle and payload and also receives status information from them.

- One or more computers to perform navigation, autopilot and payload control calculations.

- Communications links to other organizations for command, control and dissemination of information collected by the UAV.

To improve efficiency, the design of GCS must be ‘user-friendly’ to the user or operator. The interfaces integrate some of the basic navigation and flight functions. More importantly, the integration of automation is highly desirable to improve stability and reliability of controlled vehicle for line-of-sight and beyond-line-of-sight operations.

Human Factors

     It is necessary to understand the aspects of human factors in UAV operations in order to achieve safe and effective flight. Understanding how human behavior and limitations affect performance and establishing system to tackle these challenges in mitigating unsafe situations is important for UAV operations. In fact, UAV accidents still pose a great risk to property and people beneath the UAV flight path (Giese, Carr & Chahl, 2013).

     One of the critical flight phase that causes mishap is during landing. The pilot has no sense of the ground as in manned aircraft; with 30 degrees limited vision from the flight camera, he needs to perform very steep glide slope landing. (Pedersen, Cooke, Pringle, & Connor, 2006).

     Another mishap is caused by the mapping of various functions to the function keys on the operator’s keyboard. The authors illustrated with the keys that turn on/ off the lights and the keys that cut the engine are located adjacent to each other. In a dynamic environment with high workload, pilot may make mistake by pressing the wrong key, leading to the destruction of the

UAV.

Mitigation of Mishaps

     It is recommended to design a feedback system from the movement of actual UAV by using motors as vibrators/ shakers, which are placed under the crew’s seat and used to stimulate pilot’s vestibular and tactile sensation in order to overcome the landing mishap and lack of feedback during final approach. The second mishaps can be mitigated by understanding the functions of various keys on the keyboard during initial design phase. It is critical to establish understanding between system designers and operating crews (pilots) so that the function keys can be arranged such that critical systems and non-critical systems are segregated and labelled clearly to eliminate ambiguity. For critical systems, it is also recommended to install additional red color guard on the switches to prevent accidental engagement. Pilot needs to confirm the intention before lifting the guard and pressing the switch for further actions.

Conclusion

     It is paramount to design a system that enhances and improves pilot’s situation awareness within GCS environment so that necessary actions can be performed and carried out to mitigate aircraft destruction. The cockpit design of manned aircraft can be used as a guide to further improve the design of UAV control station. More importantly, the understanding and implementation of crew resource management initiated by NASA in 1979 to improve the cockpit safety of manned aircraft is a good start point.

Reference

Fahlstrom, P. G., & Gleason, T. J. (2012). Introduction to UAV Systems. West Sussex: Wiley.

Giese, S., Carr, D., & Chahl, J. (2013). Implications for Unmanned Systems Research of Military

UAV Mishap Statistics. IEEE Intelligent Vehicles Symposium (IV).

Pedersen, H. K., Cooke, N. J., Pringle, H. L., & Connor, O. (2006). UAV Human Factors:

Operator Perpectives. Advances in Human Performance & Cognitive Engineering Research Vol. 7.

9.4 - Blog: The Future of the UAS

Human inspires to have the wings to fly like a bird. With current aircraft and helicopter technologies, we are able to travel from point A to point B at high speed. Expensive infrastructures like airport, airfield and runways are needed to allow the taking-off and landing of such vehicles. The development of autonomous UAV offers alternative option.

The Sky News (2016) reported that the world's first flying drone taxi has been unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, 2016. The company ‘EHang’ was founded in 2014 and has raised around $50m (£34m) in venture funding so far, the executives of the company predict that the EHang could be the future of personal transport if type certification can be approved by Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and air safety authorities elsewhere.

The EHang vehicle (above picture) is held aloft by eight propellers and can travel autonomously with GPS and way-points entry. Other than entering the destination, the passenger will have no other input into how the drone operates. The intention is to make the vehicle safer by eliminating the most dangerous part of standard modes of transportation, which is human error.

The vehicle is equipped with on-board sense and avoidance systems to stop it from colliding with other aircraft and buildings, an emergency system allows vehicle to temporarily hover in one spot mid-air in case of an emergency on the ground. Currently, the vehicle is able to carry single passenger for 23 minutes at a speed of 60 mph after vehicle is fully charged within 2-hours. The doors and windows are integrated as gull-wing that can be folded up. The passenger seated in the cabin is isolated from the wind gust and noise generated by the propeller blades.

I believe this technology will revolutionize our future in 4 ways:

1.      It reduces carbon foot prints and emission, in turn, reduces greenhouse effect and stop global warming as the power is supplied through cleaner energy like hydrogen fuelled batteries (University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, 2016).

2.      Cleaning of forest to build more roads in the city can be prevented in order to preserve greenery for future generations. It also helps to reduce traffic jams during peak hours.

3.     The transportation system can be customized according to the population demands in the city and the flying altitude of the UAV can be regulated by authority just like current national airspace to prevent collision.

4.   The distance between vehicles can be programmed into sense and avoidance algorithm such that minimum gap is kept to prevent unforeseen accidents. The occurrence of car accidents might be the thing of the past.

References:

Sky News. (2016, May 21st). World's First Flying Taxi Drone Unveiled. Retrieved from http://news.sky.com/story/1618454/worlds-first-flying-taxi-drone-unveiled

University Corporation for Atmospheric Research. (2016, May 21st). The Greenhouse Effect. Retrieved from https://www.ucar.edu/learn/1_3_1.htm

5.3: UAS Use

UAV-Based Photogrammetry on Vertical Structures (Tower)

            Photogrammetry is the science of making measurements from photographs for recovering of the exact positions of surface points or motion pathways of reference points on a moving object. It employs high-speed imaging and remote sensing to detect, measure and record complex 2D and 3D fields. According to Gruen, A. (2012), image matching is a key component of photogrammetry. Together with computer vision and image analysis, contribute to the applications of navigation, guidance, automatic surveillance, robot vision, medical image analysis and to the modelling and mapping sciences.

            In May, 2012, there was a earthquake in Emilia and Lombardy (Italy). A great number of historical buildings were seriously damaged by the shocks. In particular, most of the churches located in the southern area of Mantua’s province required restoration. The church of Santa Barbara is located in the old town center of Mantua and is one of the most important buildings in the city (Achille, C., 2015).  See highlighted building in Figure 1, 2 & 3.

                                          Figure 1. Santa Barbara Tower Bell

                                                      Figure 2. Before Quake

                                                       Figure 3. After Quake

                                                     

To restore the bell tower back to original without up-to-date drawing, photographs of 360⁰ view of the tower were necessary. If the photographs were to be taken from ground, the angles would not be accurate for imagery analysis. Some suggested to use the large crane to reach the 49 meters tower, but crane access through the small alleys is deemed a great challenge and very costly.

            The team of researchers, Achille, C. et al., (2015), opted for the choice to use a multi-copter (UAV) due to two accounts. The first consideration was the type of building: a vertical and very tall structure. UAV allows a vertical flight pattern so it permits the acquisition of vertical strips of images. Another consideration was based on the position of the building, which is in the old town centre of the city, surrounded by other buildings. For this reason it was necessary to use an easy to handle vehicle.

            The flight device had eight propellers fixed on the same number of arms, two gyroscopes for the flight control and the telemetry instruments (GPS and the barometric altimeter). The octo-copter had a flight autonomy of about five to fifteen minutes, depending on the weight loaded on board; it was equipped with LiPo batteries (16 V 4.0 Ah). The octo-copter was equipped with a reflex camera (Canon EOS 650D, APS, 18 Mega-pixel), the camera mount could tilt 90° vertically, from horizontal to zenith positions.

            The Remote Control (RC) system controls both the fly operations including camera rotation and camera trigger. The flying team included the pilot and by a photogrammetric expert able to visualize the camera view on a remotely connected monitor. This was the way to acquire images with the correct point of view and overlap.

            The most relevant step was the flight plan. It is important to define the distance from the surface, the overlap between images and, as a consequence, the trajectory. To optimize the acquisition time and reduce the number of photos, the project was optimized taking into account the camera parameters, dimension and characteristics of the building and the surroundings. The employed camera was a Canon EOS 650D with a CMOS sensor size of 5184 × 3456 pixels (22.3 × 14.9 mm) and 18 mm focal length lens. Each image was acquired with an aperture f/9 and 400 ISO. A maximum pixel size (GSD) on the object of about 3 mm was calculated, which involves an average distance of about 8 meters from the surface. An overlap of about 80% between neighbouring images was expected.

            The plan (Figure 4) was to acquire three vertical image-strips for each front, completed by two additional strips on the corners, which would permit the connection between adjacent fronts. For the acquisition of the round temple it was planned to realize three 360° flights around it, with a minimum of eight shots, completed with the same number of oblique shots from highest positions and a series of nadir photos.

            Finally, even light conditions were desired in order to have uniform colour and illumination in each image. At the same time, to avoid shadows. In this way, the photogrammetry texture and the orthophoto are uniform and similar in every part of the structure. For this reason, an overcast day was chosen to survey Santa Barbara allowing optimal light conditions.

Figure 4. Design of UAV image acquisition. In red the images for the front of the bell tower, in yellow for the round temple.

Reference:

Achille, C., Adami, A., Chiarini, S., Cremonesi, S., Fassi, F., Fregonese, L., & Taffurelli, L. (2015). UAV-based Photogrammetry and Integrated Technologies for Architectural Applications--       Methodological Strategies for the After-Quake Survey of Vertical Structures in Mantua (Italy). Sensors,  15(7), 15520-15539. doi: 10.3390/ S150715520

Gruen, A. (2012). Development and Status of Image Matching in Photogrammetry. The               Photogrammetric Record, 27(137), 36-57. doi:10.1111/j.1477-9730.2011.00671.x