“Seen & Heard” is a monthly feature of GPS World magazine, traveling the world to capture interesting and unusual news stories involving the GNSS/PNT industry.
Tethered drone
Spanish police used a tethered drone system for traffic monitoring, crowd control and surveillance of the UEFA Champions League Final, played June 1 at the Wanda Metropolitano stadium in Madrid. An Elistair tethered U06 Plus drone oversaw 67,000 fans in the stadium and 200,000 in nearby streets. Use of the drone was in response to a heightened terrorist threat level in Spain, making it part of the largest security operation for any sporting event in the Spanish capital. Continuously supplied with power, the drone maintained its position at 50 meters high for 8 hours.
CYGNSS satellite launch. (Artist’s concept/NASA)
Tricky Signals
NASA’s eight CYGNSS (Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System) microsatellites collect radio signals from GPS beacons to characterize hurricanes. A month after launch in December 2016, the CYGNSS team noticed the signals were wavering when the U.S. began to boost the radio power on 10 GPS satellites as they passed over northern Syria. The swings don’t interfere with other scientific uses of GPS, but for CYGNSS the measurements of high winds varied by 5 meters a second or more — the difference between a category-2 and category-3 hurricane. After two years of work, the CYGNSS team has compensated by repurposing a secondary antenna on the satellites to measure GPS signal strength.
The ladybug blob tracked by Doppler radar. (Image: National Weather Service)
Ladybug, ladybug, fly away home
In this case, California. In June, a millions-strong swarm of ladybugs showed up on radar as a weather event when the insects took to the sky to hunt for aphids. One explanation for the unusual swarm is that a large population of ladybugs had been spread out in a mountainous area, and rising temperatures triggered their mass migration to valleys where they might find an abundance of aphids to eat.
New Zealand joins Aussies on SBAS
Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) will work with Australian counterpart Geoscience Australia to investigate ways to deliver a regional satellite-based augmentation system (SBAS) to significantly improve GPS accuracy. The proposed SBAS will support emergency helicopter crews, providing pilots with accurate vertical guidance for landing, enabling them to reach people faster in difficult terrain and bad weather. The SBAS will also improve the safety of self-driving cars. The new system will improve accuracy to less than a meter, and in some devices to 10 centimeters.
What is the biggest safety challenge for autonomous vehicles?
John Fisher. (Photo: Orolia)
“Sharing the road with human drivers. Optimized safe driving algorithms are compromised to mesh with the human’s natural level of risk taking. But this reduces safety, delaying acceptance — a real conundrum. Now, if we could just eliminate the humans…” John Fischer
Orolia
Julian Thomas
“When AI systems can deal with 99.9% of situations, the challenge will be keeping the passenger engaged to take over quickly when the 0.1% happens. Imagine a truck in front with a load coming loose. Which one would you trust?” Julian Thomas
Racelogic
Members of the EAB
Tony Agresta Nearmap
Miguel Amor Hexagon Positioning Intelligence
Thibault Bonnevie SBG Systems
Alison Brown NAVSYS Corporation
Ismael Colomina GeoNumerics
Clem Driscoll C.J. Driscoll & Associates
John Fischer Orolia
Ellen Hall Spirent Federal Systems
Jules McNeff Overlook Systems Technologies, Inc.
Terry Moore University of Nottingham
Bradford W. Parkinson Stanford Center for Position, Navigation and Time
Our cover story this issue is all about autonomous vehicles. Retirees — not usually considered early adopters of technology — are trusting autonomous vehicles to ferry them from point to point using the technology our industry can offer.
We have also used a lot of magazine space to discuss unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, and shown how they are taking on a lot of tasks formerly done by manned pilots or workers, such as aerial mapping or factory inspections.
So is the idea of an autonomous plane such a stretch?
At June’s Paris Air Show, Christian Scherer, chief commercial officer for Airbus, told the Associated Press that his company already has the technology to fly passenger planes without pilots.
Scherer also said in the AP interview that Airbus hopes to be selling hybrid or electric passenger jets by around 2035.
Airbus already has “the technology for autonomous flying.”
But having the tech is one thing. Winning over regulators and potential travelers is quite another.
“When can we introduce it in large commercial aircraft? That is a matter we are discussing with regulators and customers, but technology-wise, we don’t see a hurdle,” Scherer said.
In fact, in a new study, seven out of 10 people say they would be willing to travel in an unpiloted plane at some point in their lifetime. The survey was conducted by U.S. software firm Ansys, which is working to provide digital replicas of how planes and cars react in different situations.
Passengers would be more willing to embrace automation if firms could show that a computer would react in the best and quickest way if anything unexpected happens.
But are we there yet? Michael Wiggins, the chairman of the aeronautical science department at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida, addressed the autonomous-flight adoption question for the New York Times.
“From what I see, could it happen in the distant future? I think it probably could. Will it happen in the near future? I don’t think so,” Wiggins said. “Right now, any progress toward that area should be done very slowly, very measured and only after a bunch of research with results that suggest we should do that.”
The sweeper Woxiaobai has been in service for a year. (Photo: Unicore)
Fall is a beautiful time of year. But when the leaves drop, it means a lot of sweeping for most of us. Not so for the 200 campuses and parks in China using IdriverPlus’ WO series of unmanned sweepers.
High-precision GNSS positioning plays an important role in making the autonomous units possible, providing real-time high-precision position, speed and time information.
The sweeper in Beijing’s Haidian Park. (Photo: Unicore)
Unicore’s high-precision GNSS technology and their products’ high reliability have enabled IdriverPlus’ unmanned sweepers and logistics vehicles — China’s first mass-produced products in intelligent driving. In January, IdriverPlus received the green light to test self-driving cars in Beijing.
Diagram: Unicore
Sweepers and logistics vehicles are not only used in open-sky areas, but also in complex environments shadowed by buildings or trees or experience multipath. These areas include school campuses, factory and science parks, and community squares.
Complex environments result in different GNSS availability, reliability and convergence. In autonomous driving, the inputs the vehicle receives from GNSS and other sensors must be accurate and reliable.
A customer removes her express package from the Wobida logistics vehicle. (Photo: Unicore)
The UM482 module used by the IdriverPlus is characterized by dual antennas, compact dimensions, high performance and low cost, providing anti-jamming performance.
Integrated with on-board MEMS and Unicore’s U-Fusion combination technology, the UM482 can effectively solve the disruption of positioning results caused by the loss of satellite signal, and further optimize the continuity and reliability of positioning and heading outputs in complex environments such as city canyons, buildings and tunnels.
Two companies have integrated GPS/PNT tech into a growing autonomous vehicle market: driverless shuttles for retirement communities. Powering the service, a cloud-based GNSS corrections system delivers centimeter-level accuracy without deploying and maintaining a GNSS network. This leading-edge application targets autonomy at scale and enables high-precision positioning for mass-market automotive and autonomous vehicle applications.
Photo: Voyage
For many seniors, retirement communities offer the best of both worlds: the freedom to live in their own homes and access to immediate assistance when they need it.
Driverless cars are an option several retirement communities have embraced to better serve residents who no longer have the ability or desire to drive, but want to retain the ability to come and go as they please.
“Autonomous vehicles are a great fit for any community where the environment is well-understood, less complex than dense urban areas, and the transportation demand is high,” said Justin Erlich, vice president of strategy, policy and legal for Palo Alto, California-based Voyage, a company that employs existing technology to develop fleets of autonomous vehicles. “Retirement communities satisfy all of these characteristics.”
Serving Seniors
Voyage deployed driverless shuttles to serve 130,000 retirees at The Villages, a massive retirement community encompassing more than 50 square miles in Sumter County, Florida.
“The community’s residents enjoy an extremely active lifestyle, but often face challenges getting around,” Erlich said. “Autonomous vehicles are perfectly suited to meet this demand.”
The six vehicles in the fleet stay within the confines of the retirement community, where all roads have been precisely mapped, speed limits are lower and traffic patterns are more clearly defined than in a typical city. The vehicles travel over a network of roads that span 750 miles.
THE VILLAGES
Location: Sumter County, Florida Area: 50 square miles Road span: 750 miles Number of retiree residents: More than 130,000 Number of Voyage autonomous vehicles: 6
To request one of Voyage’s autonomous vehicles, a resident can summon the shuttle on-demand with a smartphone. Voyage is working with residents on the possibility of using other shuttle-request options, including text messages, phone calls and well-marked pickup zones in crowded downtown areas, Erlich said.
All passengers ride with Voyage safety drivers in the front seat. The drivers take note of any “events” during rides so Voyage can investigate how to improve the riding experience.
Photo: Voyage
Eventually, residents will be the only passengers in the vehicles. If they need assistance during a ride, they will be able to communicate with remotely located Voyage employees, Erlich said.
Testing and rolling out fleets of driverless vehicles in private communities like The Villages allows Voyage to develop and perfect the autonomous vehicle technology it uses. As a result, the company can deliver the service to new clients in mere months.
Voyage, which has been working on its autonomous technology for more than two years, uses daily customer feedback to constantly adjust to its technologies to better serve riders.
“Feedback collected during test drives is one of the biggest factors in shaping our technology roadmap,” Erlich said. “Driving data — collected across all sensors and traffic scenarios — is automatically processed each night, highlighting interesting ‘events’ for our engineering team to analyze and review.”
During Voyage’s beta test process at The Villages, residents applied to be part of the company’s Pioneer Program for early access to the autonomous vehicles and the ability to offer feedback early on. Riders who test the service complete scorecards after each trip to help improve the experience for all riders.
Europe Takes the Lead
(Tire photo: iStock.com / TANAPHONG)
Autonomous vehicle technology is taking off in Europe, shows a study published by the European Patent Office and conducted with the European Council for Automotive Research & Development. From 2011 to 2017, European patent applications related to automated driving increased 20 times faster than other technologies in recent years. The “Patents and self-driving vehicles” study reveals automated driving patent applications at the European Patent Office rose 330%, compared with 16% for all technologies during the same time.
“As one of the only self-driving car companies that are picking up actual passengers as a part of our Pioneer Program, we believe we can learn a lot from the feedback we hear from our initial Pioneer riders as we try to make this the best service for The Villages,” said Oliver Cameron, co-founder and CEO of Voyage. “We are excited to see so much interest from other residents to become a part of this program.”
When developing autonomous technology, safety is Voyage’s top priority, Erlich said. Every change to the hardware and software used undergoes a multi-stage validation process. Company engineers perform “on-desk” tests of every change using unit tests, functional tests and a driving simulation environment. Then, an operations team runs suites of real-world traffic and validation tests in a completely controlled environment at a closed-course testing facility in San Jose, California
“Voyage makes extensive use of simulation testing and closed-course validation before any of our vehicles are driven in our partner communities,” Erlich said. “All changes must pass these closed-course tests before making their way onto the roads of our partner communities.”
Vehicle design also ensures riders stay safe. “Our fleet vehicles have been designed with multiple levels of safety redundancies for braking, steering and power, and leverage an advanced diagnostics system to automatically detect anomalies and safely stop the vehicle,” he explained. “In addition, we have developed a remote teleoperations solution that allows the vehicle to request additional help when a driver is not physically in the vehicle.”
Skylark provides high-precision localization. (Image: Swift Navigation)
Making Autonomous Work
When building an autonomous system, localization — knowing exactly where you are in the world — is critical. Erlich said it’s often difficult to estimate your position within an accuracy of several feet when using more traditional GPS solutions.
“For autonomous driving, you need to be able to estimate within several centimeters,” he added.
Voyage uses Swift Navigation’s GNSS receivers and Skylark network as one of the primary inputs into its localization solution.
Swift Navigation is a San Francisco-based tech firm that develops GPS technology to power autonomous vehicles. It is working to extend the Skylark network across the contiguous United States, and then plans to expand globally.
“Coupled with high-definition maps, odometry sensors and other inputs, we’ve been able to use Swift Navigation’s differential GPS solution to achieve the localization results we needed to deliver a true autonomous driving service,” Erlich said.
Voyage’s autonomous vehicles are equipped with a suite of sensors on their roof racks that includes the Swift Navigation Piksi Multi GNSS receiver, lidar devices, cameras, radar and an inertial measurement unit. They create and constantly update a 3D map of the vehicle’s surroundings.
Swift Navigation’s Duro is one of two GNSS receivers Voyage uses for its autonomous vehicles. (Photo: Swift Navigation)
A computer in the trunk integrates all sensor signals and uses the vehicle’s Controller Area Network (CAN) bus to operate steering, braking and other functions.
Skylark, Swift Navigation’s cloud-based GNSS corrections service, provides Voyage’s autonomous vehicles with precise positioning to eliminate the complexity of deploying and maintaining GNSS networks.
Skylark offers a plug-and-play experience that delivers convergence times measured in seconds. Its positioning algorithms provide a continuous data stream to individual devices from the cloud. This data stream allows for quick positioning and high reliability and availability.
The correction service enables receivers to connect to a constantly adapting, cloud-based model to obtain GNSS observations. Dependence on base stations in each area of deployment is eliminated, increasing the geographic area in which they can travel. Skylark works seamlessly with both of Swift Navigation’s GNSS receivers — Piksi Multi and Duro.
In addition to Piksi Multi and Duro, Voyage uses third-party receivers and microprocessors that benefit from the lane-level positioning Skylark delivers.
Equipment Specs
Photo: Swift Navigation
GNSS receiver one. Swift Navigation — Piksi Multi
• Dual-frequency and multi-constellation
• Up to 20-Hz solution rates
• Raw data outputs from on-board MEMS IMU GNSS receiver two. Swift Navigation — Duro
• IP67 rated
• Centimeter-level positioning
• Raw data outputs from on-board MEMS IMU Lidar devices. Velodyne — VLS-128
• 128 channels
• Up to 300-meter range
• Up to 360-degree surround view Cameras. iDS — Global-Shutter units Proximity sensors. Chrysler OEM Inertial measurement unit. Xsens — MTi-300
• 375-Hz bandwith for accelerometers
• 415-Hz bandwith for gyroscopes Antenna. Swift Navigation — Mini-survey for the Duro RTK unit
• 1 L1/L2 GPS/GLONASS/BeiDou mini-survey
The Swift product suite delivers centimeter-level localization —important to riders who may have mobility issues that require vehicles with smooth starts and stops.
Skylark was built specifically to deliver the speed, security, precision and reliability demanded by automotive manufacturers with autonomous and safety applications architected to support ASIL-rated (Automotive Safety Integrity Level) systems.
Because Skylark is a network, it is fault tolerant. In the unlikely event an individual cloud reference station goes offline, Skylark’s positioning algorithms will continue to provide a continuous stream of corrections.
Once connected, Skylark creates a precise and constantly adapting model of the atmosphere and related errors affecting GNSS. Connected users simply turn on their devices to get the precise positioning data they need.
Safety Drivers
As drivers get older, their mental and physical health can affect their ability to operate vehicles safely. Vision and hearing loss keep many older drivers off the road. Fear of driving at night or in the rain also can be a problem for older drivers. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 7,400 adults over the age of 65 died as a result of car accidents in 2016. That same year, more than 290,000 of adults over the age of 65 were treated in emergency departments for injuries sustained in motor vehicle accidents.
Residents at The Villages who have used the autonomous vehicles report positive feedback, Erlich said. They consider the service a major improvement to their day-to-day activities because it’s convenient. Plus, they prefer the ability to be more carefree during happy hour, fewer hassles with traffic and parking, and lack of interactions with poor drivers.
Being on the cutting-edge of a generational technology also is a positive for many residents, Erlich said. “Autonomous vehicles create a clear path to safer, more accessible, and reliable transportation for everyone. From a safety perspective, autonomous vehicles have the potential to significantly reduce the more than 37,000 deaths attributed each year to driving. From a lifestyle perspective, there are also huge opportunities: from reclaiming daily commute time, to providing a reliable means of transportation to people with mobility challenges.”
Positioning Intelligence Key to Autonomous
Hexagon’s Positioning Intelligence (PI) division is an integral partner in many autonomous vehicle development projects, providing technologies such as SPAN (GNSS+INS technology), TerraStar-X corrections, and Automated Research and Development Platforms from its brands including NovAtel, VERIPOS and AutonomouStuff.
NovAtel hardware and software products, along with engineering support, address the need for accurate, reliable and robust GNSS positioning. TerraStar-X correction services deliver worldwide coverage and assured positioning with continuous availability, and provide the accuracy and rapid convergence needed to achieve lane-level precision for safe autonomous operation.
For developers of autonomous consumer transportation, integrated research and development automotive platforms from AutonomouStuff accelerate time to market.
Making It Safe. For large-scale automotive production, safety is the main focus. The Hexagon PI software positioning engine and TerraStar-X technology are being developed to ASIL-B (Automotive Safety Integrity Level B) standards to provide precise positioning for lane-level performance in autonomous applications.
Image: Trimble
Road Corrections
Incorporating precise and consistent absolute location information is an essential component of enabling advanced driver assistance (ADAS) and autonomous driving (AD) technology for vehicles.
To help meet this need, Trimble recently released Trimble RTX Auto. The Trimble RTX Auto correction service provides a precise point position (PPP) solution that can be used to correct the position of any auto grade GNSS chipset. RTX Auto works in parallel with other on-vehicle sensors to deliver a positioning solution that satisfies ADAS and AD requirements.
Absolute position contributes to many features:
Lane centering. Systems designed to keep a car centered in a lane, relieving the driver of the task of steering, is often achieved with cameras and absolute position data. Absolute position can be used when lines disappear, or weather prevents them from being seen.
Map aiding. a combination of precise map and location data helps to navigate junctions, lane changes, roundabouts or intersections where lane information is essential to safe driving.
Prediction of future road structure. Both allow a vehicle to begin slowing in advance of a bend in the road and to avoid harsh braking that would happen if the system only relied on short range sensors.
Adhering to the speed limit. This helps drivers anticipate changes in speed limits when a downpour prevents cameras from seeing the speed limit signs or when they might be obscured by natural surroundings or another vehicle.
RTX Auto is both Automotive Safety Integrity Level (ASIL) and Automotive Software Process Improvement and Capability Determination (ASPICE) certified. These certifications validate that Trimble RTX Auto meets functional safety requirements for ADAS and autonomous applications in the auto industry.
Super Cruising. Trimble is on the road today providing RTX-based absolute positioning within General Motors’ Super Cruise driver assistance feature, a hands-free driving system for the freeway. For more information on Super Cruise, visit www.cadillac.com/world-of-cadillac/innovation/super-cruise.
Lidar USA is integrating its UAV scanning systems with the Harris Aerial H4/H6 Hybrid multicopters.
As surveyors and mappers experience growth, they assume larger and larger projects, making longer flight times increasingly important. The Harris Hybrid can provide such flights with lidar and industrial-grade cameras, allowing for far greater coverage in a single flight.
“The beauty of the Harris Hybrid, is that the pilot continues to enjoy the flexibility of a multicopter, availability of fuel, and relatively compact packaging at an affordable price,” said Jeff Fagerman, CEO of Lidar USA. “While it is louder than an all-electric system, for particularly large, rural projects it is a very nice solution.”
Harris Aerial, a drone manufacturer near Orlando, Florida, builds and sells heavy-lift hybrid multicopters. These copters use a small generator running on 95 (or higher) octane fuel to power the UAV for up to 5 hours. The H6 can carry an A-series HD lidar system of 3 kg for 2.5 hours and a V-series of 5 kg up to 1.5 hours.
For the lidar operator, most projects require only one or two flights. On projects that are relatively flat with a clear line of sight to the horizon in all directions, these systems can cover everything legally possible in a single flight.
Lidar USA offers the Harris Aerial H4/H6 Hybrid an integrated package with any Lidar USA scanning system.
A German research team successfully demonstrated a completely autonomous airplane landing in May, without assistance from any ground-based systems, fulfilling a key step towards autonomous air traffic and the much-bruited Urban Air Mobility (UAM).
An optical reference system, encompassing a camera in the normal visible range and an infrared camera for conditions with poor visibility, combined with GPS to bring the modified Diamond DA42 in for a safe, unpiloted landing at the Diamond Aircraft airfield in Wiener-Neustadt, Austria.
The team, from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and the Technische Universität Braunschweig, formed the project they call C2Land with funding from the German federal government. Two 2019 conference papers by the researchers, cited at the end of this article, give the technical underpinnings of the C2Land system.
What’s New
Automatic landings by both commercial aircraft and small planes can and do take place at major airports with the Instrument Landing System (ILS) infrastructure to guide aircraft in with sufficient precision. Ground antennas send radio signals to the autopilot to make sure it navigates to the runway safely. Procedures in development to use GNSS alone to make autonomous landings also require a ground-based augmentation system.
But systems such as these are too expensive for small airports that will conceivably carry the major share of UAM: automated air freight transport and autonomous flying taxis.
What needs to happen before George Jetson air taxis become a reality? UAM will take place in the zone 500 to 5,000 feet above ground, transporting one to five passengers or cargo over distances of five to 50 miles. The vision shared by most UAM stakeholders, a group that includes NASA and the FAA, involves vertical take-off and landing rather than conventional “glide” takeoff and landing, but precise navigation to the landing spot is critical in both cases.
“Automatic landing is essential, especially in the context of the future role of aviation,” said Martin Kügler, research associate at the TUM Chair of Flight System Dynamics.
Fly-by-wire systems, semiautomatic and typically computer-regulated systems for aircraft navigation, use GPS signals for positioning. But since GPS is susceptible to errors, interference, and obstruction, it is not solely sufficient for landing procedures. Current GPS approach procedures require that human pilots resume control over the aircraft at 60 meters altitude, and land the aircraft manually.
To enable completely automated landings , the TU Braunschweig team designed an optical reference system: two cameras, one in normal visible range and one infrared camera for poor visibility conditions. Custom image processing software lets the system determine where the aircraft is relative to the runway based on the camera data it receives. Additional functions were integrated in the software, such as comparison of data from the cameras with GPS signals, calculation of a virtual glide path for the landing approach and flight control for various phases of the approach.
Visual Recognition
Test pilot Thomas Wimmer, who sat through the procedure with his hands folded, said “The cameras already recognize the runway at a great distance from the airport. The system then guides the aircraft through the landing approach on a completely automatic basis and lands it precisely on the runway’s centerline.”
The researchers presented their system in two papers at the Institute of Navigation’s 2019 Pacific PNT Meeting in April:
“Model-based Threshold and Centerline Detection for Aircraft Positioning during Landing Approach,” by S. Wolkow, M. Angermann, A. Dekiert, and Ulf Bestmann; and
“Linear Blend: Data Fusion in the Image Domain for Image-based Aircraft Positioning during Landing Approach,” by M. Angermann, S. Wolkow, A. Dekiert, U. Bestmann, and P. Hecker.
The Federal Aviation Administration has added new airspace restrictions — effective July 11 — on unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) attempting to fly over national-security-sensitive locations.
The FAA has been cooperating with federal partners to address concerns about malicious drone operations by using the agency’s existing authority under Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations Section 99.7 (14 CFR § 99.7), Special Security Instructions, to establish UAS specific flight restrictions over select, national security sensitive locations.
The FAA’s Notice to Airmen (NOTAM), FDC 8/3277, defines these special security instructions. The FAA published a NOTAM, FDC 9/3332, which alerts UAS operators and others in the aviation community of this change and points to FDC 8/3277.
The additional 12 restricted locations requested by the U.S. Department of Defense are identified below.
Raven Rock Mountain Complex in Adams, PA
Lake City Army Ammunition Plant in Independence, MO
Pine Bluff Arsenal in White Hall, AR
Tooele Army Depot in Tooele, UT
Hawthorne Army Depot in Hawthorne, NV
Pueblo Chemical Depot in Pueblo, CO
Iowa Army Ammunition Plant in Middletown, IA
Watervliet Arsenal in Watervliet, NY
Blue Grass Army Depot in Richmond, KY
Letterkenny Army Depot in Chambersburg, PA
Rivanna Station in Charlottesville, VA
Maui Space Surveillance Site in Maui, HI
UAS operators, in particular, are urged to review the special security instructions prescribed by FDC 8/3277 and the important supporting information provided by the FAA’s UAS Data Delivery System (UDDS) website.
The UDDS website provides easy access to the text of FDC 8/3277 and other UAS-specific security NOTAMs; a current list of the airspace to which these special security instructions have been applied, supported by an interactive map and downloadable geospatial data; and other crucial details. A link to these restrictions is also included in the FAA’s B4UFLY mobile app.
The new UAS flight restrictions highlighted above and by FDC 9/3332 are pending until they become effective on 07/11/2019. UAS operators should keep in mind that access to the airspace identified by FDC 8/3277 and UDDS is strictly controlled.
Operators who violate these flight restrictions may be subject to enforcement action, including potential civil penalties and criminal charges.
The FAA is continuing to consider additional requests by eligible Federal security agencies for UAS-specific flight restrictions using the agency’s 14 CFR § 99.7 authority as they are received. The FAA will announce any future changes, including additional locations, as appropriate.
For further, broader information regarding flying drones in the National Airspace System, including frequently asked questions, please refer to the FAA’s UAS website.
Raytheon Company has signed a strategic agreement with AirMap, an airspace intelligence platform for drones, to collaborate on projects to safely integrate unmanned aerial systems (UAS) into the national airspace system. This will help unlock the positive economic and social benefits of expanded commercial drone operations, the companies said.
Unmanned air traffic control advances will unlock safe, efficient and scalable drone operations with a myriad of economic and social benefits.
“AirMap is ushering in a new era in drone aviation,” said Matt Gilligan, vice president of Raytheon’s Intelligence, Information and Services business. “Drones must safely operate in an already complex ecosystem, which is where our experience matters.”
The agreement combines the two companies’ expertise:
Raytheon’s Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System, or STARS, is used by air traffic controllers across the U.S. to provide safe and efficient aircraft spacing and sequencing guidance for more than 40,000 departing and arriving aircraft daily at both civilian and military airports.
AirMap is a global provider of airspace intelligence for UAS operations, with over 250,000 registered users. In 2018, U.S. registered commercial drone pilots used AirMap to request more than 45,000 automated authorizations to fly in controlled airspace.
“Raytheon technology has helped safely and effectively manage airspace in the most complex, dense controlled airspace in the world for decades,” said Ben Marcus, AirMap co-founder and chairman. “They are an ideal partner to join AirMap on the path toward enabling safe, efficient, and scalable drone operations in U.S. low-altitude airspace between 0 and 400 feet.”
The two companies are working toward an integrated demonstration that will showcase how AirMap’s unmanned aircraft traffic management platform can increase air traffic controllers’ awareness of potential conflict between drones and manned aircraft near airports to ensure overall safety of the airspace.
Emcore Corporation has launched the EN-2000 to the Emcore-Orion series of micro-inertial navigation (MINAV) systems.
The new EN-2000 will represent the pinnacle of performance in Emcore navigation systems, and realizes the company’s vision of a closed-loop, solid-state design that will deliver higher performance at lower cost than traditional RLG (ring laser gyroscope) navigation systems.
The EN-2000 expands Emcore’s navigation systems line that also includes the EN-1000 introduced in 2017. The Emcore-Orion series of inertial navigation system (INS) are designed for use in a broad range of defense, aviation and aeronautics applications.
The unit was introduced at the Paris Air Show, held June 17-20 at the Parc des Expositions Paris-le Bourget in Hall 6, Stand #C65.
Today, there is an ever-increasing premium being placed on modern navigation systems for improved size, weight and power (SWaP). Traditional RLG navigation systems placed a premium on accuracy and performance, but not SWaP. Typical RLG and FOG systems are large and heavy, ranging in volume from 330 in3 to 540 in3, weighing 13 to 22 pounds with power requirements of 25 to 38 watts.
Many modern weapon systems are now remotely operated, unmanned or man-portable and may need to operate where GPS is unavailable or denied. The compact EN-2000 is designed for these applications. It puts a premium on accuracy and performance, but also on smaller size, less weight and lower power consumption.
The new Emcore-Orion EN-2000 MINAV is a three-axis design using the company’s proprietary, next-generation solid-state optical transceiver with advanced integrated optics, combined with all new field programmable gate array (FPGA) electronics to deliver stand-alone aircraft-grade navigator performance at one-third the SWaP of legacy or competing systems.
The EN-2000 model comes in two standard versions, an IMU version and a standalone INS configuration. The INS version can gyrocompass to less than 0.7 milliradians and maintain near-GPS-level positional accuracy without the use of a GPS receiver. This makes it suitable for use in GPS-denied environments.
To provide customers with additional flexibility, the unit is also capable of being aided by an external GPS for applications where needed.
The Emcore-Orion EN-2000 is compact and lightweight, weighing less than 7 pounds, with very low power consumption of 10 watts. It can deliver twice the performance of the EN-1000 with the same form factor.
The low SWaP of the EN-2000 makes it a suitable inertial navigation system for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs), unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs), manned aircraft, rotorcraft and dismounted soldier applications.
“With the introduction of the EN-2000, Emcore can now offer class-leading performance at a fraction of the size, weight and power of competing systems with increased reliability,” said David Faulkner, Emcore vice president and general manager of aerospace and defense. “Emcore’s goal of a true full navigation system that can replace older technology navigation systems in UAVs, UUVs, UGVs, manned aircraft and rotorcraft is fully realized with the introduction of the EN-2000.”
“Our Emcore-Orion series micro navigators improve dramatically on the size and cost of navigation and azimuth sensing equipment by utilizing affordable lightweight sensors that reduce overall system weight and increase accuracy,” added K.K. Wong, Sr., director of fiber optic gyro products for Emcore. “The digital interface is also fully programmable at Emcore’s factory enabling it to directly replace competing units.”
Lidar USA is now offering the option of the Drone Rescue Systems parachute system with all of its DJI M600 UAVs.
As UAVs become increasingly common for mapping applications, the likelihood of a crash increases. The number-one concern for any pilot should be the safety of all people in the vicinity. Equipment safety is number two.
Any mapping-equipped drone will have enough weight to potentially harm a person even if falling from a low altitude flight. The Drone Rescue System greatly mitigates this danger and gives pilots the added assurance that, should the system fail, they have gone the extra mile to prevent harm to any bystanders.
Effective as low as 10 meters with a descent of 3 meters per second, the equipment will land without a hard impact yet quickly enough to keep from being dragged far away.
Photo: Lidar USA
Weighing in at 430 grams in a repackable canister 160 x 75 millimeters in size, the DRS-M600 is designed to auto-release using a patented, airplane-friendly ejection mechanism within milliseconds of detecting a system failure. The size and weight are a major bonus when combined with the airplane-friendly feature, especially for field workers, according to the company.
“We performed our own tests of the Drone Rescue system to ensure the system really worked as advertised,” said Daniel Fagerman, CTO of Lidar USA. “We weren’t disappointed. While it’s an expensive test if it fails, the good news is it that the system worked as well as could be expected. The M600 incurred very little damage that was easily repaired. We feel confident this will be more than just an accessory for our clients but rather a necessity.”
Lidar USA is offering the parachute option to any M600 owners. Watch a video of one of the company’s test flights.
Welcome to Part 2 of our coverage of the mammoth AUVSI Xponential 2019 show in Chicago, which drew 8,000 attendees, featured 300+ speakers on its technical program, and furnished a temporary home for more than 800 exhibitors. It was “Everything Unmanned” and a challenge to cover. Last month we looked primarily at new vehicles. This month’s column focuses on sensors, capabilities and apps aboard those and other airborne drones — and even an anti-drone drone!
Sagetech: For UAVs to gain entry to the US National Airspace System (NAS) and to other controlled airspace all around the world, sense-and-avoid capability is paramount. Sagetech comes from the world of Mode-S transponders, with which the majority of piloted aircraft are equipped. These devices transmit aircraft identification and provide the moving IDs on air-traffic controller display monitors. In the military sector, Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) interrogator-transponders enable similarly equipped aircraft of NATO countries to determine which are friendly aircraft within their immediate airspace, and which are not.
The MX12B Mode 5 IFF with FAA-certified civil modes. (Photo: Sagetech)
Sagetech has just released a micro-mode 5 MX12B aviation transponder that enables small unmanned aircraft to interoperate within NATO airborne units. The transponders weigh around 10lb, so mil-spec UAVs operating in NATO airspace can now also carry this light-weight unit.
For civilian UAVs, GPS has been added to provide aircraft position outputs in Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast (ADS–B) message format, allowing other aircraft and UAVs to receive a vehicle’s location. The Sagetech ADS-B transponder is small, certified to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) standards (TSO C-166b) and is affordable. Boeing Scan-Eagle UAVs apparently already carry Sagetech transponder capability.
The tailBeacon ADS-B retrofit. (Photo: uAvionics)
uAvionix: Another avionics supplier has brought out certified ADS-B capable transponders, but with a novel way to add the required capability to general aviation (GA) aircraft, typically smaller private planes. The FAA has mandated that all aircraft should be fitted with ADS-B capability by January 1, 2020 in order to fly within controlled airspace, so uAvionix has simplified ADS-B retrofit for older GA aircraft.
All aircraft have wingtip and/or rear-tail beacon lights; this update replaces their existing beacon with a light which also includes ADS-B capability when paired with the aircraft transponder.
The FYXnav TSO CERTIFIED GPS navigation source. (Photo: uAvionics)
uAvionix also supplies a couple of GPS sensors for external mounting on UAVs: the FYXnav sensor is FAA-certified to TSO-C199 Traffic Awareness Beacon System Class B.
Sensefly released a new inspection application for their eBeeX UAV, specifically designed for solar farms. With a dual thermal/video sensor for data collection and data processing using application-specific Raptor Maps software, Sensefly claims to reduce the inspection time required for a 150MW solar farm to around 1 day, a 300-times improvement on ground inspection using a hand-held thermographic sensor.
Provided an inspection operation could support five 70-minute eBee-X flights during one day, the UAV could over-fly up to 161 acres of solar panels at an altitude of 138ft, gathering anomalies during each flight. This adds up to 150MW of solar panels over the 5 flights. Sensefly claims this to be twice as fast as with multi-rotor dones. The Raptor Maps software then generates an inspection report identifying each anomaly, using the eBee X’s video and thermal imagery to identify, classify, and localize the detected problems.
The Fortem DroneHunter intercept drone. (Photo: Fortem)
Fortem makes an anti-drone defense combining a radar detection system with a DroneHunter drone that attacks other UAVs, releasing an 80ft net to capture intruders. For those nefarious drones which are hardened against RF countermeasures, this system is also touted as capable of recovering the offending drone without damage, returning it to the operator in a net at the end of a tether. The DroneHunter flies autonomously on its intercept mission, carrying a compact radar system integrated with a ballistic net release system.
Septentrio continued promotion of its Mosaic chip-level GNSS at Xponential. The new chip uses the same proven core DSP with a new RF front-end and a new processor, working with more than 30 signals from the existing six GNSS constellations, and with L-band and satellite-based augmentation systems (SBAS).
The chip appears to be aimed at the high-precision market, replacing the AsteRx-m2 board level receiver family.
The chip runs Septentrio RTK algorithms, is quite small (1.29 x 1.29 x 0.15 in), is designed for high-volume surface mount manufacture, and comes with a set of popular interfaces. The chip is sampling now, with production planned for later this year.
NovAtel is growing, opening new offices in the US and needing more local real-estate to fit its headquarters in Calgary, Canada. The company is now part of Hexagon Positioning Intelligence (Hexagon PI), a partial re-branding that includes VERIPOS correction services and recently purchased AutonomousStuff, specializing in ground vehicles. Each organization still operates individually through its own brands. On the NovAtel booth, existing products were presented through a number of new applications, including those of the growing mil-spec products group.
Summary. While AUVSI Xponential was over in early May, the companies who were there have not rested. All are developing new approaches for UAVs and unmanned ground vehicles, sensor systems for even wider applications than seen in Chicago, and all manner of other added capabilities. This business only gets bigger and more innovative.
