Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are something of a Swiss Army knife for the surveying and mapping communities. Commercial applications continue to grow, with UAVS — known as drones in the vernacular — gathering data and observations for agriculture, mining, utility inspections, natural resources, historical preservation, security, and many more applications.
UAVs perform high-risk tasks that keep workers out of harm’s way. They fly in places and situations difficult or impossible for aircraft to reach. They collect high-resolution imagery across the spectrum, accompanied by exact positioning and location data. They detect and help preserve the past in rich detail.
A study by Polaris Market Research predicts the UAV market will reach $15.62 billion By 2026, spurred not only by new use cases, but through miniaturization and improvement of components. Payload components that continue to improve include GNSS receivers, inertial measurement units, micro-electromechanical components, cameras of all types (RGB, thermal, hyperspectral and high-resolution video) and lidar. (For more on lidar with UAVs, see Diving into UAV lidar surveys.)
In these pages, we share a variety of case studies from companies taking part in the UAV revolution. In many of these use cases, companies saved considerable money using UAVs rather than more traditional surveying methods. In others, UAVs are helping to keep people safe.
In all cases, using UAVs provides a wealth of data that offer new insights, no matter the application.
Cliff surveys are traditionally performed with fixed-wing aircraft that collect nadir photos. However, a photogrammetry company accurately triangulated oblique images and mapped them in 3D stereo, developing a new technique in the process.
The erosion survey — along Pacific Coast Highway 1 in Cayucos, California — required imaging the side of the cliff to produce a precise orthomosaic and topographic map of its structure and integrity. The project required a 0.5-inch orthomosaic, a 1.2-inch 3D topographic contour map and a vector-based digital terrain model accurate to 1.2 inches.
Surveyor Paul Reichardt and Robert Lafica, owner of Central Coast Aerial Mapping, placed ground control points around the property and beach, and then used a Trimble R8 GNSS receiver to measure their positions to within 0.04-foot accuracy. They also established four checkpoints for quality control in the photo triangulation process. The R8 and a Trimble 5600 total station were used to collect property corners and top-of-surface elevations to integrate into the 3D topographic map.
At an altitude of 131 feet, the UAS covered the site from both nadir and oblique camera angles in nine passes, collecting 158 photos at an average ground sample distance of 0.5 inches. To capture the cliff side, Lafica flew the UAS about 90 feet from its face and angled the camera at 40 degrees.
The photos and position data were loaded into Trimble’s Inpho UASMaster photogrammetric software to automatically triangulate the images. The software pinpointed 6,368 common features with multiple connections to match images to each other. After initial triangulation, precise coordinates were attached to each control point, a final triangulation was completed to create the maps, and a new technique for mapping cliff faces was born.
Altitude Angel, a unified traffic management (UTM) technology provider, is bringing to market airspace management solution GuardianUTM Enterprise.
GuardianUTM Enterprise provides a view of the airspace in the vicinity of airports and enables airport to start designing and providing UTM services for drone companies and drone operators, using Altitude Angel’s proven digital authorization and flight-management technology.
GuardianUTM Enterprise will initially be deployed to support regional and local airports and airfields.
Europe’s EASA U-Space regulations are expected to become law on Jan. 1, 2023. GuardianUTM Enterprise is designed to enable airspace authorities to digitize approvals for drone operations using services integrated with Common Information Service (CIS) and U-Space Service Providers (USSP) architectures.
Using GuardianUTM Enterprise, airports can set access policies and create automation workflows accessible via Altitude Angel’s UTM ecosystem. This ecosystem is used by hundreds of thousands of drone pilots, manufacturers and software companies to guarantee the airport the best available view of the sky and nearby drone operations, ensuring a growing sector of the aviation market is able to access the new airport UTM Service.
For larger airports with counter-UAS solutions, data from on-site surveillance systems can be optionally integrated to give airport security staff greater situation intelligence which is a critical step in encouraging greater drone use.
The solution can be rapidly deployed and configured for airports of any size; providing a flexible platform for enabling drones to be safely integrated in the airspace around these facilities: a crucial step in unlocking a wide variety of unique use-cases for drones.
GuardianUTM Enterprise provides digitalization of pre-flight and take-off approvals to drone operators within airspace. It offers high levels of automation, including customized automated access policies and approval workflows of unmanned operations.
French ministry for Armed Forces selects Airbus Survey Copter Aliaca fixed-wing drone systems to equip its ships
Airbus Defence and Space mini UAS subsidiary Survey Copter signed a contract with French DGA Armament general directorate to provide the French Navy with 11 systems, (22 aircraft), of the electrically powered fixed-wing Aliaca maritime version UAS (officially called SMDM / “Systèmes de Mini Drones aériens embarqués pour la Marine” by French authorities), including training and integrated logistic support. First deliveries are expected in 2021.
“We are honored to contribute to the missions of the French Navy which we will support with the highest standards of quality and reliability,” said Nicolas Askamp, head of Survey Copter/Airbus Unmanned Aerial Systems. “This new contract strengthens Survey Copter’s position as a global key player for maritime mini UAS.”
The Aliaca maritime UAS is a high-endurance versatile system allowing up to 3 hours missions over a 50 km (27 Nm) range, perfectly adapted to maritime missions with high gyro stabilized EO/IR payload performances and qualified to operate in severe environmental conditions.
The Aliaca SMDM is catapulted from a ship deck. (Photo: Airbus Defence and Space)
Launched by catapult, the Aliaca maritime UAS concludes its flight by landing automatically using a dedicated net landing solution. With a length of 2,2m and a wingspan of 3,6m for a maximum take-off weight of 16 kg., the Aliaca maritime UAS benefits from a powerful yet silent electric motor. The system can be deployed easily and rapidly in less than 15 minutes by 2 operators only.
Similarly, the user-friendly ground control station enables the operator to constantly monitor the automatic flight of the UAS while receiving in real-time day and night images and AIS (Automatic Identification System) data gathered by its on-board sensors.
It is designed to conduct several types of missions around the ships, including increasing the understanding of the tactical situation, control of illegal operations at sea, search-and-rescue, traffic monitoring, pollution detection, tracking of any suspicious behavior in the ship environment and coastal surveillance.
This light on-board aerial solution gives the opportunity to vessels, traditionally not equipped with aerial assets, to enhance their tactical ISR capabilities, support decision making and reactivity in operations.
The Aliaca maritime UAS can easily be integrated on board any ships, with or without helicopter landing-deck, and its small logistic footprint enables operations and storage on board smaller sized ships. Its integration does not require heavy on-board modification nor storage of specific fuel.
The result of 10 years of R&D investments and on-board experimentations, SURVEY Copter’s off-the-shelf Aliaca maritime UAS is a robust and resistant system to the corrosive maritime environment, an adapted solution to the electromagnetic constraints on board, and benefits from an efficient net recovery system, fully automated, meaning that no human action is required during the recovery phase.
The UPP results will provide a proof of concept for UTM capabilities and serve as the basis for policy considerations, standards development and the implementation of a UTM system.
“The demonstrations will help move us closer to safe beyond-visual-line-of-sight drone operations,” said Pamela Whitley, the FAA’s acting assistant administrator for NextGen. “Flight testing UTM capabilities in high-density airspace will help us develop policy for safely and efficiently integrating drones into our national airspace while benefiting and serving communities.”
The demonstrations showcased emerging UTM capabilities that will support beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) operations:
The FAA UTM Flight Information Management System prototype and infrastructure, which gives the FAA access to information from industry and other stakeholders.
New technologies and data to validate the latest international standards for remote identification and support authorized users with specific operator data.
In-flight separation from other drones or manned aircraft in high-density airspace to validate recently proposed international UTM standards to help drones avoid each other.
UAS volume reservations to notify drone operators of emergencies and make sure other UTM capabilities work properly in these scenarios.
Secure information exchanges between the FAA, industry and authorized users to ensure data integrity.
Each event attracted more than 100 participants and included local and state elected officials and representatives from international civil aviation authorities. Both test sites collaborated with drone operators and local public safety agencies to demonstrate scenarios that featured various complex UTM capabilities working together to support BVLOS operations with increasing volumes and densities.
MAAP hosted an event on Oct. 28 in partnership with UAS Service Suppliers (USS) AirMap, AiRXOS, ANRA Technologies, and Wing. On Nov. 9, NYUASTS hosted its showcase in coordination with the Griffiss International Airport, Northeast UAS Airspace Integration Research Alliance (NUAIR), and USS partners AiRXOS, ANRA Technologies, AX Enterprize, and OneSky.
The FAA has worked closely with NASA, industry and other stakeholders since 2017 to identify the initial set of capabilities needed to support small drone operations and advance UTM. The FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 extended the objectives of the program to further enable safe BVLOS drone operations, paving the way for the program.
Stay tuned for more updates on how emerging technologies are being field tested to support the growing UAS industry.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has made it easier for drone pilots to quickly and safely access controlled airspace by adding 133 air traffic facilities to the Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability (LAANC) system. The expansion is based on feedback from the drone community.
LAANC is an automated application and approval system for drone pilots requesting to fly below 400 feet in controlled airspace.
As the FAA continues to modernize the national airspace to accommodate more users, the agency made LAANC accessible for 726 airports and 537 facilities, covering 81% of eligible airspace.
LAANC is a collaboration between the FAA and the unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) industry which directly supports the safe integration of drones into the nation’s airspace. The service is accessible to all pilots who operate under the FAA’s small drone rule.
uAvionix has announced pingRX Pro, a detect-and-avoid ADS-B receiver for professional unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). PingRX Pro is expected to be available in the fourth quarter of this year.
pingRX Pro detects private and commercial aircraft operating on 978 MHz and 1090 MHz. The received aircraft’s identity, position and altitude are visualized on a moving map in real time, allowing the UAS operator or autopilot to remain well clear.
The new pingRX Pro continues uAvionix’s lineage of easy to integrate receivers with direct support for popular Ardupilot-based autopilot systems. By adding the protection of an aircraft-grade aluminum case and detachable remote mount antenna, pingRX Pro provides an ADS-B receiver for professional UAS operators who need performance, quality and flexibility for limitless UAS applications.
“UAvionix has led the way in ADS-B solutions for unmanned aircraft since our founding.” said Christian Ramsey, president of uAvionix. “Industry leaders and BVLOS operators continually choose ADS-B receivers as their primary detect-and-avoid solution. pingRX Pro now offers manufacturers and integrators the installation flexibility they need for their enterprise aircraft. ”
Weighing less than 8 grams, pingRX Pro features uAvionix ping ADS-B, proven in over a half-million ADS-B solutions worldwide, from UAS to airport vehicles to certified general aviation solutions.
PingRX Pro offers an external antenna, allowing operators to install it anywhere on the airframe. UAS are often designed from materials that can block radio frequencies and impair radio performance. By providing an external remote mounted antenna, performance can be maximized while providing critical protection of the receiver mounted inside the fuselage.
ADS-B Out
Diagram: uAvionix
ADS-B uses precision GPS information to broadcast the position of an aircraft in real time. The technology allows aircraft to share the skies more efficiently by telling each other where they are.
With ADS-B already widely adopted by manned aircraft, the task of detect and avoid is eased because the manned aircraft are broadcasting their position directly to the drone operator with no intermediary. While many aircraft not yet equipped with ADS-B OUT, nearly all large commercial operators are equipped.
The United States requires ADS-B OUT on all manned aircraft with an engine-driven electrical system operating near medium and large cities from the surface to 4,000 feet above ground.
Given the likelihood of ADS-B OUT on manned aircraft, and the density in these prime areas for inspection and package delivery, pingRX Pro ADS-B IN enables drone operators to meet their requirement to remain well clear of surrounding aircraft.
PingRX Pro tracks 100 simultaneous aircraft at ranges exceeding 150 miles, all at nearly 200% less power consumption of the alternatives.
The contest targets the design and development of drone-based applications or services, using a Galileo-enabled receiver, to address the European Union’s (EU’s) key priorities such as the Green Deal, and support the EU Recovery Plan for Europe.
Initial ideas should be submitted by Aug. 31. Wide participation from all EU Member States is expected.
According to ESA, the MyGalileoDrone competition seeks to tap into the EU’s innovative spirit to deliver applications and services to boost Europe’s competitiveness, resilience and sustainability. Applications should leverage and demonstrate Galileo’s added value, such as increased accuracy, availability and robustness of position, as well as integrity for a solution based on drone operations.
The market related to drone applications and services is growing rapidly, and European drone service revenues are expected to reach EUR 250 million by 2025. The European demand is estimated to reach EUR 10 billion annually, in nominal terms, to 2035 and over EUR 15 billion annually to 2050, creating more than 100,000 jobs.
With GNSS receivers implemented on almost all new commercial drones, Galileo’s and EGNOS’ added value is pivotal for the development and growth of drone services and applications.
In addition to designing and developing the application, contestants should prepare their drone- based application or service for commercial launch.
The solution should leverage Galileo to provide a position fix. The use of EGNSS is understood in the broad sense, and Galileo can be integrated in the flying platform, the ground control station, or in other devices supporting the operation, such as a smartphone or even in the frame of U-Space services.
“GNSS is a key enabling technology in this segment, ensuring robust navigation and reliability for a wide range of applications. The MyGalileoDrone competition aims to bring oxygen to European SMEs and entrepreneurs driving innovation. It will create jobs and growth in this promising market,” said Pascal Claudel, acting executive director at the GSA.
Focus on EU priorities
In times of post-COVID recovery focus, submissions should target applications and services that support key EU priorities, but the sky’s the limit. The GSA is looking for trailblazing ideas in applications such as smart mobility, sustainable agriculture or environmental protection, or solutions that exploit synergies between 5G and space data, or support the internet of things, or whatever might be the next big thing.
Deadlines and Prizes
The first prize in the MyGalileoDrone competition amounts to EUR 100,000, with EUR 60,000 for second, EUR 40,000 for third, and a fourth prize of EUR 30,000.
After Aug. 31, projects selected to advance to the development phase of the contest will be announced on Sept. 15. Participants will have until Nov. 30 to develop a demo version of their proposed application or service.
In the finals, the selected teams will perform a live demonstration and pitch their ideas to investors. During the development process, the applicants will receive mentoring and coaching from recognized experts in the drone market. These experts will accompany them as they build their application, develop tests and get ready from the business perspective to attract investors and move to market.
To register or for more information, visit the competition page on the GSA website.
UAV Navigation has launched the VECTOR-400, a compact autopilot designed specifically for unmanned aerial targets (UAT). It features a robust enclosure and a military-grade connector designed to withstand the harshest environments, in accordance with MIL-STD 810 and MIL-STD 461.
“We wanted to develop a solution specifically for manufacturers of aerial targets,” said Tobias Webster, managing director of UAV Navigation. “That is why it was important for the autopilot to have the features required by this kind of UAV, such as sea-skimming (extremely low-level flight) or the capability to navigate without a GNSS signal.”
Thanks to its physical and logical redundancy, the VECTOR-400 is able to continue a mission in case of individual sensor failure and even when subject to jamming, maintaining accurate estimations of attitude and position. It features advanced algorithms for stall prevention and the ability to carry out an efficient gliding maneuver in case of engine failure.
The VECTOR-400 uses an air data attitude and heading reference system (ADAHRS) and inertial navigation system (INS) developed by UAV Navigation, which provides high precision attitude information and which allows reliable navigation even under the most demanding circumstances.
The ADAHRS gives the VECTOR-400 the capability to operate in GNSS-denied environments (less than 30 m/min drift) and also to execute highly dynamic maneuvers.
“The VECTOR-400 is not a product in isolation, rather it forms part of our global strategy. Some of its main features, such as the execution of completely automatic functions or its compact and easy to integrate software, which also allow it to be operated in case of data-link failure, are already used in other products in our autopilot family, such as the VECTOR-600” explained Webster.
In addition to its advanced technology, the VECTOR-400 benefits from the same stringent quality standards that UAV Navigation insists upon for all of its products. The company carries out rigorous calibration processes and acceptance testing on every single unit before it ships, together with its individual certificate of conformity.
UAV Navigation has designed the VECTOR-400 to meet MIL-STD 810 and MIL-STD 461 standards. The design and development of its software and hardware has been carried out in accordance with DO-178C, DO-254 and also ASTM F3201-16 — a certification available for unmanned aerial systems.
“Not all autopilots are able to control highly dynamic platforms; even fewer are able to carry out advanced, high-speed maneuvers and low-level flight such as sea-skimming,” Webster said. “That is why we are extremely pleased with this new product, which we believe meets a requirement in the market that had yet to be covered.”
The technology multinational GMV has won a contract under the Spanish Ministry of Defense’s (MoD’s) RAPAZ program for the supply of four Class I Seeker RPASs to be integrated into the intelligence units of the Paratrooper Brigade and the Tercio de Armada de Infantería de Marina (Marine Infantry Protection Force).
The contract will provide the armed forces with the most advanced version of the unmanned aircraft Seeker.
The UAS Seeker is an autonomous, rapid-deployment system developed by Aurea Avionics and supplied by GMV. It provides intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities over a 15-kilometer range with a 90-minute endurance and a weight of 3.5 kg.
The aircraft will strengthen the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities of Spanish troops, ensuring better operational capability and tactical superiority.
Seeker constitutes the core of a situational awareness system, providing real-time intelligence. It is designed for rapid-deployment and high-mobility military applications carrying out low-level intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance tasks.
The system components can be broken down into two major groups: the air segment and the ground segment. The air segment comprises the unmanned aerial system (UAV), fit for daytime and nighttime operations and capable of completely autonomous flying. The ground segment comprises a ground control station, a ground data terminal, and a remote handheld control. These systems between them monitor the UAV’s operation and process its real-time video data.
Within this project, due for delivery by October 2020, GMV will be running the design and manufacturing activities and also the various flight campaigns scheduled to check that the systems work properly before handover to the MoD.
GMV developments for unmanned aircraft
GMV boasts great expertise and experience in Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), built up on the strength of many previous projects such as ATLANTE, where it developed the aircraft’s flight control computer; EGNSS4RPAS, where it weighed up EGNOS performance for RPAS operations; and DOMUS, where it developed emergency-management and -monitoring service demonstrators for drone traffic control under the U-Space system.
This Spanish MoD Seeker system supply contract boosts GMV’s growing renown as developer and supplier of UAV systems and services.
UAVOS has successfully tested its new two-stage parachute system. The new parachute system provides slow descent of a UAS at high speed. It includes two parachutes — the pilot chute and a main chute used to slow and stabilize the UAS.
The decrease in the load speed on the UAS occurs due to the main chute opening delay function, when the pilot chute opens first. The parachute system is designed for UAS with speeds of up to 280 mph (450 kph) and weight of up to 110 lb (50 kg).
Watch the parachute in action:
The pilot chute allows safe, slow descent of the UAV during the main parachute deployment, as well as to open up the main chute at a minimum altitude.
After landing, the group of the main parachute lines is automatically unfastened to collapse the canopy of the main chute and releases after touchdown to avoid dragging the aircraft along the ground. Unfastening is carried out by the lock of a three-step release:
Stage 1: Opening the pilot chute
Stage 2: Opening the main chute
Stage 3: Release of the group of lines of the main parachute
“In the aircraft safety developments, saving an entire aircraft through a deployable parachute system is a crucial thing,” said Aliaksei Stratsilatau, CEO and lead developer of UAVOS. These trials have generated an amount of data that allows us to quantify the performance of parachute system for future missions. Computer modeling cannot capture all the complexities. Parachutes encounter turbulent and dynamic airflow, which is almost impossible to replicate with computers. The only way to get a handle on all the possibilities is test.”
Image: 4X-image iStock / Getty Images Plus / Getty Images
Nearly 4,000 waivers granted under Part 107; about 20 percent of waivers granted to organizations received by first responders
Almost four years after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) established rules for the commercial operation of small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), a new report by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) found that nearly 4,000 operators across all 50 states have been granted waivers to go beyond current regulations.
First responders across the country received about 20 percent of all waivers granted to organizations (398), which demonstrates growing interest and need for public safety applications enabled by UAS, including search and rescue and firefighting at night.
Effective Aug. 29, 2016, the small UAS rule, also known as Part 107, created a uniform regulatory framework for UAS. Among the rule’s requirements, UAS must fly below 400 feet above ground level (AGL), within visual line of sight and during daylight hours.
Recognizing the need for the rule to be flexible to foster innovation, the FAA created a waiver process that allows for expanded types of operations, such as nighttime or beyond line of sight operations, with the approval of the agency.
AUVSI analyzed 3,946 of these waiver documents granted by the FAA since Part 107 went into effect. While the vast majority of waivers (3,636 or 92 percent) were granted to waive the requirement for flying only during the daytime to enable nighttime operations, the FAA has also granted waivers from other sections of the regulations to permit advanced operations, including:
Flights over people (112 waivers);
Operation in certain airspace (97 waivers);
Operating multiple UAS at the same time (55 waivers);
Visual line of sight operations (to enable beyond line of sight operations) (51 waivers).
Operators in all 50 states, as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, have received waivers. California leads the way with 451 waivers granted, followed by Texas (334), Florida (272) and New York (159). About 87 percent of all waivers were granted to small businesses with fewer than 10 employees and annual revenues of less than $1 million.
“Across the country, operators have demonstrated they are eager to harness the tremendous potential of expanded UAS operations,” said Brian Wynne, president and CEO of AUVSI. “Small businesses have been able to save time and money, and first responders and public safety agencies have used UAS technology to increasingly contribute to the greater good worldwide, supporting missions from disaster relief to humanitarian aid.”
Last month, AUVSI submitted its comments on the FAA’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) for Remote Identification of UAS. In the comments, AUVSI urged the FAA to proceed concurrently with rulemaking that would allow for expanded operations rather than wait for a fully implemented remote ID rule to avoid unnecessary delays. The FAA says it hopes to issue a final rule before the end of the year.
In the interim, the FAA recently announced several initiatives to improve the waiver application process in response to a review last year of the waiver framework by a task group of the Drone Advisory Committee that was chaired by Wynne.
The FAA’s plans include expediting the waiver renewal application process, particularly in instances where there hasn’t been many changes since the original application; enabling quick administrative changes to previously granted waivers; providing more responsive feedback to applications that were not approved; streamlining the applications; implementing new regulations to obviate the need for waivers; and increasing transparency and accountability to provide support for waiver applications, disapprovals, and general UAS questions.
“The waivers that have been granted so far demonstrate that operators are safely able to conduct expanded operations, such as flights over people and beyond visual line of sight,” said Wynne. “While improvements to the waiver process are needed and welcomed, we urge the FAA to move forward rapidly with rulemakings that would enable these operations widely and provide the economic and societal benefits they offer.”
