Creative Equipage for Addressing Worldwide UAS Regulatory Constraints
(Room 271-272)
03 May 16
11:30 AM
-
12:00 PM
Tracks:
Air, Commercial, Research and Development, Technical Track: Airspace Integration Research
Absent definitive ICAO guidance, worldwide UAS regulations are all over the map in terms of what's allowed when, where, and by whom. Countries sharing common traits will be grouped and discussed, while calling attention to individual quirks serving to illustrate the richness and experimental character of the regulatory landscape. These regulations will be contrasted with perceived market demands, highlighting the difficulty of reconciling rapid innovation with safety in "safety-of-life" applications. It will be shown that - regardless of the country in question - current regulations are nearly always insufficient for “beyond visual” line of sight (BVLOS) operation necessary to operate profitably. BVLOS is challenging since it requires Detect And Avoid (DAA) functionality, a UAS capability necessary to comply with Part 91 FARs for operation in non-segregated national airspaces. DAA equipage is thought to comprise a transponder, ADS-B Out, active surveillance like TCAS, and a means like primary radar to keep “well clear” of non-cooperative targets. DAA has been demonstrated in large UAS where bulky equipment originally intended for manned aircraft is of little consequence. For a small UAS (sUAS) under 25 kg (55 lbs), however, DAA equipage is not currently feasible. Yet encouraging indications exist that techniques already brought to bear to miniaturize transponder and ADS-B avionics - to the size of a deck of cards- can be extended to include active surveillance and radar. These techniques begin with the realization that size - indeed, SWaP in general - must be accounted for early in the design process, coupled with innovative approaches to component selection, board inter-connects, and equipment enclosure, all of which serve to drive the number of hardware iterations to reach a final product. Analysis and initial prototyping reveals that these techniques lend themselves to active surveillance equipment (cf. TCAS) compatible with Group 2 UAS. Radar is the greater challenge, but analysis coupled with innovative design suggests a path forward to its use in Group 2 UAS. Once accomplished, a major barrier to safe, unrestricted sUAS operation in national airspace - shared with manned aircraft - will have been removed.