the control of unmanned aircraft operating in civilian ...€¦ · civilian uavs: practical...

Civilian UAVs: Practical Challenges and Regulatory Implications RAeS UASSG Conference 19th September 2012

The control of unmanned aircraft operating in civilian BLOS missions

Dr Joseph Barnard [email protected]

Barnard Microsystems Limited Unit 4, 44 – 54 Coleridge Road

London N8 8ED U.K.

mailto:[email protected]

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Introduction We have developed the 4m wingspan InView Unmanned Aircraft System for use in: • scientific missions measuring ice thickness and ash cloud monitoring • commercial activities oil, gas and mineral exploration and pipeline monitoring • State activities routine land and maritime border patrol work


Features of the InView unmanned aircraft

Two engines for safety... with the aircraft able to fly controllably on one engine

Robust undercarriage for operation from rough terrain

Satellite communications unit supporting up to 200 kbps Ethernet

based Inmarsat communications

Two rudders for safety. with the ability to operate

using one rudder

Modular construction for ease of transportation,

maintenance and upgrade


BML lead the UASatCom IAP Feasibility Study supported by ESA The 15 month Feasibility Study investigated the technical, regulatory and financial issues of

an oil, gas and mineral exploration and pipeline monitoring service based on the use of light (< 35 kg take-off weight) unmanned aircraft

using satellite based data relay and precision navigation services.

The UA operate Beyond Line of Sight (“BLOS”), and often times at night...

This work has been supported by the European Space Agency in the form of an Integrated Application Promotion (“IAP”) ARTES 20 Project that started on 1st June 2011, involving:

• Barnard Microsystems Limited Lead Contractor U.K. • Inmarsat Global Limited Sub-Contractor U.K. • AnsuR Technologies AS Sub-Contractor Norway

• Fugro Airborne Surveys User Canada • Sander Geophysics Limited User Canada • Shell Aircraft and Shell Exploration User Netherlands

RAeS UASSG 2012 Conference on UAS Operations 5

Case 1: Use of unmanned aircraft to perform a geophysical survey, such as:

• a geomagnetic mapping, as above, indicating underlying iron ore bearing rock structure • a 3D Digital Elevation Mapping (“DEM”) of the underlying terrain • a multi-spectral (e.g. 6 bands) or hyper-spectral (e.g. 256 wavelengths) mapping

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The data for a geophysical mapping is derived from a BLOS airborne survey

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The unmanned aircraft need to fly from 20m to 80m Above Ground Level


From a presentation by James Macnae at SEG 2006

The UA may need to fly at night, when the electromagnetic noise levels are low

Quiet period from midnight to noon

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A double hop satellite data relay network is used in geophysical survey work.


Example of a mobile Ground Control Station used in geophysical survey work.


The stage seems set for the use of unmanned aircraft in geomagnetic surveys...


However, Universal Wing Technologies signs an agreement to sell UAS subsidiary On January 27th 2012, Universal Wing Technologies Inc. signed a share purchase agreement with the private company, Stratus Aeronautics, to sell 1,075,000 common shares (86%) of the outstanding shares of Universal Wing Geophysics Corp., the subsidiary that has operated the Company’s Unmanned Air Vehicle Systems development business. Under the terms of the Agreement, the Company will transfer 86% of Geophysics and operating control together with the business debt and liabilities which currently exceed $1,370,000 to Stratus. The Company has determined that the development of an Unmanned Systems development company, that had consumed much of its focus in the recent past, is difficult to finance in the current markets, and is best sold to a private company. On behalf of the Board of Directors Universal Wing Technologies Inc. Declan Sweeney


The Fugro Airborne Surveys “GeoRanger” unmanned aircraft.

The GeoRanger was based on the InSitu ScanEagle, and was used in geomagnetic

surveys in Canada.

The Fugro Airborne Surveys “GeoRanger” unmanned aircraft.

The GeoRanger was based on the InSitu ScanEagle, and was used in

geomagnetic surveys in Canada.


Current problems with the use of unmanned aircraft in civilian BLOS missions. • Unmanned aircraft are at present relatively unreliable (especially the engines):

o The engine on an AAI Shadow UA is replaced every 500 hours. o We understand the engine on an InSitu ScanEagle is replaced every 100 - 500 hours

• Regulatory constraints.

o These are slowly easing with all the work being performed throughout the world.

• At present, no “suitable” Sense and Avoid system on the unmanned aircraft.

Small engines have a really tough time: • increased wear due to typically higher RPM

operation • 4 stroke engines are more fuel efficient and

quieter than 2 stroke engines, but they are also more complex and have a higher vibration level

• Carbon build-up due to the very simple

carburettor used (no fuel injection unit) and the 20 : 1 = petrol : synthetic oil mixture used

Above: the twin cylinder 4 stroke SAITO FG-57T engine is an example of a petrol powered IC engine used on long range (300+ km) UA.


The business case takes a severe hit when an unmanned aircraft crashes... For example, an unmanned aircraft on a geophysical survey mission might be carrying: a Headwall HyperSpec SWIR hyperspectral camera costing $ 95,000 (budgetary price)

two Scintrex CS-3SL Cesium beam magnetometers, each costing $ 20,200

one airborne broadband satellite communications terminal costing $ 36,500 (budgetary)

Cost of UA + hyperspectral camera + 2x magnetometers + sat comms unit = $ 215,400


“Human error causes most Predator crashes” Air Force researcher finds that biggest problem is operator mistakes.

Above: Col. Charles W. Manley, commander of the 163d Maintenance Group,163d Reconnaissance Wing, pilots a training simulator for the Air Force's MQ-1 Predator at the March Air Reserve Base in Riverside County, Calif., in June. Research shows that most Predator mishaps are the result of: • inadequate skills • lack of teamwork • lack of situational awareness.


Our own experience with unmanned aircraft incidents Event Comment Ascribed to IV-01 sheared off undercarriage pre-flight check error human error IV-02 crash after failure of one engine lack of situational awareness design error pre-flight check deficiency human error IV-03 crash due to little rudder authority design deficiency design error IV-05 manually landed on top of tall trees pilot perception error human error IV-06 sheared off undercarriage hard manual landing human error IV-07 sheared off undercarriage hard manual landing human error design deficiency design error Most accidents occurred during take-off and landing. So, as far as we are concerned, unmanned aircraft testing in the U.K. under CAA CAP 722 regulations is fine. Our test flight experience has convinced us that the human is the weak link, and that more pre-flight test automation and flight control machine intelligence will lead to increased safety.


Above: an example of redundancy. In this test flight, a servo connecting rod to the right hand aileron on the InView came loose, but full control of the unmanned aircraft was maintained.

Example of one of many things that can go wrong during an UA flight.


From presentation by Dubi Lavi at AUVSI Israel Chapter Conference, 20-23 March 2012.

Even with significant training, human error remains a notable cause of UA crashes


Case 2: Use of unmanned aircraft in oil and gas pipeline monitoring activities

Above: timely (within 15 minutes) detection of an oil leak from a pipeline is important.

Below: The User needs to: • routinely monitor many hundreds

of km of oil pipeline;

• at least once every 2 weeks;

• and detect and identify people and objects from at least 600 feet from a moving airborne platform.

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In oil pipeline and infrastructure monitoring, the need is to detect anomalies.

Above: timely (within 15 minutes) detection of an oil leak from a pipeline is important.

Below: a PM UA based service must: • routinely monitor many hundreds

of km of oil pipeline;

• at least once every 2 weeks;

• and detect and identify people and objects from at least 600 feet from a moving airborne platform.

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Pipeline monitoring.

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Object detection and identification at over 600 feet from a moving aircraft.

Side looking photo from an unmanned aircraft travelling at 30 mph, no image enhancement.

Canon EOS 5D Mk III camera body

5,760 x 3,840 Pixels = 22 MPixels

computer interface and control via USB 2

price = £ 2,480

Canon EF 70 - 200mm f/2.8L zoom lens

viewing angle = 10° x 7° at 200mm

4 stop image stabilisation

price = £ 1,660

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The unmanned aircraft need to be able to operate in extreme climatic conditions

Part of the Trans Alaska Pipeline

Severe weather conditions in the Arctic: total darkness (in winter time)

temperatures: drop to -40°C

spray icing (wing icing)

snow and ice

In North Africa and in the Middle East, an unmanned aircraft could encounter: temperatures that reach +50°C fine dust

abrasive sand storms. Pipeline in Saudi Arabia


People siphoning oil from pipelines often take “pot shots” at overhead aircraft.

Above: getting an indication of the vulnerability of the InView UA to small arms fire at an indoor shooting range in Las Vegas, venue of the AUVSI North America 2012 Conference . Here, the popular Glock 17 pistol was used with the static target brought forward for viewing.

Above: results for the Glock 17 pistol on a 20" (508 mm) diameter target, located 10 m away. Not surprisingly, even when holding the pistol firmly with two hands, the bullets are all over the place.


Night flying becomes a necessity, partly because “bunkering” takes place at night.

Above: Tito with the widely used AK-47 machine gun, in machine gun mode, using 7.62 mm ammunition. We also have results for: • the US M4 machine gun

• the Belgian FN self loading rifle

• a sniper rifle with telescopic sights

Above: the bullets from the AK-47 machine gun drift to the upper right with each successive shot when operated in machine gun mode. The AK-47 was fired in bursts of 3 shots each. This is a popular weapon used by people engaged in bunkering activities


The InView with a 5 kW brushless electric motor for use in “stealth mode” flight.


Satellite based data relay network, showing single hop link used in a PM service.

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RAeS UASSG 2012 Conference on UAS Operations 30 Barnard

Example of a Ground Control Station suitable for pipeline monitoring work.


A satellite data service provider will not guarantee data link integrity.

Flight automation + limited autonomy + a sense and avoid system are needed • in a lost link situation • in night time flying • in a BLOS geophysical survey or pipeline monitoring mission to save the unmanned aircraft and the payload and avoid a crash in which people might be injured and / or property might be damaged

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Automation and adaptive flight control are needed for BLOS civilian missions • The business case is taking a real hit from the unreliability of current unmanned aircraft.

• It is increasingly being suggested that the weak link is the man-in-the-loop. • This leads us to the view that the introduction of more automation and machine

intelligence will reduce the unmanned aircraft accident rate. • We think that the development of adaptive flight control, flight automation and a degree

of autonomy will in time enable us to reduce the accident rate for unmanned aircraft below that of manned aircraft.

• Machine intelligence is needed to enable the unmanned aircraft to perform predictably: o in a lost link situation o in spite of the status of the aircraft o in spite of the weather conditions o while taking action to avoid colliding with other airborne objects.

• A limited degree of autonomy will enable the unmanned aircraft to:

o fly safely back to base, or to auto-land at a designated site, in a lost link situation o detect the early onset of system degradation, such as wing icing, and take action o avoid other aircraft provided it is fitted with an effective collision detection unit

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Presentation by Dubi Lavi of IAI at the AUVSI Israel Chapter Conference, 20-23 March 2012.

Staff at IAI think that more flight automation is needed to help the business case.

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Rockwell Collins are reporting impressive work on adaptive flight control...

Presentation by Eric Thomas at AUVSI Israel Chapter Conference, 20-23 March 2012.

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Rockwell Collins have demonstrated the use of real time adaptive flight control

to continue flying, and then landing, a severely damaged unmanned aircraft.

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Conclusions • The use of light UA in oil, gas and mineral exploration and pipeline monitoring work looks

feasible from a technical and regulatory standpoint, and is commercially attractive. • The key hurdles that need to be overcome at present are:

o Small unmanned aircraft are at present relatively unreliable o Regulatory constraints o A Sense and Avoid system is needed on the UA

• The use of an adaptive flight control autopilot to manage system degradation is needed

to help the business case.

• The unmanned aircraft must be able to fly safely, and land safely (auto land capability) in a lost command link situation. This capability will also help with routine operations.

• The potential exists for unmanned aircraft flight to be safer than manned aircraft flight. Acknowledgements T.S.B. “AeroVision” Proof of Market Project European Space Agency for Artes 20 IAP UASatCom Feasibility Study support T.S.B. “INMARA II Intelligent Machine Reasoning and Action” Proof of Concept Project T.S.B. “STUAC” Project using sensors to monitor the health of Unmanned Aircraft.

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