Even someone who has never touched a controller and thinks that Part 107 is a household cleaning product can tell you that the answer is “No!” Their evidence? No Amazon delivery drones have yet graced their front porch. Likewise, there have been no routine operations beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) for linear infrastructure inspection, no fully autonomous flights for perimeter security around sensitive facilities, and so on.
These types of missions are the hallmarks of full integration, but none has been achieved except by a waiver to Part 107 under tightly controlled circumstances. However, we cannot waive our way to making uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) full participants in the national airspace system (NAS). That will require three things: rules, technology, and a plan. The good news is that we’ve got the plan.
Actually, it’s the second draft of a plan—so we’ve still got a ways to go, but even a journey of 1,000 miles begins with a single footstep.
UTM CONOPS 2.0
Let’s begin by defining a few terms, starting with UTM. It’s an acronym for UAS Traffic Management, the system which must be put in place to permit the full integration of drones in the NAS. Briefly—because the balance of this article will be spent describing it in more detail—UTM is air traffic control (ATC) for drones.
What about “ConOps”? That’s a contraction for “Concept of Operations,” a term widely used in aviation, engineering and the military, but less familiar to people who are not deeply embedded any of those fields. Just like it sounds, a ConOps is a document that describes the functioning of a system from the perspective of its end user. It’s a disciplined approach to transforming an idea into a real-world product or service, by identifying all of the individual components and how they will interact with each other.
Denne historien er fra February/ March 2021-utgaven av RotorDrone.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra February/ March 2021-utgaven av RotorDrone.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Windracers Mail Delivery
With its partner Windracers Ltd., Royal Mail has become the first UK parcel carrier to deliver mail to a UK island in a 70-mile, beyond-line-of-sight, autonomous flight to the Scilly Isles. Tasked to better connect the islands’ remote communities, a consortium including Royal Mail, Windracers Ltd., DronePrep, University of Southampton, Excalibur Healthcare Services, and Consortiq Limited is funded by UK Research and Innovation.
Counting Penguins
Counting penguins is harder than it sounds. With freezing rain, snow, and chilling winds that limit the flight windows for the surveys, it takes scientists using three full days to map the location of 300,000 nesting pairs of Adélie penguins on Antarctica’s Cape Crozier.
A Drone Double Play
Beach cleanup and a historic bridge
Understanding Aviation Sectional Charts
Signs and symbols every remote pilot needs to know
10 TOP JOBS
Fields where drones are taking off!
AUTONOMOUS RESUPPLY IN A CONGESTED BATTLESPACE
Can autonomous drones deliver supplies to troops in an active firefight? DroneUp recently partnered with a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Allied Command Transformation (ACT) Joint Force Development (JFD) exercise to find out.
IMPROVE YOUR DRONE PHOTOGRAPHY
10 must-know Lightroom tips
UAS TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT The Key to the Future of Drones
In 2012, Congress passed the FAA Modernization and Reform Act, which established a deadline for the agency: achieve full integration of drones into the airspace by 2015. As the calendar rolls over into 2021, this begs an obvious question: “Are we there yet?”
FLYING FOR A LIVING
A professional UAS operator on what it takes to be successful
ON THE WING
This bird-like drone is incredibly agile and efficient
