Copyright 2015, Draper Laboratory

INNOVATIONS IN ENGINEERING

The FAA UAS Test Sites

Current operations and future challenges

Frank Serna (Draper Laboratory) Ray Young (NUAIR)

Troy Jones (Draper Laboratory)

19 August 2015

Draper Publication No. P-6628

Copyright 2015, Draper Laboratory

Background on UAS Test Sites

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*from FAA.gov Predator Class (~200)

Global

Hawk (~ 20)

Small UAS (~ 300,000 +)

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45 Seconds (~1 nm)

Layers of Conflict Avoidance in National Airspace

3 minutes (~5 nm)

20 Minutes

TCAS

Procedural Separation Assurance

Airspace Structure

Air Traffic Control Self Separation

See & Avoid

UA

S Se

nse

& A

void

Integration of UAS into National Airspace requires some on-board UAS capability to “Sense & Avoid” during Lost Link events – to maintain Separation or Avoid Collisions

Collision Avoidance

Tactical Separation Assurance

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NUAIR Alliance

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70 Industry & Academic Partners

Developing IFR operating procedures for UAS

Diverse flight environments -mountains to open ocean

All UAS scales from small to full size

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Griffiss Int. Airport, NY

- Full service facilities for any

size UAS

- Class D airspace

- Establish airworthiness and

procedures for larger UAS

NUAIR Flight Test Areas

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Joint Base Cape Cod, MA

- Small UAS test area

- Developmental testing new

small UASCoast Guard Air Station

Cape Cod

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Spectrum of Testing Needs

Developmental Testing

UAS design is constantly evolving

Performance goals in flux, or

undefined

Evaluate new sensors / computing

/ radio links

Desire minimal “overhead” to test

events

Example UAS Test Series – Self

Separation of UAS during Lost

Link, MITRE LD-CAP

Experimental UAS “Self

Separation” algorithm development

Needed safe operations to test

iterations of new software in flight

Operational Testing

UAS design is complete

Certify design meets performance goals

Extensive for Government programs

UAS operating in controlled airspace

Develop operating procedures with piloted air traffic

Archive performance data and prove reliability

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K-MAX OPA

On ramp at

Griffiss

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What is LD-CAP?

Demo ADS-B as primary sensor for UAS S&A

Test multiple Separation Control Algorithms

Fallback to on-board separation control during UAS lost-link

Draper developed software w/ NASA Langley Separation Control Algorithms

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Limited Deployment – Cooperative Sense and Avoid Project

http://www.mitre.org/publications/project-stories/enabling-unmanned-aircraft-systems-to-detect-and-avoid-other-aircraft

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Flight Testing on Piloted Surrogate UAS

NASA Langley Flight Testing in North Dakota (UND) Flight tests based on simulation test designs, run by NASA

Langley using a “surrogate” UAS research aircraft

One-V-One aircraft encounters executed for each flight test, Surrogate UAS expected to maneuver to avoid conflict

Test series 1 performed July 15-19 at North Dakota State University

Test series 2 performed August 5-9 at NASA Langley in Virginia

Pre-flight

briefing on

encounter

geometry

NASA

Langley

SR-22

Surrogate

RPA

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Flight Test Results – Steady State Encounter

Overtake Encounter Geometry

Ownship faster than Intruder, approaching from aft

Test Run started @ 7.5 nm separation

Draper LD-CAP App Performance

Issued Maneuver Command @ 7.5 nm separation

Predicted ~ 560 seconds until LOS

Slight heading change early to avoid conflict

StartOwnship

StartIntruder

Draper LD-CAP App Command

Make Heading 124 °

140 Knots @ 130°

109 Knots @ 135°

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Flight Test Results – Dynamic Encounter

Turn-in-Front Encounter Geometry Ownship & Intruder

similar speeds

Start Parallel tracks

Intruder turns across path

Draper LD-CAP App Performance First Maneuver

Command @ 4.5 nm, 60 sec LOS – not valid

Second Manuever 10 sec later @ 4.3 nm –valid to resolve

Maneuver dynamics can lead to uncertainty in resolutions

StartOwnship

StartIntruder

1) Draper LD-CAP App Command

Make Heading 130°

140 Knots @ 135°

123 Knots @ 132°2) Draper LD-CAP

App CommandMake Heading 160°

1

2

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The UAS market has shifted through proliferation of

“consumer” small UAS and liberal “Section 333” exemptions

Consumer small UAS (less than 55lb) dominate the news

Stories from recent incidents – hobbyist operations

Consumer UAS aircraft and equipment manufacturers do not

require FAA airworthiness certification for their products

UAS Test Sites oriented towards traditional airspace “COAs”

UAS Test Sites lack infrastructure for test and evaluation

Competing for relatively few system development programs

Potential new roles for UAS Test Sites

Support system-wide sUAS rules of the road development

Support FAA standards development, test, and evaluation

Support manufacturer aircraft and equipment certification

Challenges for Test Sites

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UAS Test Site Market Segments

Consumer/Commercial Small UAS Development

300,000 Consumer Small UAS sold in 2014 .. and rising! [1]

$400+ Million in UAS “drone” startups 2104 alone [2]

Don’t need infrastructure/experience of aerospace primes

Building-testing-flying cheaper than extensive analysis

Need safe fenced-off environment for rapid iterative design

Rules of the road needed for traffic management

Civil and non-defense government UAS development

Full spectrum of sizes – FAA certification standards

More traditional primes – longer development cycles

Much lower volume than consumer UAS

Approximately 400 COAs granted in 2014 [3]

Example UAS Test Series – Self Separation of UAS during Lost Link, MITRE LD-CAP

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Establishment of UAS Test Sites was a step in the

right direction

UAS technology development will benefit, but

Test and evaluation requires measurement

Measurement require instruments and data capture

Challenge will be data to needed make the safety case

for UAS ability to meet rules and risk-based standards

which apply to manned aircraft

Challenge will also be meeting needs of very diverse

UAS technology development base, commercial vs.

government vs. consumers

Conclusions

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Copyright 2015, Draper Laboratory

[1] Number of consumer drones sold

Estimated from

– http://fortune.com/2014/10/08/drone-nation-air-droid/

– http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/11/dudes-with-drones/380783/

– http://dronelife.com/2015/01/24/drone-sales-figures-2014-hard-navigate/

– https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/how-rogue-drones-are-rapidly-becoming-a-national-nuisance/2015/08/10/9c05d63c-3f61-11e5-8d45-d815146f81fa_story.html

[2] Funding level for drone startups in 2014

https://www.incplan.net/blog/business-startup/the-rise-of-drone-startups/

[3] Number of COA’s issued in 2014

http://dronelife.com/2014/04/19/the-faas-drone-certificate-of-authorization-process/

References

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