Integrating UAVs into congested skies
Most of us would step onto a high-speed train and think nothing of checking for the controller. Would we have the same level of comfort boarding a plane and seeing no pilot?
“The convergence of manned and unmanned is happening much faster than expected,” says David Vos, senior director of control technologies for Rockwell Colins. “The future is automation.”
In just a decade, the number of unmanned aerial vehicles operated by governments and militaries has exploded from 150 to over 5000. And though no country has cleared the way yet for their operation in civil controlled airspace, Dr. Vos is willing to bet UAVs “will soon fly with manned aircraft in commercial airspace.”
Though the technology exists to make this happen – most UAVs are capable of taking off and landing automatically with no pilot involvement – such a transition will require a sea change in thinking on the part of both governments and the public before either accept commercial aircraft without pilots. Even militaries, which have invested heavily in UAVs, are not about to turn over the air force to drones and completely remove pilots from the picture.
“This is a cultural challenge, it’s not a technical challenge anymore,” said Vos, the founder of Athena Technologies, which was acquired by Rockwell Collins last year. Though not a UAV manufacturer, Rockwell Collins has components in most of the major industry platforms now flying, including Watchkeeper from Thales and Elbit; Shadow from AAI; Sky Warrior from General Atomics; and the Sky X and Y from Alenia.
Vos said the change is not that different from the traumatic shift that initially affected the industry when aircrews changed from three to two pilots.
The economic benefits of UAVs are staring to show, he added. Whether its Arctic surveillance, forest fire detection, border patrol, monitoring of pipelines and other critical infrastructure, UAVs have multiple mission possibilities in civilian airspace. With a multitude of sensors, improvements in collision avoidance and advances in structural damage fault tolerance – essentially, surviving the loss of a wing due to bird strike – UAVs are proving their ability to operate in congested airspace in combat zones.
More evidence, though, is needed before we'll see their use in civilian space. Vos believes more collaboration and cooperation is required with the FAA and others, including manufacturers such as Airbus and Boeing – to create comfort with the “idea and technology.”
During a meeting of national armament directors at the Paris Air Show, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Sweden tasked the European Defence Agency with developing MIDCAS (MID-air Collision Avoidance System), a program to enable UAVs to fly in the global airspace alongside other aircraft.
The program has a € 50 million budget over 48 months and will bring together fourteen manufacturers and research centres from its five contributing nations, including SAGEM Defence & Security, Thales Airborne Systems and Saab Aerosystems.
The intent is to demonstrate that UAVs can fly safely in an undivided airspace with the development of “sense and avoid” systems, the automated transposition of the “see and avoid” procedure used by pilots.
Vos’s presentation to the Paris Air Show on Monday also served as a platform for his new e-book, “Five Steps to Facilitating the Convergence of Manned and Unmanned Aviation,” which is available at http://learnmore.rockwellcollins.com/CedarGraphics/LPR.asp?L=106
