ERAU Unmanned Systems by Raymond DeMarco

•Which OTC medications do you think pose the most significant risk to UAS operators? ◦Why? Some Over the Counter (OTC) drugs despite misconception, can be dangerous to flight safety.   For consuming strictly OTC medications, the first that come to mind or those that heed warning not to operate machinery.   Antihistamines, anti-allergy, and cold symptom medications that relieve itching, running nose, sneezing etc. can produce significant drowsiness, and effects can last longer than the person realizes.   For manned flight, the FAA warns pilots they should ground themselves for at least 5 times the drug’s half-life, such as diphenhydramine (Benadryl) (airspacedoc.com, 2019).   Should the rules be the same for UAS operators? Part 107, section 91.17 Alcohol or Drugs states “no person may act or attempt to act as a crewmember of a civil aircraft within 8 hours after the consumption of any alcoholic beverage… while using any drug that affects the person’s faculti...

Describe the essential elements of ADM in your own words. Aeronautical Decision Making (ADM) is preparedness.   It is minimizing the chance of getting into a situation that could and should have been avoided by assessing risks.   ADM is flight management and taking responsibility to assure a flight is well planned, risks and hazards have been identified, rules and regulations are obeyed. It is also like the motto of safety first.   After preparation, on the fly, ADM is perceiving information, using knowledge and evaluating to decide, then performing to take the best course of action.   Situational Awareness (SA) is a term you hear often in aviation.   This is the pilot’s perception and reaction, interaction with the environment, knowing what’s going on, and being prepared for what situations may occur. What ADM and Risk Management issues in UAS operations really stood out to you? My background before studying with Embry Riddle is in human phys...

On the topic of Urban Air Mobility (UAM), the first project that comes to mind is Zurich Switzerland’s UAV that carries clinical laboratory specimens across different terrains. Matternet, the North Carolina based company, also in partnership with UPS, introduced the first FAA sanctioned UAV system for routine revenue flights (Matternet, 2019). Human Factors Fully autonomous through Matternet’s Cloud platform.  The UAV will be loaded with secure container of the specimen such as blood sample.  It was take-off, fly a predetermined route, land vertically and unload the package at its destination.  This is a fully autonomous system that with follow a predetermined path for every flight.  Human interaction is limited to package, loading, unloading while operators oversee flight operations from a ground control station. Matternet Cloud is the proprietary software platform that receives customer requests, generates routes, monitors flight, commands and controls all ...

UAS Incorporated with NextGen The FAA expects to have NextGen in place by 2025.   UAS flight in NAS is one of the major components.   Programs such are the Integration Pilot Program which bring together state and local governments with UAS companies provide data to the USDOT from exercises that test with events such as BVLOS package delivery, operating UAS in darkness, data security, and loss of link.   Incorporation with NextGen will involve UAS to demonstrate performance that will meet requirements for NAS flight.   Detect, sense and avoid (DSA) is a performance factor for safe operation for aircraft to stay well-clear and avoid collision.   Interoperability in the form of a UAS Traffic Management (UTM) system must be established to manage low altitude airspace.   This system must monitor and give permission to airworthy aircraft who wish to operate in designated airspace. Greatest Challenges The process will not be seamless; there will be ...

The ERAU ARVL experience was a first for me.  I was excited to fly the different UAVs in a virtual world but disappointed because it felt cheap.  The camera become choppy and unusable during the hiker search and the aircraft would randomly explode in air shortly after takeoff.  At first this was funny but once it kept happening it became silly. Each of the aircraft I had flown handled just as I had imagined!  The fixed wing aircraft had great range and could not take take tight turns or obviously hover like a rotary wing.  The Octorotor was fast as I had imagined and a little touchy on the controls.  This the fun to fly the aircraft and move the camera at the crash site simultaneously. Some features I wish this ARVL had was better autonomy and realism.  In many UAS missions for gathering data, routes are predetermined and data is gathered autonomously to create an orthgram for analysis.  I think adding this feature to the ARVL, simulating the...

One thing that comes to mind when I think of human factors in unmanned aviation is why is a ground control station set up with a configuration similar to a manned aircraft?   I understand that is traditional but is it ideal and efficient?   Are UAV pilots with no manned flight experience more successful and more trainable as a RPA pilot first?   They are 2 very different ways of doing something similar. In module one, a topic that didn’t see enough attention is automation built into the UAS.   An expensive UAV should not be operated entirely manually, because of latency and data link interruptions.   An autonomous and assisted landing system should be imperative for an unmanned winged aircraft because of reduced sensory cues. Considering the difficulty, the UAV is more accident prone. A pilot must sense the speed, vertical speed, altitude and orientation of the aircraft without the G forces and physical cues to flare and land safely without damage. I’...