ERAU Unmanned Systems by Raymond DeMarco

Unmanned Cargo Aircraft is the Way of The Future for Air Delivery Raymond J. DeMarco Embry Riddle Aeronautical University Worldwide Abstract A good argument can be made that unmanned cargo aircraft save the air cargo industry billions of dollars while filling a gap in the cargo shipping industry.  When Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations permit large unmanned aircraft to fly in the national airspace system (NAS), shipping companies will seek a new way of delivering materials through the air.  A great advantage for Unmanned Cargo Aircraft (UCA) design is cost efficiency due to reduced fuel consumption and lesser crew cost. Safety of property and people are of greatest concern along with information, command and control security.  ADS-B is a major contributor to sense and avoid technology requirements to allow manned and unmanned aircraft to work in unison and maintain separation.  Avoidance will play a major role for safety and ul...

It seems anywhere a human eye is needed, there is a possibility to get a UAV in that space.  You continue to see the potential roles an unmanned aerospace system (UAS) can take on.  With commercial of the shelf (COTS) parts becoming more available, a UAV can play the role of inspection in confined or difficult to reach places. Autonomous Elevator Inspection Hong Kong is a density populated city with a great deal of vertical travel through buildings.  There are over 63,000 elevators totaling 30 million trips a day.  They have experienced a rise in elevator mishaps from 248 in 2010 to 483 in 2015.  Obviously, elevators need to be cleaned, maintained and inspected monthly.  The ‘manned’ inspection of elevators consists of high zone floors and low zone floors that technicians do not have a way to check since they are not accessible.  There are other issues with this type of maintenance such as lack of qualified technicians, high cost and lack of ...

During the cold war era, reconnaissance missions were left to the U-2, and SR-71 amongst others.  These missions required endurance stretching the human pilot to their limits.  Unmanned aircraft development increased.  The technology at the time to remotely fly and gather the information was problematic with communication systems and sensors that were inadequate and often failed.  UAV accidents can be classified to the categories of human factors, maintenance, aircraft, and unknown.  Human factors can be classified to more specific factors such as issue with alerts/alarms, display design, procedural error, skill based error, or other (Williams, 2004).  In the accident report data collected  in 2004, the percentage of human factors varies across different aircraft from 21% - 68%.  For most unmanned aircraft, electromechanical failure was a greater causal factor than human error. The Navy’s RQ-2 Pioneer requires an external pilot for takeof...

Unmanned Retrofitted Aircraft Then and Now             In August of 1944 the United States had begun Operation Aphrodite.  War worn B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators had been stripped of armor, armament and all non-essentials to free up to 12,000 pounds which would be used to pack the expired aircraft with a new British explosive called Torpex that was 50 percent more powerful than TNT.  The mission was to destroy high priority German targets that were hardened and heavily defended such as V-2, and V-3 weapon sites and German U-boat pens (Operation Aphrodite, 2012).  These missions were extremely dangerous.  A volunteer pilot and co-pilot were awarded 5 missions to fly the aircraft to 2000 feet, arm the 21,000 pounds of Torpex explosives and bail out of the aircraft at 160 mph (Operation Aphrodite Drones Set to Destroy German, 2017).  This mission is widely known for the death of Joseph Kenned...

The first mass produced aerial target UAVs referred to in this discussion is the Radioplane OQ-2.  Showcased to the army in 1935, Radioplane went on to produce 15,000 units to the Army Air Force and U.S. Navy.  This became an important training tool for anti-aircraft gunners leading up to world war II.  To appreciate the awesomeness of today’s unmanned aerospace systems (UAS) it is important to understand the origins.  One aspect imperative to the success of a UAS mission is command, control and communication (C3).  Radio control back in the day of electromechanical RC controlled boats and aircraft would transmit different frequencies (on/off signals) in response to operators’ movements on the control stick.  This method for control was simple but easily susceptible to interference and disruption Going fast-forward almost 100 years, still in the form of electromagnetic waves, most command guidance does not directly control an unmanned system.  ...

Precision Agriculture UAS Swarm Technology Raymond J. DeMarco III Embry Riddle Aeronautical University Worldwide Abstract Unmanned system technology continues to grow in leaps and bounds.  The decreased cost of sensor packages for visual cameras, infrared vision, and other types of computer vision along with miniaturization have created greater capabilities for unmanned vehicles.  Unmanned aerial, ground, and maritime surface vehicles can intelligently work together by the command and control of human operators.  A high level of autonomy is required for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UASs) to execute and collect various data for precision agriculture.  A swarm UAS can safely and efficiently capture data that is significant for farmer analysis of animal grazing and crop cultivation.  Swarm technology is needed to increase the total coverage, quickness, and efficiency of aerial collect data. For the same mission, a swarm of UAVs versus a single...