SOLVING THE BVLOS CHALLENGE
Potential BVLOS Solutions Erin Roesler, Northern Plains UAS Test Site (NPUASTS) dep- uty executive director, told POWER UP that fully integrating UAS BVLOS operations into the NAS presents substantial challenges. The NPUASTS is one of seven sites designated by the FAA to support integrating UASs into the NAS, and NASA is also conducting research on BVLOS operations. Roesler points to a variety of BVLOS-enabling technologies, including privately owned ground-based radars, as part of a potential solution set for deconfliction but acknowledges that, ultimately, a “monumental shift” in airspace manage- ment infrastructure is needed. The technical challenges of widespread implementation
of BVLOS operations are immense, with Roesler estimat- ing that the effort to resolve them will be “a long game of 10-plus years before we’ll see some meaningful widespread impact.” Thales, the French avionics company that has been working on related technology for years, points out that UASs will spawn “low-altitude airspace usage forecasted to be orders of magnitude greater than existing commercial aviation demand.” Such potential demand far outstrips current available air
traffic control (ATC) resources, so government and indus- try have been working on technology that enables digital flight, an environment in which automation allows aircraft to self-separate, manage flight paths, and share situational awareness via information sharing, data connectivity, and cooperative behaviors—without using ATC services. NPUASTS is conducting several research programs,
including the testing of radar, optical, acoustic, and radio-frequency methods of UAS detection. Working in cooperation with Thales, NPUASTS has been selected by the FAA to participate in the Radar Data Pathfinder Program, using federal radar data to advance BVLOS. The data is being integrated into Vantis, North Dakota’s system for BVLOS UAS operations, and will be provided to other third- party service suppliers next year. Accessing radar data could enable UAS and air traffic operations and test technologies to advance these services. Roesler envisions a system that would eventually inte-
grate this data and provide it to end users in graphical form, much the way an electronic flight bag works on manned aircraft presently. Besides government radar, other enabling technologies potentially include cellular LTE, ADS-B, and private low-altitude, limited-range radars, such as those in some wind farms. Wind-farm radars typically are used to switch on obstruc- tion lights atop wind turbines. The lights are activated only
46 POWER UP DEC 2024
when aircraft are detected in the area, to minimize ambi- ent light pollution. Panama City, Florida–based DeTect has developed an aircraft detection–lighting system for this purpose with a pair of radars that can detect aircraft up to 24 mi. away. Another company, Observation Without Limits (O.W.L.), has developed a digital radar system that can detect, track, and classify both manned aircraft and drones at ranges varying from 1.5 mi. for drones and 4.4 mi. for light aircraft such as a fixed-wing Cessna 172. The O.W.L. system can be augmented with passive RF sensors, acoustic sen- sors, and HD and thermal ONVIF cameras. Meanwhile, NASA continues to work on solutions for
UAS traffic management (UTM), including focusing on how such a system would work in densely populated urban areas. NASA has developed and tested several related software programs for BVLOS that it is making available to private industry while continuing research into developing a high-performance and intelligent airspace system it calls “Sky for All,” a five-phase approach that runs through 2050, culminating with “scalable, diverse, highly automated opera- tions in integrated airspace.” NASA’s research efforts on UTM BVLOS include
Extensible Traffic Management, which will use digital information exchange, cooperative operating practices, and automation to provide air traffic management for remotely piloted small UAS flights, including drone package delivery and public safety operations. Related UTM tools and ser- vices are currently being tested in North Texas. NASA researcher Jeff Homola told POWER UP that
NASA’s related programs are designed to “make sure that this research gets us to the operational standard, the stage where things actually become reality.” Rather than requiring all UASs to carry a suite of sophisticated sensors and other heavy and costly technology packages, Homola sees cloud- based data provided to operators through subscriptions with third-party service providers as one possible solution for deconfliction. “Operators [would use that data to] manage their operations relative to others in their space” and “stra- tegically deconflict from other drone operations in their airspace,” he says.
Current BVLOS Operations Commercial BVLOS operations are being conducted right now via FAA-approved waiver or exemption to the current Part 107 UAS rules, mainly by organizations engaged in public safety and infrastructure inspection and monitoring. Part 108 is expected to make approval and compliance more streamlined.
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