PrecisionHawk Determines That Technology is Key to Successful BVLOS UAS Operations
Through its Pathfinder Phase 2 research, also known as ‘Pathfinder Initiative for sUAS BVLOS,’ PrecisionHawk has determined that technology assist will play an integral role in the safe flying of UAS beyond visual line of sight.
PrecisionHawk came to this conclusion by conducting tests in North Carolina and Kansas using FAA-certified pilots and non-pilots.
During testing, pilots and non-pilots were tasked with the challenge of determining how to safely operate their UAS beyond line of sight while identifying a manned intruder aircraft making its way into the airspace. Pilots and non-pilots were responsible for deciding the best course of action in order to avoid collision with the aircraft.
A ground control station kept track of the UAS’ situational awareness, while the pilots and non-pilots were responsible for detecting the manned aircraft using their own eyes.
The results from the tests showed that pilots were able to detect the manned aircraft from a farther distance, but showed that both groups, for the most part, made the same decision, in virtually the same amount of time, to lower their aircraft so that it could loiter at its existing location instead of making the UAS return home to either land or loiter.
While the choice to lower the aircraft was found to be effective at preventing a collision, the actions were unnecessary, according to researchers. Had the participants known the manned aircraft’s current trajectory, or even its actual altitude, then it would have been acceptable for the UAS to continue along its planned flight pattern.
For Dr. Allison Ferguson, Director of Airspace Research at PrecisionHawk, these tests showed that a healthy marriage between humans and technology is going to be key for operations such as these moving forward.
“A good situational awareness technology can help make that operation more consistent over more of the population, which in turn makes any risk predictions easier and more realistic,” Ferguson said through a PrecisionHawk press release.
“Using technology, when you are not limited to visual and auditory detection abilities, the operator is at least as effective as the visual detectors over much larger distances, with substantially less stress and fatigue.”
Ferguson summed up the findings of the tests by stating, “it’s not about taking humans out of the loop right, it’s about letting technology do what it is designed to do, freeing up humans to do what humans are good at, like flexible decision-making.”
Initiated by the FAA, the pathfinder program has been launched to look into the safe integration of small UAS into the national airspace. PrecisionHawk, along with CNN and BNSF Railway, have been chosen as the companies to research advanced operations of UAS in more complex scenarios, including flights over people and flights beyond visual line of sight.
