Aeronautics and Aerospace UAS

Aeronautical decision-making (ADM) is the systematic approach to problem solving consistently given a defined set of circumstances and with all information that is provided to the pilot at the time. In other words, ADM allows pilots to transition through the decision-making process in a consistent way in order to determine the best course of action. Having good common sense is a very general way of saying someone has good ADM skills, but it really goes much further. In order to have good decision-making skills, one must do a fair amount of self-reflecting. This self-reflection includes identifying personal attitudes or behaviors that could be potentially hazardous to flight as well as recognizing one’s own stress level and how to cope. Risk assessment skills also can play a big role in ADM by the pilot identifying safety-related hazards and how to mitigate said hazards which has an entire process of analysis on its own in addition to the full ADM process.     The most int...

Urban Air Mobility (UAM) is an active industry concept that is being pursued by several global companies. The general scope is to design an aircraft, both manned and unmanned, that will have the capabilities, efficiency qualities, as well as meeting safety standards that can transport a small number of passengers within urban areas to cut back on gridlock vehicle traffic and commute times. The air taxi market is expected to be launched in the near future, some companies project 2023 launch, that allows for these air transportation systems to reduce travel time as well as pollution by using electric power train designs.    Unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) traffic management (UTM) is an air traffic management network that is expected to provide management capabilities for uncontrolled operations, in particular UAS. The FAA, NASA, and industry leaders have been researching plans to implement such an ecosystem that will allow UAS traffic to operate safely in the airspace with other...

This was my first time working with The Hub application created by ERAU for design and testing of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). I found the system to be highly entertaining and relatively user friendly. What I found most challenging was the knowledge base on UAS designs themselves. I was making selections that others would probably have laughed at. However, I did come up with several modified designs, some that were successful and others that were not. During this trial I stuck with one model so I could make adjustments and compare those adjustments with previous designs in attempt to tweak it to perfection. Perfection was far from achieved but the system was still great to work with.    The most successful design was a Tern fixed-wing UAS and a man portable ground control station (GCS). When making these selections, the system was very user friendly and allowing the engineer to make selections and adjustments while providing an up to date calculation of the effect of those...

Unmanned aircraft system (UAS) impact on legacy aeronautics is a rapidly growing focus for not only the simple reason of navigating the increased activity in the airspace but also combating safety issues for aircraft, pilots, and civilians. Human factors in manned aviation have been constantly researched and studied for years in order to decrease accidents and incidents in the airspace and one could argue has been successfully done. Introducing unmanned aircraft into this system poses concern as the human factors for unmanned aircraft can be drastically different than those for manned aircraft therefore contributing organizations to the integration are having to start, in some ways, from scratch to examine UAS human factor issues.    UAS human factors more commonly known can include reduction of sensory cues, the reliance of automation, as well as transfer of control during operations. My research has just begun to a certain extent, but I have also been briefly exposed to the ...