UGV Proposal

Running Head: INTEGRATION OF UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS

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UNSY 691 Graduate Capstone (proposal)

Integration of Unmanned Aircraft Systems

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

UNSY 691 Graduate Capstone (proposal)

Submitted to the Worldwide Campus

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of the Degree of

Master of Science in Unmanned Systems

INTEGRATION OF UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS

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Abstract

Unmanned aircraft systems have yielded superior performance for military operations. Because

of such results, the commercial industry is seeking to replace manned operations with unmanned

operations. Unfortunately, unmanned aircraft systems are facing challenges that affect a safe and

efficient integration into the National Airspace System. One major challenge unmanned aircraft

systems face is that the manned industry believes they are of great danger to their operations.

Throughout the years, the manned industry has been facing unmanned aircraft system hazardous

sightings. As a result, many individuals question the safety and reliability of such systems. These

hazardous sightings in a certain way have created a stoppage to a safe and efficient integration.

Of not addressing such, the unmanned industry might not see an integration. This research will

closely examine all unmanned aircraft system sighting reports provided by the Federal Aviation

Administration to understand if hazardous sightings have decreased or increased. Results will be

clearly examined, analyzed, and depending on results, researcher will provide recommendations

that could assist with a safe and efficient integration.

Keywords: unmanned aircraft systems, National Airspace System, hazardous sightings,

Federal Aviation Administration

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Integration of Unmanned Aircraft Systems Statement of Project

The drive to accomplish this research paper is to investigate how unmanned aircraft

system sightings are affecting a safe and efficient integration into the National Airspace System.

The research question is as followed: Are unmanned aircraft system sightings rising or declining

throughout the United States and how it affects a safe and efficient integration? The data utilized

for the research is derived from the Federal Aviation Administration’s unmanned aircraft system

sightings reports (November 2014 – December 2018). The researcher will conduct a statistical

analysis looking at the numbers of variable and nature of independent and dependent variables.

For this research, a statistical test will be conducted to accept or reject the null hypothesis.

Research null hypothesis is as followed:

 Null Hypothesis (H0): There is no significant difference in unmanned aircraft

system sightings from November 2014 to December 2018.

 Alternative Hypothesis (Ha): There is a significant difference in unmanned

aircraft system sightings from November 2014 to December 2018.

A statistical test will uncover quantitative results that will illustrate how unmanned

aircraft system sightings are affecting a safe and efficient integration into the National Airspace

System and systems’ reliability/trustworthiness. The Federal Aviation Administration’s

unmanned aircraft system sighting reports can be utilized by industry leaders such as Lockheed

Martin Corporation, Boeing Company, Northrop Grumman Corporation, General Atomics, and

DJI. They can utilize such vital data and see what needs to be accomplished to finally have a safe

and efficient integration into the National Airspace System. Industry leaders can identify

negative trends and learn how they can mitigate issues that affect the manned industry. New

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research suggests that unmanned aircraft systems can actually be much more damaging than

birds at the same impact speed, even if they are a similar weight (Gulliver, 2018). Researchers

found that the unmanned aircraft systems’ rigid and dense materials—such as metal, plastic and

lithium batteries—can put airplanes at much greater risk than a bird carcass (Gulliver, 2018).

Without a doubt, unmanned aircraft systems pose great risks to the manned industry, and

if risks are not mitigated, there will never be a safe and efficient integration to the National

Airspace System. Unmanned aircraft system sightings can cause hazardous situations for manned

aircraft. This could be due to lack of knowledge with regulations/laws and standard operating

procedures, and the need for enhanced technology. Lack of knowledge with regulations/laws and

standard operating procedures tremendously hinders a safe and efficient integration. Moreover,

to ensure safe flight of manned aircraft, sense and avoid systems are capable of detecting

airplanes in the airspace, determining potential collision hazards, and performing necessary

maneuvers to avoid potential collision of intruder aircraft (Yu & Zhang, 2015). Unfortunately,

sense and avoid technology has not fully advanced affecting its reliability and performance when

operating near manned aircraft. The unmanned industry needs to understand that it is in their best

interest to review all sightings and mitigate all of them if they desire a full integration of

unmanned aircraft systems in the National Airspace System.

Program Outcomes 1-6

1. Analyze the fundamentals of unmanned systems, including the technological, social,

environmental, and political aspects of the system to examine, compare, analyze and

recommend conclusions (Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, 2019).

a. Fundamentals of unmanned aircraft systems such as designs, regulations, laws,

standard operating procedures, basic unmanned knowledge, permits, and training

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will be analyzed to reach conclusions that will assist with the reduction and

elimination of hazardous sightings.

b. Technological advances will be scrutinized to identify what innovate system(s),

techniques, and methods could be utilized in order to perform safe, flawless, and

efficient unmanned operations in the National Airspace System.

c. Social aspect of unmanned aircraft systems will be analyzed to conclude how

safety, privacy, security concerns affect their suitability and effectiveness.

d. Environment aspects of unmanned aircraft systems will be examined to determine

if operations are more efficient and cleaner than manned operations proving that

unmanned aircraft systems are needed for certain operations.

e. Political aspect will be studied to reach either a conclusion or conclusions and

understand the government’s support, stance, and opinion about the integration of

unmanned aircraft systems in the National Airspace System.

2. Compare and contrast current unmanned system issues, identify contributing factors, and

formulate strategies to address of further investigate (Embry-Riddle Aeronautical

University, 2019).

a. Studies, news articles, and scholarly peer review articles will be utilized to identify

major contributing factors affecting a safe integration. Information will be

collected from the National Transportation Safety Board, Federal Aviation

Administration, and Embry Riddle Aeronautical University’s Hunt Library.

b. Known issues affecting unmanned aircraft systems to have a safe integration into

the National Airspace System are as followed: Human factor issues, sense and

avoid, control and communication, autonomy and automation, and weather.

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c. Innovative approaches will be identified and applied to see how they could allow a

safe and efficient integration into the National Airspace System.

3. Evaluate and recommend the incorporation of new technologies, methods, processes, or

concepts with current unmanned system applications, management practices, or

operational policies (Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, 2019).

a. New technology such as Artificial Intelligence, Intelligent Detection Ranging,

Solid-State Light Detection and Ranging will be scrutinized to identify which one

will be of abundant benefit to unmanned aircraft systems eliminating hazardous

sightings.

b. Methods, processes, management practices, and operational policies will be

reviewed and examined through multiple literature reviews. All findings will be

gathered and analyzed to conclude what hinders or what could enhance unmanned

aircraft operations.

4. Critically justify and validate unmanned system design configurations to support safe,

efficient, and effective operations in applicable domains (air, space, ground, and

maritime), including assessing appropriateness of major elemental components;

evaluating limitations and constraints; formulating theory of operation; and supporting

perceived need (Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, 2019).

a. Different configurations of unmanned systems will be compared to identify which

is the fittest to perform safe and efficient unmanned operations in the National

Airspace System.

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b. Unmanned aircraft systems sighting reports (2014-2018) will be scrutinized to

achieve statistical tests that will undercover limitations and constraints that affect a

safe integration. Depending on results, the researcher will formulate the theory of

operation that could assist with the mitigation of hazardous sightings. Furthermore,

the researcher will support the perceived need for safe and efficient unmanned

aircraft designs.

5. Effectively communicate concepts, designs, theories, and supporting material with other

in the unmanned systems field (Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, 2019).

a. The researcher will conduct intensive research and perform a literature review on

other unmanned systems to identify concepts, designs, theories that could enhance

unmanned aircraft operations in order to mitigate/eliminate hazardous sightings.

b. Communication of supporting material will be present with quantitative data

illustrated in different tables or charts. Moreover, the research paper will be written

in accordance with American Psychological Association guidelines.

6. Investigate a current unmanned system research problem; complete a thorough review of

the scholarly literature; formulate hypotheses; collect and appropriately analyze data;

and, interpret and report findings to improve the field of unmanned systems or to provide

solutions to an unmanned systems application problem (Embry Riddle Aeronautical

University, 2019).

a. The researcher will gather unmanned aircraft system sightings reports, examine,

analyze, and perform statistical analysis. Test results will assist with the acceptance

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or rejection of null hypothesis, which will be utilized to find solutions that will help

with the mitigation/elimination of hazardous sightings. If there is a decrease in

hazardous sightings, this means that the industry is taking the necessary measures

to have a safe and efficient integration. If there is an increase in hazardous

sightings, this means that the industry is having issues achieving the necessary

measures to have a safe and efficient integration. If there is a decrease in hazardous

sightings, the researcher will suggest improvements in established procedures. If

there is an increase in hazardous sightings, the researcher will recommend new

technology, standard operating procedures, training, and regulations/laws.

b. To perform a research statistical analysis for unmanned aircraft systems sighting

(2014-2018), a two-sample t-test analytical study will be performed. A two-sample

t-test is applied when deciding if two different population means are equal or not.

This analytical test can be applied to determine if unmanned aircraft systems

sighting have decreased or increased. A two-sample t-test analytical test can be

applied for numerous variations, particularly when assuming if the variance of two

samples is said to be equal, less, or more. There are numerous expectations that

need to be proven when performing such an analytical investigation.

Two sample t-test assumes that;

1. There is one continuous dependent variable and one categorical independent

variable (with 2 levels);

2. The two samples are independent;

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3. The two samples follow normal distributions and can be done with normality

check. (University of Purdue, 2010)

In the circumstance of not confirming these expectations, there are other means

that can be applied when centered on two samples:

1. Two dependent samples and follow Normal distribution, suggest paired t-test;

2. Two independent samples and does not follow Normal distribution,

suggest Wilcoxon rank-sum test;

3. Two dependent samples and does not follow Normal distribution, suggest signed

ranked test. (Kent State University, 2018)

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References

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. (2019). College of aeronautics:

Graduate capstone policy guide mar 2019. Retrieved from

https://erau.instructure.com/courses/6179/pages/master-of-science-in-unmanned-

systems?module_item_id=235556

Gulliver, H. (2018, January 26). Why drones could pose a greater risk to aircraft than birds.

Retrieved from https://www.economist.com/gulliver/2018/01/26/why-drones-could-pose-

a-greater-risk-to-aircraft-than-birds

Kent State University. (2018, June 13). SPSS tutorials: Paired samples t test. Retrieved from

https://libguides.library.kent.edu/SPSS/PairedSamplestTest

Purdue University. (2010). Two sample t-test with sas. Retrieved from

http://www.stat.purdue.edu/~tqin/system101/method/method_two_t_sas.htm

Yu, X., & Zhang, Y. (2015, April). Sense and avoid technologies with applications to unmanned

aircraft systems: Review and prospects. Retrieved from https://www-sciencedirect-

com.ezproxy.libproxy.db.erau.edu/science/article/pii/S0376042115000020