Establishment of a Baseline for Guidance on Future Operations of Drone-in-a-Box in a Multi-Aircraft Environment
Drone-in-a-box solutions have seen a surge in adoption over the last couple of years. With increased communication resilience due to 5G technology and updated approvals, these systems have been used in construction sites, for remote monitoring such as pipeline inspections, and by public safety organizations. Many of these applications rely on either being operated in remote locations or with sworn officers acting as Visual Observers (VOs). While Detect and Avoid systems are sufficient to ensure safety in single-unmanned aircraft system (UAS) remote operations, multiple UAS systems demand that automation, human factors, and community needs are all considered in a strategic response to the inherent risks of remote operations. Multiple-drone control offers a complexity where automation, human factors, and the community must come together to form this strategy. The upcoming Part 108, the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA's) new Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) rule, opens up endless possibilities. The use of swarming technologies is not new and has been researched by the Department of Defense, DARPA, and universities (including the University of Cincinnati) and showcases in the increasingly popular drone shows. Controlling multiple UAS can be as simple as preplanning missions with direct control of each UAS as in drone shows, and as complex as heterogenous solutions involving different UAS types and controllers. This more complex form of swarming control, also known as collaborative decentralized control, is essential for next gen UAS operations. These decentralized control methods allow for UAS to be meshed together to operate as a single system but are robust enough to have independent control with each UAS monitoring its own health to reduce the workload of the remote operator. This team of student researchers at the University of Cincinnati plans to establish guidelines for how such a system needs to be integrated and evaluated. The researchers will not only look at the technologies available but will give guidance on the appropriate steps to integrate these systems into real-world applications such as the Brent Spence companion bridge project as well as future needs.
Language
- English
Project
- Status: Active
- Funding: $150,000.00
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Contract Numbers:
42048
123149
136976
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Sponsor Organizations:
Federal Highway Administration
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC United States 20590 -
Managing Organizations:
Ohio Department of Transportation
Research Program
1980 West Broad Street
Columbus, OH United States 43223 -
Project Managers:
Spriggs, Jennifer
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Performing Organizations:
Civil Engineering Department, P.O. Box 210071, 741 Baldwin Hall
Cincinnati, OH United States 45221-0071 -
Principal Investigators:
Kowlczyk, Bryan
- Start Date: 20250228
- Expected Completion Date: 20260828
- Actual Completion Date: 0
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Air traffic; Air traffic control; Drones; Fleet management; Unmanned aircraft systems
- Subject Areas: Aviation; Operations and Traffic Management; Planning and Forecasting; Vehicles and Equipment;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 01946549
- Record Type: Research project
- Source Agency: Ohio Department of Transportation
- Contract Numbers: 42048, 123149, 136976
- Files: RIP, STATEDOT
- Created Date: Feb 19 2025 11:22AM