Unmanned Aerospace Systems

Research: UAS Mission ASCI 530 - Unmanned Aerospace Systems John Van Geem To pursue responsible Arctic region stewardship and strengthen international cooperation, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is looking at a number of UAS for atmospheric observations. To accomplish this mission, the NOAA is looking at specifications for the IAI HERON, AEOVEL FlexRotor, and AAI Aerosonde UAS, (Coffey, 2014). It is NOAA’s vision that UAS will bring a comparable impact to observing strategies, as satellites have done in the past. Some of the mission profits that these UAS can contribute to is ice ridge monitoring, marine mammal monitoring, search and recovery scenarios, oil spill monitoring, and tracking marine debris from ships, (Coffey, 2014). The IAI Heron is capable of SATCOM communications for extended ranges, helping out for mission over deep ice where no previous transportation is possible. Proved to be operable in extreme cold, snow, and icy s...

UAS in the National Airspace System ASCI 530  John Van Geem April 14, 2017 The Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) is a common collision avoidance detection system used by aircraft within the National Airspace System (NAS). TCAS can give an early alert or warning if two aerospace platforms are on imminent trajectory for mid-air crash or collision. In order for a airframe to use TCAS, it has to be fitted with a transponder that emits a specific frequency for detection amongst other TCAS systems. However, TCAS is only a requirement on aircraft with a weight of over 12,600 lbs or above (FAA, 2009). According to the Department of Defense UAS Groups, which designates they type of UAS according to size and operating altitude capabilities, only groups 4 and 5 could even be close to TCAS standards, though Group 3 is able to reach altitudes just under flight level 180.  Examples of the types of UAS in group 3 are the RQ-7B Shadow, RQ-21 Blackjack, and ...

Scenario: Two subsystems – 1) Guidance, Navigation & Control [flying correctly] and 2) Payload delivery [spraying correctly] have attempted to save costs by purchasing off-the-shelf hardware, rather than a custom design, resulting in both going over their originally allotted weight budgets. Each team has suggested that the OTHER team reduce weight to compensate. The UAS will not be able to carry sufficient weight to spread the specified (Marketing has already talked this up to customers) amount of fertilizer over the specified area without cutting into the fuel margin. The safety engineers are uncomfortable with the idea of changing the fuel margin at all. How would you go about fixing the problem? Solution: Both the Guidance, Navigation, Control team, and Payload delivery team need to draft up a new proposal on how much it would cost if they built their own units in house. Within the proposals I would have them provide options for construction outlines for the lightest po...

Unmanned Aerospace Systems - Blog by John Van Geem During the Cold War, the Soviet Union had a rapidly growing submarine fleet that posed an ever pressing threat on the United States. As a part of the initiative to counter the Soviet Unions submarines, the U.S. Navy developed the QH-50 DASH. This DASH was the first unmanned helicopter sent out to preform and operational role in combat (Keane, 2013).  Showcasing a Gyrodyne-Prosche engine, the QH-50 mades it’s first flight in 1960, at Patuxent River NAS in Maryland (Keane, 2013). Throughout the 1960’s eight hundred of the QH-50’s where put through production (Keane, 2013). The DASH had the capability of caring Mk-44 homing torpedoes, Mark 17 depth charges, could drop flares and sonobuoys, and also participate in transport, rescue, and cargo operations (Keane, 2013). The DASH was able to be remotely piloted from a variety of platforms such as a destroyer, ground vehicle, or aircraft (Keane, 2013). Later in the late ...