The need for better separation practices among civil UAS operators is a growing concern in the US. While the actual number is hard to pin down, the monetary figure that is researches is a growth of 1400% in the civil UAV sector alone. With a rise such as this, it is expected that the skies will be much more dense with UAV use. The problem with the usage now and the projected usage is the future is the lack of air traffic control (ATC) following, locating, and communication options (Song, 2013). While the FAA is still hard at work to iron out the details of a UAV flight policy for civil use, the number continues to grow.

Currently there are very few “authorized” UAVs in the air and among those, many are operating out of their scope and conducting illegal operations such as profiting from the data collection. Even those who are granted an FAA Certificate of Authorization (COA), sometimes use it incorrectly. One good story about this is the case of the beer delivery drone in Wisconsin, a brewery was using an octocopter to deliver cases of beer to ice fisherman far out on the lack in ice shacks. The FAA was not supportive and shut the operation down (Kelly, 2014).

Separation being the issue there are some companies that offer products in the line of Sense and Avoidance Display Systems (SAVDSS) for UAV operators. Unlike manned aircraft that are subject to Visual Flight Rules (VRF) and that in most civil aircraft aren’t equipped with Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance systems (TCAS) transponders.  Without the pilot, VFR is not normally an option but with the SAVDSS system it will put systems such as; detecting and tracking airborne traffic in relation to the particular UAV, evaluating and prioritizing collision potential, features that algorithmically generate audible and visual alerts for safe separation and collision, and system recommendation for flight path changes to avoid collisions (SAVDS, 2013). This type of collision avoidance system is great for the user but still leaves a critical aspect out of the loop, ATC.

Companies such as SRC are creating Ground Based See and Avoid Stations (GBSS) that would allow ATCs to monitor and track UAVs in the same manner as the operators. With new legislation on the horizon for the rising demand of civil UAV use, it will be paramount to have systems such as the GBSS that can asses horizontal and well as vertical volume areas to track all types and sizes of UAVs. This system will allow an altitude breakdown of each craft and through the use of hundreds of land based sensors it will be able to determine size, type, speed, etc (SRC, 2012). UAVs are categorized in weight classes and currently under FAA COA regulations the largest UAVs that can be operated in civil airspace are 25 pounds or category 2 and below (Bernard, n.d.).

Much like manned aircraft, companies are now producing transponder systems specifically for UAS applications in order to better equip ATC with tracking capabilities while in ATC controlled airspace. NextGen Transponders are currently incorporating their ADS-B ONE systems into unmanned aircraft which is said to be compliant of the new FAA Unmanned regulations (NextGen, 2014).

References

Bernard, J. (n.d.). Small UAV Command, Control and Communication Issues. ieeexplore.ieee.org.ezproxy.libproxy.db.erau.edu/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=4450038

Kelly, H. (2014). Beer-delivery drone grounded by FAA - CNN.com.  http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/31/tech/innovation/beer-drone-faa/

NextGen. (2014). NextGen UAS Transponders | UAV Transponders. http://www.nextgenuastransponders.com/

SAVDS. (2013). SAVDS: Sense And Avoid Display System.  http://savds.com/aboutus.html

Song, X. (2013). Fly the Automated Skies: Drones and the Rise of the Civilian UAV Sector | DataFox. http://www.datafox.co/blog/fly-the-automated-skies-drones-and-the-rise-of-the-civilian-uav-sector/

SRC. (2012). Page Not Found | SRC, Inc. http://www.srcinc.com/pdf/60-GBSAA