|
 The system, whose existence has not been previously reported, shows
how Exelis and other companies are racing to create technology that
enables drones to safely fly over long distances to do everything
from inspections of remote pipelines to surveys of crops or delivery
of packages.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration recently proposed
regulations that largely ban unmanned aircraft systems from many of
those tasks by requiring that remote pilots keep the drones in
sight. This is giving foreign companies the chance to leap ahead of
the U.S. in figuring out how to best exploit drone technology.
But the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is
working with Exelis and other companies, universities and government
agencies, to develop an air traffic management system that could
persuade the FAA to allow flights beyond the line of sight, provided
the operator is using such a tracking system.
Exelis' products, called Symphony UAS-Vue and RangeVue, are
significant because Exelis has a head start on competitors: It has
the exclusive right to use a data feed it already supplies the FAA
to track manned aircraft, using 650 ground stations. It will augment
the feed with lower-altitude data that pinpoint drone locations,
says Exelis, which is being taken over by communications company
Harris Corp in a $4.75 billion deal.
"For any drone that needs to go beyond line of sight, this is a
potential solution," Edward Sayadian, vice president of civil
aerospace systems at Exelis, told Reuters.
Exelis said it plans to announce the products this month and make
RangeVue available this summer at some of the six sites the FAA has
set up to test drones. The company developed the system quickly in
the last six months, and hasn't yet set prices.
While Exelis sees potential markets overseas, it is focused
initially on the U.S., where it can leverage its ground stations and
FAA feed. It also wants to be part of whatever overall system the
FAA adopts after NASA finishes work on the prototype in three to
five years.
In the meantime, Exelis said it plans to market its UAS-Vue and
RangeVue directly to companies that want to operate drones
commercially in the U.S.
SAFETY FEARS
NASA and the industry face steep challenges overcoming fears of
thousands of drones crisscrossing the skies, crashing into planes
and people. A Reuters/Ipsos online poll recently found 73 percent of
U.S. respondents want drone regulations.
When drones are in the same airspace as airliners, "I need to be
able to see them on my display just like I see a 747," said Capt.
Tim Canoll, president of the Air Line Pilots Association
International, the world's largest union for pilots.
Canoll and aviation safety experts also worry about latency, the lag
time as control commands are transmitted to drones, and what happens
when the control link is lost and the drone is out of control.
Other companies also are addressing drone safety. San
Francisco-based startup DroneDeploy, for example, has a system that
automatically checks the drone's battery life, surrounding terrain,
weather and other parameters and prevents flight if there's a
problem. NoFlyZone.org, based in El Segundo, California, is building
a database to keep drones away from private residences and other
properties. Airware, based in San Francisco, is building an
operating system for commercial drones that works with a variety of
aircraft, cameras and other tools. Sagetech, of White Salmon,
Washington, is making transponders for drones so that they can send
location data to a system like the one Exelis has built.
[to top of second column] |
Amazon.com Inc is developing its own technology for drone package
delivery, known as Prime Air, but says it sees the importance of a
drone traffic management system and is working with NASA on the
prototype.
"We won't launch Prime Air until we are able to demonstrate safe
operations," said Gur Kimchi, vice president of Amazon Prime Air.
NASA has decades of experience with air traffic management research
and development, and plans multiple "builds" of the prototype
unmanned aircraft traffic management (UTM) system. NASA's system
will provide services such as airspace configuration, weather and
wind data, strategic flows of drones, sequencing, separation
management between drones and contingency support, said Parimal
Kopardekar, the NASA principal investigator of the project at the
Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley.
It also will allow "geo-fences" to be placed around airports and
other sensitive areas such as the White House, where a small quad
copter breached a security perimeter and crash landed in January.
MOVING MAP
Exelis' drone tracker will show terrain, weather and airspace
boundaries in real time. The system can be called up on tablets and
laptops, and can send emails and text message alerts if a drone is
in a danger area.
"It's like the moving map that you have on the GPS in your car,"
Exelis' Sayadian said.
Exelis also is creating portable relay stations that can be set up
in the field to extend the range a drone can fly away from the
pilot. It plans to test them on the trans-Alaska oil pipeline this
year.
Though NASA is working with Exelis, it said other communications
companies also could provide drone tracking in the final system. The
system that is ultimately adopted could be operated and maintained
by federal, state or local governments - or by private companies
using a fee for service model, NASA says.
A spokeswoman for the FAA, which will chose the final configuration,
said it is too early to discuss what the system might look like.
(Reporting by Alwyn Scott; Editing by Martin Howell)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
