mapping with unmanned airborne systems (uas)
DESCRIPTION
This presentation was given to Florida URISA via webinar on February 13, 2014 by Bill Emison, Senior Account Manager for Merrick & Company of Greenwood Village, Colorado. The purpose of this webinar was to provide an objective and practical review of current unmanned airborne mapping capabilities in the United States.TRANSCRIPT
Engineering | Architecture | Design-Build | Surveying | GeoSpatial Solutions
Mapping with Unmanned
Airborne Systems (UAS)
February 13, 2014
Copyright © 2010 Merrick & Company All rights reserved.
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Today’s Agenda
Introductions / ObjectivesCurrent UAS Regulations (FAA)UAS Components & TypesUAS NavigationSensor PayloadsUAS SoftwareInspection / Surveillance vs. MappingUAS Outdoor Mapping DeliverablesUAS Indoor MappingIndustry Forecast / Future Trends
Copyright © 2010 Merrick & Company All rights reserved.
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Today’s Objective
Provide an objective and practical review of current unmanned airborne mapping
capabilities
Copyright © 2010 Merrick & Company All rights reserved.
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Corporate OverviewCorporate headquarters: Greenwood Village, ColoradoFounded in 1955; employee-owned$110M annual revenue (FY13)> 480 employees at 15 domestic + 4 international officesMarket Focus
Energy National Security Life Sciences Sustainable Infrastructure
Market Sector Teams Infrastructure (Geospatial, Survey, Water & Civil Engineering) High Performance Facilities Energy Life Sciences Nuclear Services & Technology
Copyright © 2010 Merrick & Company All rights reserved.
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Presenter Bio – Bill Emison
• Senior Account Manager (Commercial Accounts) for the Geospatial Solutions (GSS) team
• Also provide support as Corporate Communications Specialist for Sustainable Infrastructure team; MARS® Product Manager
• Geospatial professional since 1993 with experience in solutions consulting; software & service sales; technical marketing and communications
• Employed by Merrick’s GSS team since January 2006.
Copyright © 2010 Merrick & Company All rights reserved.
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UAS ≠ Drones
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Jackass ALERT!!!
FAA warns public against shooting guns at drones"Shooting at an unmanned aircraft could result in
criminal or civil liability, just as would firing at a manned airplane."
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Current US (FAA) UAS Regulations
Currently, a Certificate of Authorization (COA) is required to operate an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in US national airspace
Only federal, state, or local agencies are considered for COA awards
FAA test sites (proving grounds) have been awarded to Virginia, Texas, Alaska, New York, North Dakota and Nevada; will conduct critical research into the certification and operational requirements necessary to safely integrate UAS into the national airspace over the next several years
Remote Control (RC) hobbyists can operate remotely controlled vehicles for recreational uses only:
Not allowed for commercial business use of any kind cannot fly to make money!
RC vehicle cannot exceed 400 feet above ground level (AGL)
RC vehicle cannot interfere with any type of air traffic - must be flown away from airports and air traffic
FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 (H.R. 658)
Signed into law on February 14, 2012 by President Obama
This bill orders the FAA to figure out how to integrate commercial UAV usage into the U.S. National Airspace System (NAS)
Also under the bill, the FAA is required to provide military, commercial, and privately-owned drones with expanded access to U.S. airspace by Sep. 30, 2015
That means permitting unmanned drones controlled by remote operators on the ground--also called unmanned airborne systems (UAS) or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)--to fly in the same airspace as airlines, cargo planes, business jets and private aircraft.
More information can be found at http://www.faa.gov/about/initiatives/uas/
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UAS Components
Aircraft Navigation System
Sensor Software
Unmanned Airborne Systems (UAS)
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UAS Types
Fixed wing Efficient for area/site mapping
Typically flies racetrack or “mowing the yard” patterns
Best for persistent surveillance (orbital loitering)
Rotary – helicopter or “multicopter” (ex. quad / hexa / octo copters)
Best for slow, stabilized collection
Efficient for corridor mapping
Others – blimps, kites, gliders
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UAS Aircraft Comparisons
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Hawkeye RQ-84Z
www.hawkeyeuav.com
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UAS Navigation Remotely controlled
Third person view requires constant line-of-sight
not acceptable, too much risk
First person view requires video transmission
“soda straw” view, still high risk for collision with obstruction (tree branch, power line, etc.)
Pre-defined flight plan (auto pilot) Accurate digital surface models required
Fully autonomous - detect, sense, and avoid (DSA) obstacles for collision avoidance
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UAS Sensor Payloads Video Imagery Thermal Magnetometer Purpose driven
remote sensing tools Radioactive
measurement Gas detection Acoustic detection Signal detection
LiDAR
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USACE Buckeye LiDAR UAS continued
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UAS Software
Surveillance / Inspection MappingReal-time video or image downlink Flight planning
Flight controls Flight management
Primary flight display Data download / coverage check
Camera controls APM and AT
Object tracking Surface model extraction
Video stabilization Orthorectification
Waypoint navigation Mosaicing
Video or image post processing Analysis
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Surveillance / Inspection vs. Mapping
Emphasis
Duration
Stabilization for zoom
Some transmit real-time video/imagery,
others store for review later
More emphasis on image/video gathering,
less on geographic placement of data
Typically used in situations that are
dull, distant, or dangerous
Sensor types
Imagery
Video
Products
Non-georeferenced digital imagery
Non-georeferenced digital video
Possibly structure from motion (SFM)
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Surveillance / Inspection Examples
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UAS Outdoor Mapping
Filling the gap between traditional
topo surveying and the medium and
high altitude photogrammetry
Sensor types Electro Optical (EO / RGB)
Small Format, Non-metric, Digital
Cameras
Medium Format, Metric, Digital
Cameras
Other Sensor Types Color Infrared (CIR)
Multi-Spectral Imagery (MSI)
Thermal Infrared (TIR)
Hyperspectral Imaging (HSI)
Oblique Imagery
Video
Products Orthophoto Mosaics (Ortho)
Digital Surface Model (DSM)
Planimetric Map Products
Change Detection
Volumetrics
3D Modeling
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UAS Outdoor Mapping Deliverables
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UAS Indoor Mapping
Autonomous Navigation
Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM)
Real-time Sensor Processing Required
Detect, Avoid, Collect
Minimize Occlusions
Products
3D Models
360° Panoramas
Point Clouds
CAD Files
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Industry Forecasts
Chris Anderson, Wired.com, June 2012:
“All told, there are probably around 1,000 new
personal drones that take to the sky every month (3D
Robotics, a company I cofounded, is shipping more
than 100 ArduPilot Megas a week); that figure rivals
the drone sales of the world’s top aerospace
companies (in units, of course, not dollars). And the
personal drone industry is growing much faster.”
Teal Group market study – “World Unmanned Aerial
Vehicle Systems – 2011”
UAV spending is on pace to double during the next decade from
current worldwide expenditures of $5.9 billion annually to $11.3 billion,
totaling just more than $94 billion. The study suggests the United
States will account for 77 percent of the research and development
spending on UAV technology during the next decade and about 69
percent of the procurement.
The UAV electro-optical/infrared sensors (EO/IRS) system market has
entered a period of continuing steady growth. Teal Group estimates
that U.S. spending alone on such systems will grow from $813 million
in fiscal year 2011 to nearly $1.7 billion in fiscal year 2020.
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Future Trends
Consumers Lower cost
Easier use – more automation
Integration into consumer products (like Google Earth)
Professionals Larger (MP) and better (metric) cameras
More variety of sensors
LiDAR
Hyperspectral
Sensor fusion
Automated and real time data processing
Persistent surveillance
Solar powered stratospheric platforms data relay
various monitoring tasks
Technology Fleets of multiple UAS via flocking and
networking technologies
Improvements in autonomous controls
Detect, Sense, and Avoid (DSA) for collision avoidance
3D modeling for navigation
Range imaging
LiDAR
Standardization of control system and common use between different kinds of UAV
Improved stabilization
Better fuel cells enabling longer flight times
Miniaturization - micro UAS
Automated in-flight decision making and actionable use
What LiDAR was to terrain mapping 10+ years ago, unmanned aerial systems will be to aerial surveillance, inspection, and mapping in 5-10 years
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Contact Information
Merrick & Company: www.merrick.com
Unmanned Airborne Services: www.merrick.com/uas
Bill Emison, Senior Account Manager
E-mail: [email protected]
Tel: (303) 353-3634
Twitter: @Merrick_Geo