4. Dr Peter Enderlein
Senior Marine Science Engineer at British Antarctic Survey
5. Different use of Drones in the
harsh environment of Antarctica
From animal surveys to aerial
photography
Dr Peter Enderlein
with
Jeremy Robst
Carl Robinson
(Phil Anderson)
Andrew Fleming
Andreas Cziferszky
Peter Fretwell
Norman Ratcliffe
Mike Dunn
Phil Trathan
6. Structure of talk:
• A little bit about the British Antarctic Survey
• Background
• Challenges
• Our Drones
• Our use of UAV’s so far...
• The future...
7. BAS Today
• BAS is a component of the Natural Environment Research Council
(NERC)
• Delivers world-leading, interdisciplinary research in the polar regions
• National and international collaborations
• Leadership role in Antarctic affairs
• Over 450 staff
• Five research stations in and around Antarctica (four year-round, one
summer-only)
• Two Royal Research Ships, RRS James Clark Ross and RRS Ernest
Shackleton
• Six aircraft, four de Havilland Canada Twin Otters a de Havilland
Canada Dash-7 and a Dornier 228
10. Key Motivation for Polar UAV:
- More science through availability
- Long term systematic surveys
- Repeat (verification) surveys
- Ability to survey at the right time of year
- Reduced wildlife disturbance
- Can access physically inaccessible / dangerous study sites
- Smaller mission cost thus enabling science use where cost was
prohibitive for traditional platforms
- Operational
- Enhanced science by complimenting survey aircraft (UAVs
have different operational envelopes)
- Creating scalability in our airborne survey fleet (from
small scale UAVs through fixed wing UAVs to
Helicopters and planes)
- Fuel (UAVs use less)
“In Antarctica fuel can be as
expensive as single malt Whiskey”
11. The challenges we face:
- the environment we operate in:
- extreme temperatures (batteries can loose up to 50% of
their capacities at -20 degree Celsius)
- operating in the most remote areas possible:
- UAV have to be as reliable as possible
- in its complexity it has to be as simple as possible
- you have to take plenty of spares as there are NO shops in
Antarctica and no next day deliveries
- high risk of damage / loss
- before launch: risk analysis
- highest risks:
- Water (launch, land from and onto ships; flying over
water on the coasts)
- Wind (Antarctica is the windiest place on earth, with
quick wind changes and katabatic winds)
12. Platforms Fixed Wing:
• Used for local area mapping and observations for Antarctic Science Projects
• Used to allow continued operational experience while awaiting for suitable
larger fixed wing UAVs to mature and become economically viable
Quest 200 Carolo T 200
13. Platforms Multirotor:
Gaui 500X DJI Flamewheel F450 / F550
• Small portable platforms
• with / without GPS / sophisticated flight mode
• Used as trainers to gain experience
• Very limited pay load
14. Platforms Multirotor:
3DRobotics IRIS
3DRobotics Y6
• ready to fly systems, very reliable
• with GPS and sophisticated flight modes
• Y6 with additional redundancy
• limited pay load to GoPro or small Compact
15. Platforms Multirotor:
Cinestar 6
Self build “PERJ”
• professional Photo-/
Cinematography platform
• with GPS and additional sensors
• sophisticated flight modes
• including gimbal for DSLRs
• experimental platform to test
different sensors and flight controllers
• with GPS, OSD, sonar, optical sensor, ...
• sophisticated flight modes
• limited pay load to GoPro
16. Ground control station software
• QGroundControl (Windows, OSX, Linux)
• APM Planner (OSX)
• Mission planner (Windows)
17. Field operations so far...
• general flying experience in the polar environment:
• At our stations: Rothera, Halley, King Edward Point, Bird Island and Signy
and from our ships the RRS Ernest Shackleton and RRS James Clark Ross,
• Specific operations:
• Turbulence fluxes between atmosphere and the sea ice
• Sea ice reconnaissance of RRS Ernest Shackleton
• Environmental assessment (fly over) study on Penguin behaviour for
Penguin population surveys (2012), followed by
• Penguin population surveys at Bird Island and Signy
• Feasibility of mast / antenna inspection work at Halley
19. Turbulence fluxes between atmosphere and the sea ice
Total kinetic energy
of turbulence over
ice shelf - midday
convective
measurement
20. Sea ice reconnaissance of RRS Ernest Shackleton
• Max. flying height: 140m
• Air temp / speed: -14 degC @
10 knots
• ~30mins form request to
watching the recorded video
23. Field operations so far...
Some stats:
• Min. air temperature: -30 degC
• Max. wind speed: 17 knots
• Max. dist from ground station: 920m
• Max. flying height AGL: 240m
• Max. flying time: 14m41s
24. Future Polar UAV Fixed Wing 2015:
Science
engagement
to get mission
requirements
Now 2015 and beyond
Write UAV
requirements
and SOW
Requirements
Sensor
requirements
Tender and
UAV
purchase
BAS
UAV/UAS/RPAS
Operations
Committee
Process (i.e. NOTAM), guidelines, advise, operational
environment constraints , platform register, reporting and logs
Training
and
integration
Science
missions
Suitably capable and economically viable UAVs are now available
Key high level requirements – sub 20kg (dry weight) fixed wing, autonomous,
packable into a Twin Otter, endurance greater than 5 hours (goal 14 hours), with fuel
and endurance trade offs up to 9kg payload, take off and recovery system.
Identify science and logistic missions so platform is as effective (capable) as possible
– engagement with the science community to get mission requirements.
Operational considerations – Air Unit / BAS pilots (aircraft operation/pilot training /
airworthiness expertise), data management, environmental management, safety
management, integration into current operations, staff training, reporting
25. Thank you for your attention
Flight experience in Antarctica Sea ice reconnaissance
28. 28
UK Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems Regulations
LAB – Drones For Good – 25 September 2014
Gerry Corbett – UAS Programme Lead
UK CAA Safety Regulation Group
29. 29
Scope
- CAA UAS ‘Vision’ and basic principles
- Small UAS - Current regulations
- Next steps
31. 31
CAA’s UAS ‘Vision’
Enabling full and safe integration of all UAS operations into the
total aviation system
this is a long term aim (10-15 years from now?)
UAS still an Evolution of aviation
CAA supports UK development and implementation of such
systems
Leading the regulatory development
UAS must be….
Safe to be Flown
Flown safely
32. 32
Fundamental Principles
They are Aircraft – not ‘drones’ ‘toys’ ‘UAVs’ etc
They are Piloted – albeit remotely
equivalence – to manned aviation
- doesn’t mean ‘identical’, looking for an equivalent capability
No ‘automatic rights’ - to airspace or special privileges
CAA’s responsibility is to Protect the Public – Risk?
General Considerations
Piloting ‘function’ same for manned and unmanned – both ‘move’ aircraft
through the air
Same Airspace, Same Weather, Same Rules
Operations - Avoidance of collisions/Lookout principles
Airworthiness
Integrity of ‘link’ to aircraft
Complex Flight Control Systems
Pilots - Operators - Airworthy Aircraft
33. 33
UAS Ops Within UK Airspace
Visual Line of Sight (VLOS)
‘See and Avoid’ responsibilities through direct visual observation
(visually managed)
Limited range- Size/Colour, weather conditions
400ft vertical, 500m horizontal – basic limits
Extended VLOS -ops within/beyond 400ft/500m, RP’s ‘direct visual
contact’ requirement addressed differently – collision avoidance still
achieved through ‘visual observation’
Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS)
Detect and Avoid System
Segregated Airspace (if no DAA system fitted)
34. 34
Small Unmanned Aircraft (SUA)
“Any unmanned aircraft, other than a balloon or a kite,
having a mass of not more than 20kg without its fuel but
including any articles or equipment installed or attached at
the commencement of its flight”
Note - this does not differentiate between model/recreational or other
uses
SUA are exempted from the majority of the UK Air Navigation
Order (UK Air Law), but 3 specific articles apply: Arts 138, 166 &
167
35. 35
ANO 2009 - Key Articles
138 – Endangerment
‘A person shall not recklessly or negligently permit an aircraft to
endanger persons or property’
166 – Small Unmanned Aircraft (20kg or less)
Articles or animals must not be dropped ……so as to endanger
persons or property
The ‘person in charge’ may only fly the aircraft if reasonably
satisfied that the flight can safely be made (note no specific
requirements for ‘airworthiness’)
Person in charge must maintain ‘Direct Unaided visual contact’ –
for the purpose of avoiding collisions (ie. VLOS flights only)
>7kg ATC permission for A,C,D,E airspace, ATZ’s, >400ft.
Flights for the purpose of aerial work require specific permission
to be granted by the CAA.
36. 36
ANO 2009 - Key Articles
167 – Small Unmanned Surveillance
Aircraft
‘SUSA’ is a small unmanned aircraft equipped to
undertake any form of surveillance or data
acquisition.
Unless in accordance with a permission from the
CAA, a SUSA must not be flown:
Over or within 150m of congested area or assembly of >1000 people
Within 50m of vessels, vehicles or structures (not under the control
of the person in charge of the aircraft)
Within 50m of any person (exceptions exist for take-off/landing (30m)
and persons under the control of the person in charge of the aircraft)
Art 167 ‘covers off’ flights which are not aerial work
37. 37
Small UAS Operations
Regs proportionate to the potential risk, ‘light touch’ where
suitable
Specific aim “to protect those not involved in the activity”
Permissions – required where greater level of risk is evident
Aerial work, ‘camera’ flight close to people/property
Need to be satisfied that your operation is safe
For safety purposes only, not ‘privacy’ (Privacy aspects are
covered by the data protection regulations)
Small UAS Currently the biggest/most notable development area
Requests for flight close to people/property/in congested areas, is
growing – work commencing to address safety case requirements
(ie. prove it is safe)
38. 38
Mystery as £20k 'spy' helicopter goes under
cover in city
“DESPERATE: (name
removed) searches the
skies for his missing
Draganflyer X6 helicopter”
39. 39
Small UAS (20kg or less)
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
Permissions Issued for UAS Operations
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Number Issued
2006 8
2007 7
2008 17
2009 16
2010 59
2011 62
2012 133
2013 318
2014 336 to 30 Jun
40. 40
But………………………
Reason for the rapid expansion in UK ?
Cheap and simple
Simple/light touch – no licensing
No ‘airworthiness’ specifications - ‘hobbyist’, no major
testing/reliability requirements
VLOS only ops – simple collision avoidance
Basic responsibility on ‘person in charge’
Risk based - size of a/c, how much damage?
Next ‘step up’ (close to/over people, BVLOS) is a big one….
Airworthiness + Collision Avoidance = Costly !
41. 41
CAP 722
“Unmanned Aircraft System
Operations in UK Airspace –
Guidance”
Edition 5, 10 August 2012
UK Policy/Regulation developed and published through CAP 722.
(1st point of reference).
Used by other nations as a reference document (and frequently
plagiarised).
Amendment currently underway – Est publication Feb 15
•More readable/useful
• Improved airworthiness (ie. Safety Assurance) guidance
42. 42
No UK specific regulations under development
No point in UK ‘going it alone’ – no ‘demand’ as yet
Work underway at international level (ICAO and EU) to
achieve ‘harmonised’ regulations – UK contributing to
this, but rulemaking (ie. lawmaking) takes time (rightly)
In the meantime………
Operational
Limitations
Airworthiness
Detect & Avoid
43. 43
Europe – EC/EASA
EU RPAS roadmap published June 2013
EASA rulemaking based on a high and uniform level of safety –
‘Harmonisation’ across member States – aids development for
manufacturers and ‘free movement’ for operations/operators
EASA Rulemaking Plan 2014-2017 features 10 RPAS related
rulemaking tasks covering:
Amendment of Basic Regulation – extends EASA scope to RPAS of any
mass (proposed to remove ‘fragmentation’ of the market) – drafting
underway
Creation of an EC regulation on RPAS and its Annex 1 (Part ORG)
Civil RPAS Safety Objectives (1309)
Common rules for licensing – likely to be required for all RPAS
Airworthiness processes (initial and continuing)
Certification Policy
Operations
44. 44
JARUS
Joint Authorities for the Rulemaking of Unmanned
Systems
Collection of National Aviation Authorities (mostly
European, but also others including FAA, Brazil, Israel,
South Africa
Purpose is to recommend a single set of harmonised UAS
regulations for subsequent adoption by NAAs
7 Working Groups
Ops/Licensing, Organisations, Airworthiness, DAA,
C2/C3, System Safety Assessment, Continued
Airworthiness
Note – EASA intending to use JARUS as ‘Rulemaking
Group’ for much of its rulemaking tasks
45. 45
CAA UAS Programme
‘Step by Step’ approach to expansion of UAS operations
Initial Ops – Get things flying, learn from experience
Accommodate activity into the aviation system, accepting that
some limitations will be required
Integrate UAS with other aviation users as ‘routine business’
Small UAS ASTRAEA
Strategic
Projects
Initial Ops Accommodation
Spectrum/
Security
CAP722
JARUS Permissive
MoD
EASA Airspace
Integration
ICAO Industry
46. 46
To Sum Up
As for manned aircraft, unmanned aircraft will only be permitted to
operate in UK airspace if it is considered that it is safe for them to
do so
In the UK today we have a growing and diverse civil UA industry
using small rotary and fixed wing aircraft under VLOS.
UK’s SUA regulations are proportionate, scaleable and have
allowed the industry to develop, but further work now required to
adequately assure safe ops in congested areas.
BVLOS ops (for both large and small RPAS) will require much
closer assessment but we want to encourage development – need
to know what is holding things back
We are developing appropriate regulation as a part of an
international effort.
‘Safe to be Flown’- Airworthiness/Cert
‘Flown Safely’ – Operational
49. Professor Nick Avis
Executive Dean, Faculty of Science and Engineering at
the University of Chester
50. 50
Humanitarian uses of drones
25th September 2014
Royal Air Force Museum
Hendon
Nick Avis
Faculty of Science and Engineering
University of Chester
n.avis@chester.ac.uk
53. Drones – Non Humanitarian Uses
53
Military
• Surveillance UAVs, cargo-carrying UAVs, and weaponised UAVs.
• Dull, Dirty and Dangerous
• Military dividend – ? To what extent can these be repurposed ?
58. Drones – Humanitarian Uses
58
Platforms – Communications / broadband
– Google – Loon
– O3B
Persistent - density – cost – ease of deployment
Satellite vs. High Altitude vs. Low altitude
Coverage, control, dwell times and fidelity
59. 59
Drones – Humanitarian Uses Eco-System of UAVs and Data Networks
NASA
Eco-system of Drones – Data + Comms
63. Surveillance / Search
Drones and
crowd-sourced
“And on the day of the launch mission, 350 people from 25 countries including the US,
Africa and Europe, acted as ‘virtual’ mountain rescue search assistants as they joined
the live search and rescue trial operation from their desktop computers, tablet devices
and mobiles.”
63
analysis
64. [UPDATED] UAV Provides Colorado Flooding
Assistance Until FEMA Freaks Out
By Evan Ackerman
Posted 16 Sep 2013 | 14:42 GMT
64
66. 66
Transport
Grand Challenges Explorations Grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation went to a group led by George Barbastathis at Harvard-MIT
Division of Health Sciences and Technology, which is developing the idea of
delivering vaccines to people in rural communities. [by drones]
70. Organisations and Prizes
COO, THIS WILL NEVER FLY!
Prizes
• DUBAI // Fancy winning US$1 million or Dh1m?
• Now is your chance as the Government is offering the prize money to
anyone who can invent drones to deliver services.
• The competition was launched by Mohammed Al Gargawi, Minister of
Cabinet Affairs, at the Government Summit in Duba
• http://www.thenational.ae/uae/government/million-dollar-contest-launched-
to-invent-drones-for-uae-government-services#ixzz3EAj4U9sZ
72. URLs
72
http://irevolution.net/tag/uav/
http://gerardens.com/2012/08/02/wildfire-fighting-
robots/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-
28318281
http://irevolution.net/2014/08/29/google-uavs-
for-disaster-response/
http://irevolution.net/2014/06/25/humanitari
ans-in-the-sky/
http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/
aerial-robots/falcon-uav-provides-colorado-flooding-
assistance-until-fema-freaks-out
http://irevolution.net/2014/09/07/disaster-tweets-
give-responders-valuable-data/
www.ob3networks.org
civicdronecentre.org
The Rise of the Humanitarian
Drone: Giving Content to an
Emerging Concept (forthcoming)
Sandvik, Kristin Bergtora (2014)
The Rise of the Humanitarian
Drone: Giving Content to an
Emerging Concept (forthcoming),
Millennium: Journal of
International Studies.
76. CONSERVATION
DRONES
& moni tor ing biodiversi ty ( threats)
Serge Wich
Liverpool John Moores University, UK
Lian Pin Koh
University of Adelaide, Australia
82. Drones are expensive and might
also be expensive to maintain...
Source: youtube.com/1sgttoles
...we decided to look for a cheaper
‘Do-It-Yourself’ solution...
96. Wingspan: 1-1.8 m
Weight: ~1-3 kg (inc. batteries)
Payload: ~0-1 kg
Automatic Take-off: Hand launched
Autonomous Flight: Guided by GPS
Automatic Landing: Within 100 x 100 m field
Telemetry: ‘Live’ transmission of flight data and video
Sensors: Photo, video, thermal imaging cameras
Photo Quality: ~1 – 10 cm per pixel resolution
Flight time: ~20-90 minutes
Range: ~15-70 km
SPECS
101. Reforestation project in Sumatra
2238 images
5.22 sq. km / 1289ac
5.22cm/pixel side
91 orangutan nest in ground surveys
Aerial images being analysed
In collaboration with the Sumatran Orangutan Society and the Orangutan Information Centre (Wich et al in prep)
103. Bat (detecting) drones
ConservationDrones with Terry Reardon (South Australian Museum) and Alice
Hughes (Chinese Academy of Science). Detecting the Grey-headed flying-fox
130. Gabon
Kenya
Tanzania
Rep Congo Madagascar
USA
Germany
Switzerland
Nepal Cambodia
India
Indonesia
Malaysia
Greenland Scotland
Chile
Belize
Australia
Panama
156. Rothamsted Research
where knowledge grows
Monitoring crop
experiments by drone
Andrew Riche
Slide
156
157. Talk outline
• Background
• RPAs in agriculture
• Rothamsted RPA
• Monitoring field
trials
• How the RPA can
help
157
158. Food Security
‘Demand for food is projected to
increase by 50% by 2030 and
double by 2050’
‘The challenge for global agriculture is
to grow more food on not much more
land, using less water, fertiliser and
pesticides than we have historically
done’
Sir John Beddington
UK Government Chief Scientific Adviser 158
159. RPAs in agriculture
Pros
• Independent of ground conditions
• Relatively quick
Cons
• Small payload
• Short flying time
• Accidents happen
Current uses
• Bird scaring
• Mapping/scouting
• Crop Spraying
• Monitoring field experiments
Slide
159
160. Rothamsted RPA
Slide
160
HD video camera
RGB stills/HD
video camera
Thermal imaging
camera
Near infrared camera
Computer waypoint
control
Endurance: 10 min+
Up to 50 waypoints
Manual control
161. RPA Regulations
• Insurance
• CAA permission to fly
• Airspace permission (>7kg)
Flying limitations
• Maximum altitude 400ft
• Maximum distance 500m from operator
• Not within 150m of a congested area
• Not within 50m of a person not under pilots control
• Operator must maintain unaided visual contact
• Suitable weather
Slide
161
162. UK Cereal yields 1892-2010
• Yields increased rapidly from the
1940s
• A lot of variation between years
• Yields have not increased in the
last 10 years
• This pattern occurs in many
European countries
• Reasons for static yields not fully
understood
162
165. Need for High Throughput Phenotyping
165
5000 plots
10 000 samples
200km
Date Times
Anthesis May - July 16
Hyperspectral Reflectance Apr - July 3
Maturity June - July 11
Height June 1
Lodging, SPAD 3
Total 34
170km
166. Phenotyping – the problem
• Time consuming
• Lack of person power
• Skilled
• Laborious (tedious!),
repetitive
• Weather dependant
Remote sensing options:
Slide
166
167. RPA Sensors
Sony RGB camera
Optris Thermal Imaging camera
ADC Near-infrared camera
Slide 167
169. RGB Camera
• 24 Mpixels
• Establishment/canopy cover
• Nitrogen status
• Maturity
• Height
• Lodging
Slide
169
170. RGB Camera – Digital Surface Models
• 10 Ground Control Points
• 40m altitude
• Imaged every second
Estimating wheat height from DSM
Slide
170 F. Holman, 2014
171. Thermal Infra-red Camera
• 0.11Mpixels
• 40mK sensitivity
• Stress: insect, pathogen, water
• Stomatal conductance
• Canopy architecture eg Flag leaf
angle
Slide
171
172. Disease
• Take-all (a root disease of
wheat)
• Symptons visible early summer
• Show as lower temperature
• Often stress will show as a
higher temperature, eg water
stress
Slide
172
173. Hyperspectral Camera
• 3.2 Mpixels
• Crop/canopy dynamics
• Nutrients status
• Various vegetation
indices, e.g. NDVI, SAVI.
Slide
173
Image processed to show Soil Adjusted
Vegetation index. Area of poor growth
shows up as reduced SAVI.
SAVI=(NIR-RED)/(NIR+RED+L)*(1+L)
174. Establishment - NDVI
• NDVI
measurements in
April showed a
correlation with
grain yield at final
harvest
Slide
174
175. Yield
Relationship between Grain Yield and spectral reflectance Relationship between Grain Nitrogen concentration
Slide
175
and spectral reflectance
Relationship between Grain Nitrogen uptake and
spectral reflectance
177. Phenotypic traits at anthesis, full spectrum 350-1000nm
• Tec5 spectra at anthesis
(8 cultivars, 3 reps, 4 N levels)
• GAI and biomass at anthesis predicted
with high confidence
• Ear population correlated poorly
Slide
177
178. Conclusions
• We have learnt how to fly the RPA and collect images
• We are learning how to use the data collected
• We still have much to learn about image processing and other
sensor technology
• We believe the technology will save time, collect reliable data
and enable more data to be collected than before
However:
• We could have too much data
• We need to fully utilize the technology and data
Slide
178
179. Acknowledgements
Malcolm Hawkesford
Saroj Parmor
David Soba-Hidalgo
Laure Beghin
Martin Suplisson
Baptiste Hamon
Computing staff
Linda Carlton
Paul Compton
Philip Webb
RRes Farm Staff
Stephen Goward
Chris Mackay
Nick Chichester-Miles
Slide 179
192. ShadowView
• Grew out of work with a Sea Shepherd Conservation
Society
• Missions flown in 7 continents by end 2014
• First success in Namibia and Antarctica
• First to capture evidence of illegal hunting in the UK
• First ever to capture rhino poachers on thermal during live
mission in Greater Kruger South Africa
• Work with a large range of local and international
partners
SkyCap - ShadowView
204. South Africa - Greater Kruger area
• Over 900 rhino poached in the Greater Kruger Area in
2013
• ShadowView collaborate with local organisations
• UAVs help level the playing field when utilised effectively
SkyCap - ShadowView
210. Flow down Export
210
Copyright
Intellectual
property
Designs rights
Software
Patents
Who does what to whom, when and
for how much
Contracts Other IPR
Liability and risk
Termination
Airspace &
Airworthiness
regulations
National AA
ANO (UK)
CAP 722 (UK)
Insurance
EASA Regs
Privacy
Data protection
issues
Tortious
liability
Article 8 vs Article 10 (ECHR)
UAV
legal
issues
control
Funding
Surveillance
Ethics
211. 211
@Glaciologist: if a #uav
crashes and kills you
who’s responsible if it is
automated?
@bway: I reckon
@PeterLee000 is probably
the man for that Q!...
@bway
@Glaciologist
@PeterLee000
@Glaciologist @bway my
response "if a #UAV crashes and
kills you who's responsible if it is
automated?"
http://youtu.be/Mq1ySjUkOD4
#UAV #drone