Fruity Chutes providing some risk mitigation solutions for flying drones over people.

1. Preview of Flight Over People PRS Requirements
 WHY YOU NEED IT
 FLIGHT OVER PEOPLE PRS
REQUIREMENTS
 CERTIFICATION OVERVIEW
 COMPLETE PRS COMPONENTS
 QUESTIONS

2. Who is Fruity Chutes
 2007 - Started with hobby rocketry recovery
 2009 - Began to sell to emerging sUAS
users.
 Sold well over 1000 UAS systems to large
range of customers. Many companies are
integrating now.
 Celebrated 10th Year Last Year!

3. A few of our customers…

5. Why do I need a Parachute
Recovery System (PRS)
 Safety – Protect people and property.
 Regulatory – FAA and government.
 Insurance – Lower premium rates or even
mandate to get insurance.
 Cost of Failure Mitigation – Parachute safety is a
fraction of the cost of failure.
 Business Continuance – A bad crash can equal
data loss or even put you out of business.

7. Let’s focus on safety!
 FAA ASSURE group sponsored the study of ASSURE’s
Ground Collision Severity Research.
 Started in 2016, research released April 2017.
 Goal – How to safely fly UAS over people, minimal risk
to serious injury.
 Dimensions – impact energy, materials the sUAS is
constructed from, angles and direction of impact, point
of impact on the person.

8. Limiting impact energy lowers risk
 Impact energy 35J – 50J greatly lowers risk of injury.
 FAA Part 107 waiver strategy will be to limit allowable impact
energy.
 Also look at UAS materials and construction that minimize
cuts and punctures.

9. ASTM Committees currently in progress
to work out proposed requirements
 ASTM WK59171 committee currently in session
to define requirements for PRS.
 Other ASTM committees in session for other
facets of flight over people like sUAS Airframe
requirements.

10. PRS and sUAS Part 107 Certification
 Allowable Impact energy + sUAS weight determines
required parachute size
 sUAS certified for Part 107 over people is not a mix
and match methodology
 sUAS and PRS are tested as an integrated system in
order to be certified
 Any combo of PRS and sUAS can be certified with
passage of the air worthiness requirements and flight
test suite

11. Certification Process for Air Worthiness
 System “Integrator” flight tests sUAS and PRS
through suite of flight tests
 sUAS and PRS are tested as a integrated
system in order to be certified, not mix and
match
 Any combo of PRS and sUAS can be certified
with passage of the air worthiness requirements
and flight test suite

12. Certification Process for Air Worthiness (Cont.)
 Flight Test Suite –
 Hover with Power Cut (10 tests)
 Hover with Rotor Failure (10 tests)
 Full Forward with Power Cut (10 tests)
 Full Forwards with Rotor Failure (10 tests)
 Max Dynamic Shock Load Test (5 tests at MTOW only)
45 Flight Tests Minimum requirement
Each set of 10 tests split 2 and 8 between automatic deployment and
manual deployment. Also 5 each done at Max TOW, and 5 at Min TOW
 After passing flight test suite and other
documentation system can be certified for Flight
over people.

13. PRS Designed for Safety First
 Low descent speeds & low impact energy limit or
remove sUAS damage
 Guarantee business continuance
 Insurance likes it
 Meets Regulatory Requirements
 Certified system = PART 107 waiver and flight
over people!

15. PRS Components and Functions
At the highest level a PRS requires:
 The Parachute, rigging,
harnesses
 Parachute Deployment System
 Automatic Trigger System (ATS)
 Flight Termination System (FTS)

16. Parachute
 With sUAS weight, target descent rate or impact
energy: parachute manufacturer can recommend a
size.
 In most cases the parachute removes 98% or more
energy of impact .
 Choose a parachute that is as light as possible, has
good strength, and is efficient.

17. Parachute Deployment System
 Passive - Fixed Wing UAS Recovery
using a Deployment Bag
 Ballistic Low Energy - Compression
Spring Parachute Launchers
 Ballistic High Energy – CO2,
Compressed Gas, Pyro Gas Generator

18. Automatic Trigger System (ATS)
 Detect flight problems. Automatically deploy the
parachute.
 Ex. MARS MAYDAY, ParaZero Smart Air,
PixHawk configurable parachute channel.

19. Flight Termination Systems (FTS)
 Stop rotors once deployment happens .
 Need support from sUAS airframe manufacturers to
implement.
 DIY drones are better suited to add this capability.
 Popular Drones like the Inspire, Phantom, others have
limited to no FTS support.
 Work around upon deployment pilot needs to pull back
all power manually. Use Spectra or Kevlar harness that
can not be cut by rotors.

20. Factors in choosing a PRS
 Light Weight – Takes energy to support parachute.
 Strong – Deployment velocities and sUAS load.
 Parachute Rigging – Separation to avoid
entanglement & provide stability and efficiency.
 Ejection Velocity & Distance – Avoid entanglement.
Isolates parachute from sUAS that are flipping.
 Reliability – Flight over people = FAA certified system
through testing.

22. Further Information:
 Download this presentation here: https://goo.gl/4hmhH2
 Parachute Recovery Tutorial: https://goo.gl/6NBvRu
 Our Blog: https://fruitychutes.com/genes_blog
 Online Help Resources:
https://fruitychutes.com/help_for_parachutes.htm
THANK YOU!

23. Questions and
Flight Demo!