The document provides an overview of unmanned airborne systems (UAS) and their regulatory framework, focusing on current capabilities, sensor types, and mapping technologies. It discusses FAA regulations governing UAS operations, including certificates of authorization and integration into U.S. airspace. Future trends indicate significant growth in UAS technology and applications, driven by advancements in automation, sensor variety, and consumer integration.

1. Mapping with
Unmanned
Airborne Systems
(UAS)
February 13, 2014
Engineering | Architecture | Design-Build | Surveying | GeoSpatial Solutions

2. Today’s Agenda
 Introductions
 Current
/ Objectives
UAS Regulations (FAA)
 UAS
Components & Types
 UAS
Navigation
 Sensor
 UAS
Payloads
Software
 Inspection
/ Surveillance vs. Mapping
 UAS
Outdoor Mapping Deliverables
 UAS
Indoor Mapping
 Industry
PREXXXX 2
Copyright © 2010 Merrick & Company All rights reserved.
Forecast / Future Trends

3. Today’s Objective
Provide an objective and practical review
of current unmanned airborne mapping
capabilities
PREXXXX 3
Copyright © 2010 Merrick & Company All rights reserved.

4. Corporate Overview
 Corporate
headquarters: Greenwood Village, Colorado
 Founded in 1955; employee-owned
 $110M annual revenue (FY13)
 > 480 employees at 15 domestic + 4 international offices
 Market 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
PREXXXX 4
Copyright © 2010 Merrick & Company All rights reserved.

5. 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.
PREXXXX 5
Copyright © 2010 Merrick & Company All rights reserved.

6. UAS ≠ Drones
PREXXXX 6
Copyright © 2010 Merrick & Company All rights reserved.

7. 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."
PREXXXX 7
Copyright © 2010 Merrick & Company All rights reserved.

8. 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:


RC vehicle cannot exceed 400 feet above ground level (AGL)


Not allowed for commercial business use of any kind  cannot fly to make money!
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/
PREXXXX 8
Copyright © 2010 Merrick & Company All rights reserved.

9. UAS Components
Aircraft
Navigation System
Unmanned Airborne
Systems (UAS)
Sensor
PREXXXX 9
Copyright © 2010 Merrick & Company All rights reserved.
Software

10. 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
PREXXXX 10
Copyright © 2010 Merrick & Company All rights reserved.

11. UAS Aircraft Comparisons
PREXXXX 11
Copyright © 2010 Merrick & Company All rights reserved.

12. Hawkeye RQ-84Z
www.hawkeyeuav.com
PREXXXX 12
Copyright © 2010 Merrick & Company All rights reserved.

13. UAS Navigation

Remotely controlled

Third person view



requires constant line-of-sight
not acceptable, too much risk
First person view


“soda straw” view, still high risk for collision
with obstruction (tree branch, power line, etc.)
Pre-defined flight plan (auto pilot)


requires video transmission

Accurate digital surface models required
Fully autonomous - detect, sense, and
avoid (DSA) obstacles for collision avoidance
PREXXXX 13
Copyright © 2010 Merrick & Company All rights reserved.

14. UAS Sensor Payloads





Video
Imagery
Thermal
Magnetometer
Purpose driven
remote sensing tools

Radioactive
measurement
 Gas detection
 Acoustic detection
 Signal detection

LiDAR
PREXXXX 14
Copyright © 2010 Merrick & Company All rights reserved.

15. USACE Buckeye LiDAR UAS continued
PREXXXX 15
Copyright © 2010 Merrick & Company All rights reserved.

16. UAS Software
Surveillance / Inspection
Mapping
Real-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
PREXXXX 16
Copyright © 2010 Merrick & Company All rights reserved.

17. 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)
PREXXXX 17
Copyright © 2010 Merrick & Company All rights reserved.

18. Surveillance / Inspection Examples
PREXXXX 18
Copyright © 2010 Merrick & Company All rights reserved.

19. 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


Multi-Spectral Imagery (MSI)

Thermal Infrared (TIR)

Hyperspectral Imaging (HSI)

Oblique Imagery


Color Infrared (CIR)
Video
Products

Orthophoto Mosaics (Ortho)

Digital Surface Model (DSM)

Planimetric Map Products

Change Detection

Volumetrics

3D Modeling
PREXXXX 19
Copyright © 2010 Merrick & Company All rights reserved.

20. UAS Outdoor Mapping Deliverables
PREXXXX 20
Copyright © 2010 Merrick & Company All rights reserved.

21. UAS Indoor Mapping
 Autonomous
Navigation
 Simultaneous
 Real-time
 Detect,
Localization and Mapping (SLAM)
Sensor Processing Required
Avoid, Collect
 Minimize
Occlusions
 Products

3D Models

360° Panoramas

Point Clouds

CAD Files
PREXXXX 21
Copyright © 2010 Merrick & Company All rights reserved.

22. 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.
PREXXXX
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.
22
Copyright © 2010 Merrick & Company All rights reserved.

23. Future Trends

Consumers

Easier use – more automation


Lower cost


Integration into consumer products (like Google
Earth)
Technology

Fleets of multiple UAS via flocking and
networking technologies

Improvements in autonomous controls


Professionals
Detect, Sense, and Avoid (DSA) for collision
avoidance
3D modeling for navigation

Larger (MP) and better (metric) cameras

Range imaging

More variety of sensors

LiDAR

LiDAR

Hyperspectral

Sensor fusion


Solar powered stratospheric
platforms

data relay

various monitoring tasks
PREXXXX 23
Copyright © 2010 Merrick & Company All rights reserved.
Better fuel cells enabling longer flight times

Miniaturization - micro UAS


Improved stabilization

Persistent surveillance
Standardization of control system and common
use between different kinds of UAV

Automated and real time data
processing


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

24. Contact Information
Merrick & Company: www.merrick.com
Unmanned Airborne Services: www.merrick.com/uas
Bill Emison, Senior Account Manager
E-mail:
bill.emison@merrick.com
Tel:
(303) 353-3634
Twitter:
@Merrick_Geo
PREXXXX 24
Copyright © 2010 Merrick & Company All rights reserved.