Maintaining Reliability and Maintenance of UAS

Summary

This paper examines maintaining the reliability and maintenance of UAS since this system is increasingly adopted in the National Airspace System (NAS). The issue is examined on the backdrop of increased adoption of UAS in commercial and civilian domains though they were initially designed for military application. The discussion seeks to promote an in-depth understanding of UAS operations, understand UAS capabilities and limitations, and develop suitable procedures for maintenance and enhanced reliability of UAS.

UAS refers to a system whose components do not carry a human operator and are piloted remotely or fly independently. It was initially designed and adopted for military applications but has since grown to be used in civilian and commercial domains. However, the increased use of UAS in these settings has generated concerns regarding safety and reliability. Maintaining the reliability of UAS requires conducting reliability assessments using either deductive or inductive approaches. Deductive reliability assessment like FTA focuses on detecting high-level system failure events and all lower-level incidents that could directly contribute to a failure incident. Inductive assessments like FMEA focuses on identifying the failure modes of system components at the lowest level possible.

UAS maintenance is defined as any activity carried out on the ground prior to or after the flight to promote and ensure the successful operation of the system as well as its safety. Scheduled and unscheduled maintenance are the two broad categories of UAS maintenance activities. UAS maintenance can be achieved through various recommendations including the establishment of tailored maintenance training, redesigning the roles of the UAS operator and UAS maintenance personnel, and adopting preventive maintenance approaches. On the other hand, deductive reliability analysis like FTA is the recommended approach for reliability.

Maintaining Reliability and Maintenance of UAS

The idea of conventional aircraft design has changed dramatically over the past few decades. In essence, the introduction of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) is a reflection of the evolution of the overall architecture of aircraft design. However, many modern aircraft have some components and systems that are similar to the conventional models. Since their introduction, unmanned aircraft systems have attracted growing consumer attraction in terms of ownership and operation. Wicker et al. (2019) note that the emergence of UAS has the potential of generating significant economic and social benefits to the United States. Despite the potential social and economic benefits, UAS has attracted concerns regarding safety and reliability. These concerns are partly attributable to the fact that their manufacture does not conform to a type design (Ley, 2016). This paper examines the issue of maintenance and reliability of UAS in relation to safety concerns.

Overview of Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS)

Lu et al. (2019) state that UAS is an application that represents independent technologies in the aviation industry. This system is developed by the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), data links, ground control station, and recovery and launch system. UAS, which is also known as unmanned aerial system, refers to a system whose components do not carry a human operator (Gupta, Ghonge & Jawandhiya (2013). UAS are either remotely piloted or fly independently. This implies that UAS have an associated ground control station as well as a data link between the board and the ground. Therefore, UAS has a system that is characterized by command, communications, and control. While UAS air vehicles and their associated equipment do not carry a human operator, its operations require necessary personnel for remote piloting or to fly autonomously.

UAS comprises three major features or components i.e. unmanned aircraft, the data link or command and control link, and ground control station (Hobbs & Herwitz, 2006). Unmanned…

Maintaining Reliability and Maintenance of UAS

Summary

This paper examines maintaining the reliability and maintenance of UAS since this system is increasingly adopted in the National Airspace System (NAS). The issue is examined on the backdrop of increased adoption of UAS in commercial and civilian domains though they were initially designed for military application. The discussion seeks to promote an in-depth understanding of UAS operations, understand UAS capabilities and limitations, and develop suitable procedures for maintenance and enhanced reliability of UAS.

UAS refers to a system whose components do not carry a human operator and are piloted remotely or fly independently. It was initially designed and adopted for military applications but has since grown to be used in civilian and commercial domains. However, the increased use of UAS in these settings has generated concerns regarding safety and reliability. Maintaining the reliability of UAS requires conducting reliability assessments using either deductive or inductive approaches. Deductive reliability assessment like FTA focuses on detecting high-level system failure events and all lower-level incidents that could directly contribute to a failure incident. Inductive assessments like FMEA focuses on identifying the failure modes of system components at the lowest level possible.

UAS maintenance is defined as any activity carried out on the ground prior to or after the flight to promote and ensure the successful operation of the system as well as its safety. Scheduled and unscheduled maintenance are the two broad categories of UAS maintenance activities. UAS maintenance can be achieved through various recommendations including the establishment of tailored maintenance training, redesigning the roles of the UAS operator and UAS maintenance personnel, and adopting preventive maintenance approaches. On the other hand, deductive reliability analysis like FTA is the recommended approach for reliability.

Maintaining Reliability and Maintenance of UAS

The idea of conventional aircraft design has changed dramatically over the past few decades.…

Maintaining Reliability and Maintenance of UAS

Summary

This paper examines maintaining the reliability and maintenance of UAS since this system is increasingly adopted in the National Airspace System (NAS). The issue is examined on the backdrop of increased adoption of UAS in commercial and civilian domains though thy were initially designed for military application. The discussion seeks to promote an in-depth understanding of UAS operations, understand UAS capabilities and limitations, and develop suitable procedures for maintenance and enhanced reliability of UAS.

UAS refers to a system whose components do not carry a human operator and are piloted remotely or fly independently. It was initially designed and adopted for military applications but has since grown to be used in civilian and commercial domains. However, the increased use of UAS in these settings has generated concerns regarding safety and reliability. Maintaining the reliability of UAS requires conducting reliability assessments using either deductive or inductive approaches. Deductive reliability assessment like FTA focuses on detecting high-level system failure events and all lower-level incidents that could directly contribute to a failure incident. Inductive assessments like FMEA focuses on identifying the failure modes of system components at the lowest level possible.

UAS maintenance is defined as any activity carried out on the ground prior to or after the flight to promote and ensure the successful operation of the system as well as its safety. Scheduled and unscheduled maintenance are the two broad categories of UAS maintenance activities. UAS maintenance can be achieved through various recommendations including the establishment of tailored maintenance training, redesigning the roles of the UAS operator and UAS maintenance personnel, and adopting preventive maintenance approaches. On the other hand, deductive reliability analysis like FTA is the recommended approach for reliability.

Maintaining Reliability and Maintenance of UAS

The idea of conventional aircraft design has changed dramatically over the past few decades. In essence, the introduction of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) is a reflection of the evolution of the overall architecture of aircraft design. However, many modern aircraft have some components and systems that are similar to the conventional models. Since their introduction, unmanned aircraft systems have attracted growing consumer attraction in terms of ownership and operation. Wicker et al. (2019) note that the emergence of UAS has the potential of generating significant economic and social benefits to the United States. Despite the potential social and economic benefits, UAS has attracted concerns regarding safety and reliability. These conce.......y, 2016). This paper examines the issue of maintenance and reliability of UAS in relation to safety concerns.

Overview of Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS)

Lu et al. (2019) state that UAS is an application that represents independent technologies in the aviation industry. This system is developed by the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), data links, ground control station, and recovery and launch system. UAS, which is also known as unmanned aerial system, refers to a system whose components do not carry a human operator (Gupta, Ghonge & Jawandhiya (2013). UAS are either remotely piloted or fly independently. This implies that UAS have an associated ground control station as well as a data link between the board and the ground. Therefore, UAS has a system that is characterized by command, communications, and control. While UAS air vehicles and their associated equipment do not carry a human operator, its operations require necessary personnel for remote piloting or to fly autonomously.

UAS comprises three major features or components i.e. unmanned aircraft, the data link or command and control link, and ground control station (Hobbs & Herwitz, 2006). Unmanned aircraft is essentially a powered vehicle without a human operator or an aircraft with no pilot on board. As previously indicated, the aircraft can be operated remotely i.e. by a pilot/operator at a ground control station or fly independently based on pre-programmed plans (Gupta, Ghonge & Jawandhiva, 2013). UAS can be recoverable or expendable as well as carry a deadly or non-lethal payload. However, cruise missiles, unattended sensors, ballistic or semi-ballistic vehicles, torpedoes, satellites, artillery projectiles, and mines are not classified as UAS or UAVs.

Background Information of UAS

In the initial years of development, UAS was adopted by military planners to conduct surveys and/or attack missions. The history of UAS can be traced back to 1916 when the first unmanned air vehicle (UAV) was developed by the Americans Lawrence and Sperry (Gupta, Ghonge & Jawandhiva, 2013). The development of the first UAV marked the beginning of attitude control, which played a critical role in the automatic steering of an aircraft. Lawrence and Sperry named the first UAV aviation torpedo and flew it a distance exceeding 30 miles. However, the end of the 1950s marked a significant period in the history of UAS as full-scale research and development of UAVs was carried out until the 1970s. The research and development of UAVs during this period was influenced by the Vietnam War. After this War, the United States and Israel commenced the development of smaller and cheaper UAVs. These UAVs were small aircraft with small engines like those used in snowmobiles or motorcycles. They can be regarded as the prototype of the current UAS as they had video cameras transmitted images to the ground operator.

According to Lum & Tsukada (2016), the use of UAS technology started to grow beyond the military domain in recent decades. The growth was fueled by increased interest in commercial and civilian domains. The commercial UAS industry has been characterized by the exponential growth of small unmanned aircraft. Small unmanned aircraft has received increased interest in this industry because of its potential to carry out tasks that would have formerly required larger aircraft (Hobbs & Herwitz, 2006). The improved capabilities of small unmanned aircraft are attributable to technological advancements like miniaturization of sensor equipment and autopilots as well as advances in battery technology. Additionally, small unmanned aircraft are based on cheaper hobby store model aircraft that sometimes involve an autopilot.

The commercial UAS industry has witnessed rapid growth because small unmanned aircraft have several potential uses and can be utilized in different sectors and applications. Some of the potential uses of these aircraft include traffic monitoring, search and rescue, homeland security applications, power-line inspection, border surveillance, agriculture, policing and firefighting, aerial photography, wildlife monitoring, and minerals exploration. Additionally, UAS are also used in sports events film coverage, research by university laboratories, pipeline survey, and communications relay (Gupta, Chonge & Jawandhiya, 2013). UAS utilization has expanded to more civil domains because of their convenience and low-cost attributes (Lu et al., 2019). As a result, UAS in civil domains has outnumbered UAVs substantially with estimated several million annually. The growth of non-military UAS applications is projected to increase in the near future once airspace regulations are established (International Civil Aviation Organization, 2011). UAS market for civilian and commercial applications is projected to grow by up to $7.5 billion in the near future.

Problem Statement

UAS offers convenience and low-cost attributes, which has contributed to its increased adoption in commercial and civilian domains. However, the increased use of these applications in commercial and civilian domains has generated numerous safety concerns and considerations. UAS in these domains is threatened by a series of safety considerations, especially maintenance issues involving human activity and operations. Despite improvements in engines, current UAS reliability approaches are still regarded as fatalistic. Currently, sophisticated UAS systems are deemed to have an overall rate of failure of 25% (Petrioli, Leccese & Ciani, 2018). According to Mrusek, Kiernan & Clark (2018), the safety impact of UAS remains a major