| This project aims to establish that BVLOS operations are possible now in most airspace with existing technologies. With the cooperation of Department of Transport (DfT) through the Transport Systems Catapult (TSC) and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), a regularised operating framework will be established, specifically for BVLOS linear infrastructure surveys like pipelines or overhead lines. This framework will be designed to embrace future technologies as they are developed but it is anticipated to allow ‘business as usual’ BVLOS inspection by project completion. . |
Objectives
To investigate and demonstrate the ability to fly BVLOS in uncontrolled airspace over participants networks with regulatory approval
Learnings
Outcomes
Whilst the project did not complete the desired output in the available timescale, there were many areas of success, of which the most notable are:
- Development of 3 industry use cases that can be explored in the future. The industry use cases are:
- CONOPS A - Small vertical take-off and landing platform operating over short range (<2km) with visual line of sight of the airspace, suitable for adhoc inspection of pole circuits, pipe crossings etc.
- CONOPS B - Concept of “atypical “airspace: vertical take-off and landing platform operating with limited range, close to power line shelter and managed over-flight in non-segregated airspace.
- CONOPS C - Fixed Wing platform operating over long range/endurance (~30-60km), on defined route & notification and managed over-flight in non-segregated airspace
- The project undertook the most extensive civil trials of BVLOS drone operations ever conducted to date in the UK: 668km BVLOS with a total of 640 hours of flight
- The project developed a highly flexible map-based planning tool that may have wider application
- The project uncovered the key barriers to widespread adoption of generic BVLOS CONOPS in the UK and has helped both industry and the regulator focus efforts to address these barriers
The TRL of the project moved from 6 to 7.
Lessons Learnt
Fundamentally this project was seeking to change the rules for flying drones beyond visual line of site. In pursuit of this challenge the project had a strong dependency on the CAA (the regulator). The timescales which were built into the original programme were insufficient to complete the tasks & the following factors impacted the original expectations:
Change of personnel at the CAA. Early engagement with key staff was lost along with initial momentum. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the disruptions caused by the pandemic, the CAA had to de-prioritise this project in favour of COVID-related initiatives.
Such experiences would suggest that more time should be allocated when such a dependency is put against a third-party member of a project.
Key barriers that were identified for this type of work:
- There is currently no certainty or clear path for the CAA/Department for Transport (DfT) to approve any changes to existing regulatory requirements that allows for business-as-usual (BAU) BVLOS Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) operations.
- Until the CAA/DfT determine what are ‘good enough’ safety targets, any alternative approaches to BVLOS safety beyond segregated airspace will not be accepted.
There is a chance that regulation will not be changed in future and that the enabling path to deploy BVLOS UAV operations will be use of technology to ensure safe operations
