Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

21. yüzyılın ilk yarısındaki belirsizlik ve bilinmeyen odaklı güvenlik ortamında küresel iklim değişikliği, doğal ve insan kaynaklı afetler, su sorunu, enerji sorunu, gıda sorunu, nüfus artışı, göç ve gelir dağılımı dengesizliği gibi hususların potansiyel risk sahaları olması beklenmektedir. Muhtemel tehlikelere yönelik risklerin kontrol edilmesi amacıyla gerçekleştirilecek uygulamalar kapsamında, dünya genelinde her yıl daha fazla kullanım örnekleri görülmekte olan İnsansız Hava Aracı (İHA) sistemleri, uygun çözümler sunabilme imkânına sahiptir.
İHA sistemleri 2000'li yılların başından itibaren hızla yayılmış, sistemlerin sayısı ve çeşitleri artarken paralel olarak kabiliyetleri de oldukça gelişmiş ve askerî güvenlik ortamına yeni bir anlayış getirmiştir. Uluslararası Sivil Havacılık Organizasyonu (ICAO), ABD ve Avrupa Birliği liderliğinde yürütülen çalışmalar sonucunda, hâlihazırda her geçen gün daha fazla sayıda görülmekte olan sivil ve ticari İHA uygulamalarının 2020'li yıllarda oldukça yaygınlaşacağı öngörülmektedir.

The prerequisite for the safe and precise execution of the task by an unmanned flying system is preliminary and direct navigational preparation. This was confirmed by the establishment of fire-fighting operations carried out in April 2020 in Biebrza National Park. In addition to 79 Fire Protection Units and 380 firefighters, 2 helicopters, 6 aircraft and four unmanned aircraft systems were additionally supported by operational operations. Experience gained and lessons learned have enabled the development of a navigational preparation concept for unmanned aircraft systems.

This thesis describes a dynamic height estimator and controller for rotorcraft landing and hovering in ground effect based on flowfield sensing and modeling. The rotor downwash in ground effect is represented using a ring-source potential flow model selected for real-time use. Experimental verification of the flow model and an augmented flow model for tilt are presented. A nonlinear dynamic model of a compound pendulum heave test stand that reduces to the dynamics of a rotorcraft in ground effect is presented with open-loop analysis and closed-loop control simulation. Equations of motion and stability characterization of of a heaving rotor IGE are derived for external perturbations and it is shown that a uniform sideward wind does not cause instability and uniform axial wind from the top can cause instability. Flowfield velocity measurements are assimilated into a grid-based recursive Bayesian filter to estimate height above ground in both simulation and experiment. Height tracking in ground effect and landing using the estimated height are implemented with a dynamic linear controller in both simulation and experiment. Mean estimation and motion errors are found to b e no greater than 5% and 9% respectively, demonstrating that height estimation and control is possible with only flow sensing and modeling.

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) play an increasingly important role in various areas of life, including in terms of protection and security. As a result of fires, volcanic eruptions, or other emergencies, huge amounts of toxic gases, dust, and other substances are emitted into the environment, which, together with high temperature, often leads to serious environmental contamination. Based on the available literature and patent databases, an analysis of the available UAVs models was carried out in terms of their applicability in air contaminated conditions in industrial areas, in the event of emergencies, such as fire, chemical contamination. The possibilities of using the devices were analyzed in terms of weather conditions, construction, and used materials in CBRN (chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear) threat situations. It was found that, thanks to the use of appropriate sensors, cameras, and software of UAVs integrated with a given system, it is possible to obtain informat...

Integrated System Health Management (ISHM) is a promising technology that fuses sensor data and historical state-of-health information of components and subsystems to provide actionable information and enable intelligent decision-making regarding the operation and maintenance of aerospace systems. ISHM fundamentally relies on assessments and predictions of system health, including the early detection of failures and estimation of Remaining Useful Life (RUL). Model-based, data-driven or hybrid reasoning techniques can be utilized to maximise the timeliness and reliability of diagnosis and prognosis information. The benefits of ISHM include enhancing the maintainability, reliability, safety and performance of systems. The next evolution of the ISHM concept, Intelligent Health and Mission Management (IHMM), delves deeper into the utilization of on-line system health predictions to modify mission profiles to ensure safety and reliability, as well as efficiency through predictive integ...

Significant advances in sensor technology, along with economies of scale due to large production volumes have supported the miniaturization of navigation sensors, allowing widespread low-cost integration on Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS). In small-size UAS applications, standalone sensors are not a viable option since the reduction in navigation sensor form-factor, weight and cost typically results in lowered accuracy and precision. Fusion of multiple sensor measurements in UAS navigation systems can support greater accuracy, integrity and update rates than is achievable employing individual sensors. This chapter introduces the fundamentals of state-estimation methods employed on UAS and presents different sensor integration architectures, along with an assessment of their advantages and trade-offs. Attention is devoted primarily to recursive optimal estimation algorithms such as the Kalman Filter and its variants owing to its prolific employment in various classes of UAS. The need to support robust navigation performance in Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) denied environments, and the proliferation of visual sensors has led to the development of numerous methods for integrating visual sensor measurements (primarily) with inertial sensors. Therefore, the reader is introduced to the most popular system architectures for visual-inertial sensor integration, in order to provide an understanding of the current state-of-the-art and to support the identification of future research pathways.

This paper describes the state of the art of {UAS} technology in Colombia, its potential applications and the design requirements for a {UAS} operating in mountain environments common in this country. The adverse operational environment encountered in Colombia imposes design challenges requiring innovative solutions not found in the global market.

Recently, the quadcopter configuration is becoming prevalent for both civilian and military applications, and research is continuing to improve its controllability. However, most the control methodologies depend on accurate system models which are derived from six degrees of freedom nonlinear system dynamics and they generally do not consider realistic outdoor perturbations and uncertainties. As a solution, model-free data-driven system identification and controlling of quadcopter have been refined in this paper. This nonlinear multiple input-multiple output system identification is proliferated using a fuzzy clustering model. The accuracy of the identification is seen to very high. The results of a PID controller used in conjunction with the identified fuzzy model is also presented. The PID controller with the fuzzy identified model is seen to precisely follow the commanded signals.

We would like to invite you to join this exciting new project as a chapter contributor. Since this is a textbook, a great deal of this chapter entails a survey on the topic under the paradigm of cyber-physical systems, what can be done onboard and remotely, the distributed nature of the system and some exercises on futurology (anticipating trends can shed some light on upcoming designs). IET will bring great visibility to your work. You are welcome to suggest another topic/chapter title if you feel it would be more suitable. Each chapter should be around 20-25 pages each and can be submitted as a Word or Latex File. The IET will send you additional information (formatting, permission form, etc.) with the contributor's agreement once you have agreed to contribute to the book. Visit http:// www.theiet.org/resources/author-hub/books/index.cfm to get all information you need as a contributor to an IET research-level book. Each book is expected to have a total number of 500 printed pages (based on approximately 550 words per page with a 20% allowance for figures and tables). We have included a tentative schedule and list of topics below. If this is something you would consider, please send me the title of your chapter, a short description/abstract of the chapter content, and your full contact details. We will expect original content and new results for this book. You can, of course, reuse published material but the percentage of material reuse for the chapter should be less than 40%. The IET will run a piracy software on the full manuscript to control that you are including original material and will reject chapters who contain a large amount of already-published material so please do take this into consideration.

We have presented the trajectory generation module of SPASAS, an integrated system for definition of flight scenarios, flight planning, simulation and graphic representation of the results developed at Complutense University of Madrid. The module uses two alternative methods, MILP and a modification of the A* algorithm, and considers static and dynamic environmental elements, particularly pop-ups. Both methods have been implemented and a Monte Carlo simulation was done to evaluate the decision making strategy proposed. The results showed the advantages of choosing the optimum decision plan that considers the known values of the probability of appearance of pop-up threats in the future. The possibility to update the information concerning the pop-up's appearance probabilities, available fuel, time, and even the assumed risk, and then re-launch a decision making

Abstract— In this paper, design of avionics system and control scenario of small hybrid Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) UAV will be presented. The UAV configuration is a hybrid-UAV configuration combining feature of rotary-wing UAV and fixed-wing UAV. There are two topics that will be discussed in this paper. Firstly, avionics system of the UAV including its power system and its peripherals interfacing. Secondly, control system design of the UAV including flight scenario when the UAV is on transition mode/stage. Rotary-wing UAV configuration has advantages such as easy-and-stable when take-off and landing. Rotary-wing UAV also does not need special area to do take-off and landing. While Fixed-wing UAV configuration has advantages such as high maneuverability and high endurance. This hybrid UAV is designed to obtain all of these advantages. Keywords—VTOL, hybrid UAV, avionics system, control system.

Döngüde Donanımsal Benzetim(DDB) platformu İnsansız
hava araçları(İHA) uçuş davranışlarını sapma, yunuslama ve
yuvarlanma hareketlerini yapabilecek şekilde tasarlanmıştır.
Tüm davranış eksenlerinde de gerçeğe uygun olarak 360
derece hareket edebilmesi çok önemli olmaktadır. Bu
özelliğiyle de tüm gerçeklenebilecek uçuş senaryoları , acil
durum sonuçları ve akrobatik hareketlerde bile uçuş sensörleri
ve otopilot algoritmaları gerçeğe uygun şekilde
denenebilecektir.

In this project, a drone equipped with GPS technology is used. Whenever a woman is in trouble, she only has to press the panic button which is placed nearby or available in the form of a mobile application that directs the UAV to reach to victim's location at once. Once the drone reaches the exact location it will click photographs of the crime scene and send it back to the nearby police station including its current location through IoT. Now once the current location is retrieved by the policemen, they can reach the exact location and stop the crime at once. Here we use IOT for receiving transmitted images and displaying them to policemen with alert sounds. (Index Terms-drone, unmanned aerial vehicle, women safety, aerial surveillance, sos devices, IoT) I. INTRODUCTION Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) famous with the name Drone, is basically a ying machine. When employed along with a GPS, the unmanned aerial vehicle can be remotely controlled and can y autonomously, as well as locate position accurately by pre-programmed ight plans in their embedded systems. UAV technology has already made its way in surveillance, monitoring tra c, search operation, etc, for years. However, with the advancement in IoT, Machine-learning, deep learning techniques, drones appear to be the best choice. Many Research and testing on drone delivery services are also going on, which will target the masses. Using IoT based model, and high de nition camera, we are developing the Drone for the safety of the women. Drones were being used for military purposes from the mid-1990s with the High-Altitude Endurance-UAV-Advanced Concept Technology Demonstrator(HAE UAV ACTD) program which is run by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency(DARPA) and Defense Airborne Reconnaissance O ce(DARO)[3]. Through our drone technology and enhancements made in it, we not only urge in providing safety and surveillance help to Policeman but also to overcome the drawbacks in the traditional method. Problems like, limitations of security cameras installed at public places, wired CCTVs with a small area of vision, security personnel is to be appointed to observe the CCTVs all the time (even many important incidents are missed to keep eye on). Our Project focuses on these areas and we are obliged to provide end-to-end security for women. We will also be making it simple and focus on its cost-e ectiveness so that our work for this noble cause can reach as far as possible. The objective is to develop a feasible IoT based model using UAV-technology for the safety of the women. In this, we are using a drone for surveillance using GPS module and high de nition camera. This idea can help the policemen to overcome many disadvantages which are there in existing technologies such as the need for more number of CCTV camera which also requires more power consumption. The drone can cover more distance as compared to the CCTV camera placed nowadays and power consumption can also be reduced. This project provides a simple and cost-e ective end to end security solution for women's safety.

thesis by Ashwin Ravi in 2010 at Anna University
126 pages
analysis includes rotary engines

> Table of Contents
> 1. INTRODUCTION  1
> 2. PURPOSE  4
> 3. LITERATURE REVIEW  5
  » 3.1. Technology Readiness Level  5
  » 3.2. Evaluation of current propulsion technologies  6
      » 3.2.1. 2-Stroke engines  6
      » 3.2.2. 4-Stroke engines  11
      » 3.2.3. Wankel engines  14  (23 in PDF file)
      » 3.2.4. Turbines  19
      » 3.2.5. Electric motors  24
      » 3.2.6. NiMH  27
      » 3.2.7. Lithium Ion / Polymer  28
      » 3.2.8. Lithium Sulfur  29
      » 3.2.9. Hydrogen fuel cells  30
  » 3.3. Near + Long term technologies  30
  » 3.4. Comparison of current propulsion technologies  33
  » 3.5. Summary of adv + dis-adv of propulsion technologies  34
  » 3.6. Future propulsion technologies  39
      » 3.6.1. Nutating engine  39
      » 3.6.2. Six-stroke engine  40
      » 3.6.3. HCCI engine  41
      » 3.6.4. Dual fuel engine  42
      » 3.6.5. Electric diesel hybrid  43
> 4. Dynamometer  46
  » 4.1. Thomas dynamometer  46
  » 4.2. Menon Dynamometer  47
  » 4.3. Korean Aerospace institute dynamometer  48
  » 4.4. Fuel injection system  50
      » 4.4.1.  Types of fuel injection system  51
> 5. Propulsion system survey  54
> 6. Experimental setup  56
  » 6.1. Rationale for dynamometer  56
  » 6.2. Measurements + Instrumentation  58
      » 6.2.1. Torque  58
      » 6.2.2. RPM  58
      » 6.2.3. Flow-meter  59
      » 6.2.4. Thermocouple  61
      » 6.2.5. Propeller  61
      » 6.2.6. Control module  61
  » 6.3. Construction  62
  » 6.4. Dynamometer specification  64
  » 6.5. Operating procedure  64
  » 6.6. Construction of 2-stroke FI system  65
> 7. Uncertainty analysis  69
> 8. Results + Discussions  73
  » 8.1. Engine data  74
      » 8.1.1. BME 150 carburetor results  74
      » 8.1.2. BME 116 carburetor results  78
      » 8.1.3. BME 116 EFI results  82
  » 8.2. Payload vs. Range analysis  85
> 9. Conclusion  88
> 10. Future developments  89
> 11. Appendices  90
  » 1. FL113 flow-meter calibration chart  90
  » 2. Digital flow meter calibration chart  91
  » 3. Propulsion system survey  93  (109 in PDF file)
> 12. References  95

german keywords: Wankelmotor / Kreiskolbenmotor
English Keywords: Wankel Engine / Wankel Rotary Engine / Rotary Piston Engine / Rotary Combustion Engine

With the proliferation of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) in low-altitude airspace and a growing interest in new Urban Air Mobility (UAM) solutions, the Air Traffic Controller (ATCo)'s responsibility to ensure safety and efficiency of operations can no longer be fulfilled with the conventional air traffic control paradigm. Hence, a new increasingly autonomous Decision Support System (DSS) specifically designed for integrated manned/UAS Traffic Management (UTM) is of paramount importance. This DSS makes use of advanced traffic flow and airspace management concepts, but to ensure effective teaming between the human and the system in challenging situations, the nature of their roles and responsibilities is to be analysed in depth and reflected in the design of suitable Human-Machine Interfaces and Interactions (HMI 2). The task analysis presented in this paper assessed the interdependencies between the human and the machine following the Observe-Orient-Decide-Act (OODA) framework. The paper focuses on the management of urban airspace, which is partitioned based on navigation performance. The human-machine workflow is presented and discussed, highlighting the proposed interactions in each subtask. To support closed-loop interactions and enhance system integrity, the UTM DSS makes use of the Cognitive HMI 2 concept, which is also briefly outlined in this paper.

The effect of freestream turbulence intensities ranging from Tu = 1.26% to Tu = 3.2% is studied. Skin friction measurements made on the surface of the airfoil using oil film interferometry (OFI) show that, in general, the effect of the increased Tu is to inhibit separation of the laminar boundary layer. With increased Tu, the near-wall flow experiences
strong deceleration in the adverse pressure gradient, but does not reverse as it does in the baseline case where Tu = 0.05%. The Cp distribution resulting from this decelerated fluid is similar in appearance to that of a laminar separation bubble. OFI results also show that laminar separation initiates a more rapid transition process than
does higher turbulence intensity: transition of the boundary layer occurs over a shorter distance with Tu = 1.26% than it does with Tu = 2.19% due to the presence of a LSB at the lower turbulence intensity.

This paper describes the development of a novel algorithm to tackle the problem of real-time video stabilization for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). There are two main components in the algorithm: (1) By designing a suitable model for the global motion of UAV, the proposed algorithm avoids the necessity of estimating the most general motion model, projective transformation, and considers simpler motion models, such as rigid transformation and similarity transformation; (2) to achieve a high processing speed, optical flow-based tracking is employed in lieu of conventional tracking and matching methods used by state-of-the-art algorithms. These two new ideas resulted in a real-time stabilization algorithm, developed over two phases. Stage I considers processing the whole sequence of frames in the video while achieving an average processing speed of 50 fps on several publicly available benchmark videos. Next, Stage II undertakes the task of real-time video stabilization using a multi-threading implementation of the algorithm designed in Stage I.

This technical manual covers all aspects of having to counter the full spectrum of unmanned aircraft and their respective system components. It should serve to bring together both civilian and military experts by initiating thought and emphasizing NATO’s approach to a comprehensive solution for countering unmanned aircraft systems. We hope that you will find this book useful and a valuable addition to the academic body of work published by the JAPCC on Joint Air and Space Power.

The human-machine interface (HMI) is a crucial yet often overlooked aspect in the design of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UASs). A properly designed HMI enhances situational awareness and reduces the workload of the ground pilot, thereby contributing to improving the overall mission performance. Typically, a Human Factors Engineering (HFE) program provides a methodological process to support good design. The program comprises three iterative stages: requirements analysis and capture, design and evaluation. A number of approaches can be adopted in the HFE program but given the wide range of applications and missions that are being undertaken by different types of UAS, it is advantageous to adopt a functional approach towards HMI design, where the HMI is designed around specific functions to be performed by either the human user or the system. The typical UAS functions include mission planning, sensor operation, data analysis and sense-and-avoid (SAA), and can also extend to multi-platform coordination and collaborative decision-making. The human factors considerations and the associated HMI elements supporting these functionalities are discussed.

Taking the move from our recent research on GNSS Avionics Based Integrity Augmentation (ABIA), this article investigates the synergies of ABIA with a novel Detect-and-Avoid (DAA) architecture for Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS).  Based on simulation and experimental data collected on a variety of manned and unmanned aircraft, it was observed that the integration of ABIA with DAA has the potential to provide an integrity-augmented DAA for both cooperative and non-cooperative applications. The candidate DAA system uses various Forward-Looking Sensors (FLS) for the non-cooperative case and Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) in addition to TCAS/ASAS for the cooperative case. Both in the cooperative and non-cooperative cases, the risk of collision is evaluated by setting a threshold on the Probability Density Function (PDF) of a Near Mid-Air Collision (NMAC) event over the separation area. So, if the specified threshold is exceeded, an avoidance manoeuvre is performed based on a heading-based Differential Geometry (DG) algorithm and optimized utilizing a cost function with minimum time constraints and fuel penalty criteria weighted as a function of separation distance. Additionally, the optimised avoidance trajectory considers the constraints imposed by the ABIA in terms of RPAS platform dynamics and GNSS constellation satellite elevation angles, preventing degradation or losses of navigation data during the whole DAA loop. This integration scheme allows real-time trajectory corrections to re-establish the Required Navigation Performance (RNP) when actual GNSS accuracy degradations and/or data losses take place (e.g., due to aircraft-satellite relative geometry, GNSS receiver tracking, interference, jamming or other external factors).  Cooperative and non-cooperative simulation case studies were accomplished to evaluate the performance of this Integrity-Augmented DAA (IAS) architecture.  The selected host platform was the AEROSONDE RPAS and the simulation cases were performed in a representative cross-section of the RPAS operational flight envelope. The simulation results show that the proposed IAS architecture is capable of performing high-integrity conflict detection and resolution when GNSS is the primary source of navigation data.

Less than a month had passed since the United States mourned the victims of 9/11 when American born al-Qaeda cleric, Anwar al-Awlaki, fell neither at the hands of Yemeni authorities nor through the swiftest measure of justice dragged out in the courtroom. It should come as no surprise that the targeted killing of al-Awlaki, more precisely the CIA drone strike on his vehicle well within Yemeni borders, has become highly politicized – the limelight perhaps – behind this new chapter in modern warfare.

Air traffic is doubling every 15 years and aviation systems must modernize to address sustainability challenges. The need to balance capacity, efficiency, safety and environmental requirements is reflected by the several Air Traffic Management (ATM) and avionics modernization initiatives currently underway. The major collaborative research programs today are the European Union’s Single European Sky ATM Research (SESAR) and the United States’ Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) led by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Other modernization initiatives include the Collaborative Action for Renovation of Air Traffic Systems (CARATS) in Japan, SIRIUS in Brazil, OneSky in Australia and similar programs in Canada, China, India and Russia. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has authorized a globally coordinated plan published as the Global Air Navigation Plan (GANP), to guide the harmonized implementation of Communication, Navigation, Surveillance and Avionics (CNS+A) enhancements across regions and States. In the CNS+A context, aircraft safety is a shared responsibility between airborne and ground-based resources. Hence this is a safety challenge requiring changes to the current regulatory framework to properly capture the nature of this shared responsibility and the concept of “integrated” CNS+A systems. Certification of aircraft and ground equipment (hardware and software) together with organizational approvals are essential elements to ensure continued and enhanced safety. Certification also facilitates harmonization and interoperability of CNS+A systems across regions, sub-regions and States. Furthermore, while new ATM and avionics technologies bring with them an increased level of automation, certification would be the instrument to ensure the safe and effective introduction of these technologies to achieve their full potential benefits. The aviation regulatory framework enforces and drives the certification process, while industry standards provide a vital link by offering methods of compliance for certification. The current certification framework for CNS+A is evolving and it is required to keep pace with the global modernization efforts to ensure safety and sustainability of future aviation.

The U.S practice of targeted killing by remotely-piloted unmanned vehicles in AFghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Libya, Iraq and Somalia- popularly rederred to as "America's drone wars"- raices the question of the application of humanitarian law peinciples to the conduct of America´s longest-running war.

This curated collection "Criminal Drone Evolution: Cartel Weaponization of Aerial IEDs" documents the evolution of drone usage by criminal cartels, gangs, and criminal armed groups (CAGs) in Mexico and beyond. Cartel Drone Evolution demonstrates the development spread of drone technology and tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) among criminal actors while also pointing toward future potentials.

Der Trend zu immer größerer Automatisierung bis hin zur Autonomie in der Militär- und Waffentechnik ist ein Selbstläufer. Die Entwicklung hin zu einer Situation, in der Roboter über das Leben von Menschen entscheiden, kann nur durch aktives Eingreifen verhindert werden.

A significant growth in Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) operations has been observed over the past decade, largely driven by the emergence of new commercial opportunities and use-cases. This has posed new technological and regulatory challenges in order to address the complex safety, efficiency and sustainability requirements associated with UAS operations in an increasingly congested airspace. The growing need for trusted autonomy in UAS operations imposes demanding performance requirements on Navigation and Guidance Systems (NGS), both in terms of accuracy, integrity, continuity and availability. In most current NGS implementations, system autonomy is tightly constrained within a specified set of operational and environmental conditions through a large number of explicit rules. Recent breakthroughs in Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based methods and the emergence of highly-parallelized processor boards with low form-factor has led to the opportunity to employ Machine Learning (ML) techniques to enhance navigation system performance, particularly for small UAS (sUAS), which account for the majority of current and future unmanned aircraft use-cases. sUAS navigation systems typically employ diverse low Size, Weight, Power and Cost (SWaP-C) sensors such as Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers, MEMS-IMUs, magnetometers, cameras and Lidars for localization, obstacle detection and avoidance. This paper presents a comprehensive review of conventional sUAS navigation systems, including aspects such as system architecture, sensing modalities and data-fusion algorithms. Additionally, performance monitoring and augmentation strategies are critically reviewed and assessed against current and future UAS Traffic Management (UTM) requirements. The primary focus is on the identification of key gaps in the literature where the use of AI-based methods can potentially enhance navigation performance. A critical review of AI-based methods and their application to sUAS navigation is conducted, along with an assessment of the performance benefits they provide over conventional navigation systems. Reviewed methods include but are not restricted to Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) such as Convolutional and Recurrent Neural Networks (CNN and RNN), Support Vector Machines (SVM) and ensemble techniques. The key challenges associated with adapting these methods to address sUAS operational objectives are clearly identified. The review also covers the assurance of predictable, deterministic system behaviour which is a key requirement to support system certification. The review and analysis will inform the reader of the applicability of various AI/ML methods to sUAS navigation and autonomous system integrity monitoring, and its likely role in the ongoing UTM evolution.

Humans have never lived with so many robots. In this context, the intensification of military robotization is closely related to the emergence of the Digital Age and to the digitization of the armed forces – understood as the accelerated use of ICT to perform traditional military functions. In the United States, more than thirty systems are currently under development and/or operating. It is estimated that the country has more than twenty thousand robots capable of operating on land, at sea and in the air. This work is therefore dedicated to the broad study of military robotization. More specifically, it seeks to fulfill two main objectives. The first one is related to the need to understand the relationship between war and technology in the Digital Age. The second objective of the thesis is to verify how the military has been dealing with the incorporation of such systems. In order to do so, the dissertation uses a model developed to aid in the planning and analysis of military capabilities known as “force design”. It draws from, but is not limited to, studying the case of the United States, from which the dissertation intends to derive broader lessons applicable to other contexts.