Although
unmanned systems offer many potential benefits in a variety of missions, their
use brings out some concerns about safety, ethics, and privacy. Unmanned aerial
systems (UAS) have received the most attention due to their recent proliferation
in the civilian sector. Their use is often misunderstood and even feared by the
general public. Some of this negative public opinion is based on a lack of
knowledge about the UAS, however some of the concerns have a legitimate basis.
The basic strategy for UAS implementation within known limitation should take
into consideration every aspect of the new technology: ethical, legal,
technological, safety, and privacy.
First,
there are privacy concerns regarding
the use of UAS. The FAA has recently released the rules and regulations
pertaining to UAS use in the civilian sector. They state the pilot training
requirements, operational requirements, and legal regulations. Currently a set of
privacy rules are not yet established or even defined. Private citizens are
concerned that these advanced technologies
have allowed for increasingly intrusive surveillance and envision of privacy, not
only from the government and law enforcement, but also from their own
neighbors. With the off the shelf availability of small easy to operate UAS now
almost everyone is able to take pictures and videos of their fellow citizens (Electronic privacy information center
[EPIC], n.d.).
UAS are small, fly
much lower than manned aircraft, and carry a variety of sensors, which can be
used for surveillance. Privacy concerns are also fueled by the media, which
paint a bleak image of UAS “spying” on private citizens. However, there should
be an understanding that there are so many ways we are being recorded and
surveyed every single day: traffic cameras, security cameras in the stores,
ATMs, social media, and Internet. UAS is just another way, which can be used
for surveillance, however, it is not the only one. Privacy concerns particular
to the unmanned technology is mostly escalated by the public lack of knowledge
and education on UAS. This lack of education and knowledge often leads to fear
and anger toward this new technology.
Next, the safety aspect of UAS implementation should be carefully approached
due to the fact that UAS is emerging technology and has encounters many safety
issues. In fact, in contrast to
manned aircraft, UAS accident rate is much higher. According to the United
States Air Force research study, UAV accident rate reaches as high as 0.9 per
10,000 hours compared to 0.2 per 10,000 hours for manned aircraft (Chopra, n.d.).
Therefore, they may
present a danger to people and property on the ground in case of an accident.
Since there is no pilot onboard of UAS, safety regulations are not as stringent
as they are for manned aircraft. Some of the factors which contribute to the high
accident rates of UAS include: lack of redundancy, use of cheaper materials for
UAS production, less reliable propulsion and power systems.
Other factors which may
affect high failure rates and contribute to potential accidents include:
- Lack of direct human supervision at the UAS controls. Since
human controller is not directly present in the UAS cockpit, his situational
awareness is reduced. The
aircraft’s position, attitude, and systems status cannot be directly observed.
-
Lack of visual, tactile, auditory and vestibular cues may prevent UAS pilot to
promptly respond to impeding stall due to icing, unintentional speed reduction,
upset attitude, or an aircraft system failure.
-Datalink
latency may prevent the controller from an immediately response when faced with
a potential accident.
-Poor
field of view may contribute to the possibility of midair collision with other
aircraft or obstacles (Air
safety investigators, 2015).
All
these factors may contribute to UAS mishaps, resulting in loss of aircraft
control, midair collisions, property damage, and injuries or fatalities on the
ground upon impact. The alarming rate of UAS accidents is a major concern when
it comes to UAS incorporation into civilian airspace. Based on the accident
statistics, human factor issues and mechanical reliability of UAS must be
addressed.
Another concern is the
safety of other air traffic and the
probability of a collision between a manned aircraft and an UAS. Since there is
no pilot in the cockpit to see and avoid the other traffic, an appropriate
means of sense and avoid technology should be incorporated to ensure the safe
operation in the National Airspace System.
The Ethics aspect
of UAS must also be considered. Military applications of UAS in persistent surveillance
and kinetic strikes have been dealing with ethics for quite some time. However,
in the civilian sector and the use of UAS in law enforcement has raised some
ethical issues in recent years. These issues include the use of unmanned
technology in suspect surveillance and pursuit. Currently there are no law
enforcement UAS, that are armed with lethal weapons, however, in the future,
these kind of missions are possible. The main topic in this case is how these
weapons will be used? Who will be the final authority and who will make the
decision to engage the weapons? Will the final decision in the use of lethal
forest rest with the human? The UAS will help keep the human operator out of
direct danger, however, in the case of weapon engagement the human must always
be the final authority.
Another important aspect to consider is lost link/ loss of UAS control. The control
and communication (C2) links with UAS are accomplished via radio or satellite
signals. If the communication link is
lost, the pilot will lose his ability to effectively control the UAS. Therefore, the
communications required to control the UAS must be designed to be extremely
reliable, and, in addition, must operate with little or no latency. The C2 link
also may be subject to malicious interruption or intercept (Air Line Pilots Association
[ALPA], 2015). Some means of backup
control, a “safety net”, or last resort should be established to allow the UAS
to safely return to base or to safely maneuver to landing without compromising
safety of property and citizens on the ground.
The
author has previously researched the safety issues and C2 issues in UAS
operations. Two recommendations could be provided to aid in safe incorporation
of the UAS into civilian operations: First, the use of a ballistic recovery
system (BRS), which uses a parachute, which is deployed in the event of malfunction
or control link loss. Another possible addition is the incorporation of a traffic
collision avoidance and alert system (TCAS), which is routinely used on manned
aircraft. TCAS will increase operator’s situational awareness and help prevent
mid-air collisions with other aircraft. Other mitigations to safely include
incorporation of auto-hover, auto-land, return-to-home and geo-fencing boundary
protection (ALPA, n.d.).
As
we can see, the incorporation of unmanned systems into the civilian sector
brings with it a variety of issues, which need to be addressed for successful
use of unmanned technology in our everyday lives. As with any new technology,
the regulatory, ethical, and safety process will take time. However, eventually
we will be able to take full advantage of benefits of unmanned systems.
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