UAS Avionics System Tested – Enables Non Line of Sight Operation

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Controlling an unmanned aircraft system (UAS) beyond the operator’s visual line of sight (BVLOS) relates to an operating method in which the remote pilot flies the aircraft by instruments from a remote station, without keeping the UAS in visual line of sight at all times.

A UAS was successfully controlled in a test flight using end-to-end UAS integrated avionics solution. The test flight was conducted by Rockwell Collin, in collaboration with The University of Iowa’s Operator Performance Lab (OPL). It was described by the company as a key milestone toward the successful operation of UAS beyond an operator’s visual line of sight in the National Airspace System (NAS).

The company’s UAS integrated avionics solution is optimized for safe and secure integration of UAS into civil airspace.

According to Rockwell Collin, the key elements this solution include:

• A Ground Control Station based on the company’s certified Pro Line Fusion integrated avionics solution
• A Command and Control Network that utilizes the company’s CNPC-1000 command and control data link
• Rockwell Collins’ Athena UAS avionics with integrated navigation and flight controls that have over a million hours of safe and reliable operation.

“A number of industries are very eager to use commercial UAS to make their operations much more efficient, especially those that need to monitor and inspect critical infrastructure such as railroads, pipelines and powerlines,” said John Borghese, vice president, Advanced Technology Center for Rockwell Collins. “In order to do that beyond line of sight in the NAS, safe and secure avionics must be implemented. We have now proven that it can be done and we are one step closer to making it a reality for this market.”

“Collaboration between private and public sectors is critical to ensuring the success of commercial UAS in the NAS,” said Dr. Thomas Schnell, director, The University of Iowa’s OPL, which provided two TBM-3M, aka “Ferox”, UAS for the flight testing.

In the coming weeks, Rockwell Collins plans to conduct its next UAS test flight, continuing to extend the range of safe beyond visual line of sight operations.

Rockwell Collins’ end-to-end UAS integrated avionics solution is optimized to scale from small to large UAS.