Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) or Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) are arguably the Aviation Industry’s one of the most exciting and promising developments. The expectations of UAS capabilities are boundless, but their safe implementation and integration to regulated airspace needs more supervision and support. UAV, UAS, RPAS (Remotely Piloted Aircraft System) are all terms that are often used interchangeably.
UAVs are classified based on size and each category has its own ways for Navigation and Traffic Management. This paper talks about the use of modern day GNSS Technology in Navigation and Traffic Management in UAVs.
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) or Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) arearguably the Aviation Industry’s one of the most exciting and promising developments. The expectations of UAS capabilities are boundless, but their safe implementation and integration to regulated airspace needs more supervision and support. UAV, UAS, RPAS (Remotely Piloted Aircraft System) are all terms that are often used interchangeably.
UAVs can be classified on different factors – by size, range, function etc. Based on size, UAVs are broadly classified as Small, Medium, and Large sized.
Small UAVs (sUAV or Small UAS, sUAS) typically weigh less than 55 pounds (about 25 Kg) and fly below 400 feet above ground level (AGL). Such UAVs are typically used for precision agriculture, surveys and infrastructure inspections, sports photography, property surveillance, package delivery etc.
Large and Mid-sized UAVs weigh much more than 55 pounds and can fly at altitudes as high as 30,000 feet mean sea level (MSL) in Class B/A airspace. Such larger UAVs are used for Search and Rescue, Reconnaissance, Border Patrol, Military uses etc.