The objective of the Committee on Drones is to promote research among the members of the IEEE VTS community in this important discipline. The committee is in charge of creating a roadmap for promoting research within the VTS community in topics related to Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) including UAS connectivity, navigation, command and control, autonomy, reliability, safety, security, and regulatory aspects, among others.
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Activities of the Committee on Drones
1. Promoting Research within IEEE Community
Distinguished Lecturer and past Committee on Drones Chair Kamesh Namuduri will deliver four presentations in IEEE Region 10 in May and June 2024. These four topics represent some of the core components of AAM. The specifics of these four DL talks are discussed below.
Autonomy in Airspace: Imagine yourself taking a short ride lasting for 30 minutes in an Uncrewed Aircraft System (UAS) or air taxi. From takeoff to landing what are the various operations that take place in the airspace? This presentation takes you through a virtual ride and outlines these airspace operations and how these operations are automated. Of particular importance is rerouting the aircraft due to a sudden weather development. This presentation is based on the experience gained from a live demonstration that was held on October 11th, 2022, in Dallas Fort Worth metroplex [2], the speaker presents the concepts of autonomy in airspace with fine details.
Date: 27 May at 11:30 AM
Location: Auckland University of Technology
VTS Chapter: New Zealand North
Vehicle-to-Vehicle Communications for Uncrewed Aircraft Systems: The disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 in March 2014 prompted global tracking of commercial aircraft flying over oceans and remote areas of the world. The 2020 Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) mandate is a measure towards global tracking. An equivalent measure for uncrewed aircraft systems is “Remote Id” mandate. In 2017, the IEEE created P1920.2 Working Group (WG) to develop a standard for Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) communications for UAS to address the need for enhanced situational awareness in the airspace [3]. This DL presentation covers this topic in-depth and high-lights the five use cases on which IEEE 1920.2 standard is being developed.
Date: to be determined
VTS Chapter: Victorian (Melbourne)
Human-Autonomy Teaming: Human involvement is a necessity for unmanned air transportation system due to its safety-critical nature. Human-in-the-loop (HITL) allows for the identification of problems and requirements that may not be possible to address through automation alone. As the level of autonomy increases, one can expect reduction in human interaction. This presentation covers the levels of human involvement at various levels of autonomy and human-autonomy interaction in unmanned air transportation.
Date: 4 June 2024
Location: University of Technology, Sydney, Building 11, Level 6. CB 11.06.08
VTS Chapter: New South Wales (Sydney)
AI and ML in Airspace Operations: AAM aircraft fly autonomously using sensors, cloud data, and interactions with their environment including other aircraft and human operators. Sensing, computation, control, and communication elements form the core components of unmanned air transportation. Path planning, maneuvering around potential hazards, and negotiations with other aircraft to avoid collisions are some of the actions that AAM aircraft are expected to perform. This presentation explores the potential ways exploring AI and ML in airspace operations.
Date: 7 June 2024
Location: A Star Research Entities, Connexis South Tower
VTS Chapter: Singapore
Conference: The 15th International Conference on Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, 26-27 October 2023 in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Drone Technical Committee member Olarn Wongwirat serves on the Organizing Committee.
Submission Deadline: 21 July 2023
Article: AERPAW: A National Facility for Wireless and Drone Research
Authored by Rudra Dutta, Ismail Guvenc, Mihail Sichitiu, Ozgur Ozdemir, and Magreth Mushi
Published: 28 June 2023
Air Corridor Emulation on AERPAW platform by John Kesler (student), Prof. Mihael Sichitiu, and Prof. Ismail Guvenc, North Carolina State University
The committee published two special Issues in IEEE VT magazine. Each special issue received about 20 submissions from which 4 papers were selected for publication.
- First issue: “Communication Support for Unmanned Air Transportation”, June 2020.
- Second issue: “Advanced Aerial Mobility”, September 2021.
The committee organized three workshops, one tutorial and one panel. About 50 people attended the panel. The attendance for each workshop and tutorial was about 20. The attendance exhibits a growing interest on drones in the IEEE VTS community.
- VTC2019-Spring: Workshop on Drones—Swarm Intelligence: Autonomous and Connected Unmanned Aircraft Systems
- VTC2019-Fall: Workshop on Swarm Intelligence: Autonomous and Connected Unmanned Aircraft Systems
- VTC2020-Fall: Workshop on Urban Air Mobility
- VTC2020-Fall: Tutorial on Aerial Communications and Networks
- VTC2019-Fall: Young Professionals Panel
2. Engaging with the Industry
Vehicle to vehicle (V2V) communications use case was developed and presented in NASA Advance Air Mobility Ecosystem Working Group on 09/21/2021. More than 100 people attended this webinar showing significant interest in the industry. This demonstrates the rising interest and the need for V2V communications that the AdHoc committee is championing over the past three years.
AAM Ecosystem Airspace WG: Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) Communications Use Case
3. IEEE Standards
The committee is leading two IEEE standards on drones. This leadership allowed us to connect and collaborate with other standards organizations including Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics (RTCA), International Organization for Standardization (ISO), ASTM International, and General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA).
IEEE P1920.1 Standard Draft for “Aerial Communications and Networks” has been approved by IEEE (December 2022).
IEEE P1920.2 Standard for V2V Communications for UAS is progressing well. By the end of 2022, this group plans produce three whitepapers on security, use cases, and spectrum aspects.
P1920.2 was mentioned in the IEEE Spectrum Magazine: 3 Challenges to Solve Before We Can Commute by Air Taxi
Three whitepapers (Use Cases, Security, and Spectrum) have been completed and they are currently being reviewed.
4. Engaging Students in Research
The committee has successfully held an Innovation Challenge since 2020. Each competition received about 12 entries and three were selected for awards. Three awards ($2000, $1000, and $750) were given. Entries along with datasets are made available on IEEE Dataport.
