scholarly journals Mobile sensor platforms: categorisation and research applications in precision farming

2013 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. W. Zecha ◽  
J. Link ◽  
W. Claupein

Abstract. The usage of mobile sensor platforms arose in research a few decades ago. Since the beginning of satellite sensing, measurement principles and analysing methods have become widely implemented for aerial and ground vehicles. Mainly in Europe, the United States and Australia, sensor platforms in precision farming are used for surveying, monitoring and scouting tasks. This review gives an overview of available sensor platforms used in recent agricultural and related research projects. A general categorisation tree for platforms is outlined in this work. Working in manual, automatic or autonomous ways, these ground platforms and unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) with an agricultural scope are presented with their sensor equipment and the possible architectural models. Thanks to advances in highly powerful electronics, smaller devices mounted on platforms have become economically feasible for many applications. Designed to work automatically or autonomously, they will be able to interact in intelligent swarms. Sensor platforms can fulfil the need for developing, testing and optimising new applications in precision farming like weed control or pest management. Furthermore, commercial suppliers of platform hardware used in sensing tasks are listed.

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (19) ◽  
pp. 3112
Author(s):  
Michael Hatfield ◽  
Catherine Cahill ◽  
Peter Webley ◽  
Jessica Garron ◽  
Rebecca Beltran

Over the past decade Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS, aka “drones”) have become pervasive, touching virtually all aspects of our world. While UAS offer great opportunity to better our lives and strengthen economies, at the same time these can significantly disrupt manned flight operations and put our very lives in peril. Balancing the demanding and competing requirements of safely integrating UAS into the United States (US) National Airspace System (NAS) has been a top priority of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for several years. This paper outlines efforts taken by the FAA and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to create the UAS Traffic Management (UTM) system as a means to address this capability gap. It highlights the perspectives and experiences gained by the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) Alaska Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration (ACUASI) as one of the FAA’s six UAS test sites participating in the NASA-led UTM program. The paper summarizes UAF’s participation in the UTM Technical Capability Level (TCL1-3) campaigns, including flight results, technical capabilities achieved, lessons learned, and continuing challenges regarding the implementation of UTM in the NAS. It also details future efforts needed to enable practical Beyond-Visual-Line-of-Sight (BVLOS) flights for UAS operations in rural Alaska.


Author(s):  
Des Butler

Privacy has been recognised nationally and internationally as a major challenge posed by the growing proliferation of drones, otherwise known as ‘remotely piloted aircraft’, ‘small unmanned aircraft’ or ‘unmanned aircraft systems’, with surveillance capability. Currently in Australia an uneven landscape of common law causes of action, surveillance statutes and data protection laws provide fragmented protection of privacy. This article compares that legal response with those of the United Kingdom and the United States. It identifies commonalities and differences between those approaches that may be instructive as Australia determines the appropriate response to the potential of invasion of privacy posed by this form of transformative technology.


2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 995-1019
Author(s):  
J. J. Cassano ◽  
M. W. Seefeldt ◽  
S. Palo ◽  
S. L. Knuth ◽  
A. C. Bradley ◽  
...  

Abstract. In September 2012 five Aerosonde unmanned aircraft were used to make measurements of the atmospheric state over the Terra Nova Bay polynya, Antarctica, to explore the details of air – sea ice – ocean coupling. A total of 14 flights were completed in September 2012. Ten of the flight missions consisted of two unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) sampling the atmosphere over Terra Nova Bay on five different days, with one UAS focusing on the downwind evolution of the air mass and a second UAS flying transects roughly perpendicular to the low level winds. The data from these coordinated UAS flights provide a comprehensive three-dimensional data set of the atmospheric state (air temperature, humidity, pressure, and wind) and surface skin temperature over Terra Nova Bay. The remaining UAS flights during the September 2012 field campaign included two local flights near McMurdo Station for flight testing, a single UAS flight to Terra Nova Bay, and a single UAS flight over the Ross Ice Shelf and Ross Sea polynya. A dataset containing the atmospheric and surface data as well as operational aircraft data has been submitted to the United States Antarctic Program Data Coordination Center (USAP-DCC, http://www.usap-data.org/) for free access (http://gcmd.nasa.gov/getdif.htm?NSF-ANT10-43657, doi:10.15784/600125).


Author(s):  
Doo Hwan Kim

The drone industry is rapidly developing around the world, and the numbers of drones are increasing. In order to maintain safety and secure stability of drone flights, regulations and laws related to drone operations are established in each country. This chapter reviews the rules and laws of drones established by the International Civil Aviation Organization, the United States, China, Japan, Australia, India, and Korea. In order to protect victims and develop the drone industry, the author proposes that it is necessary and desirable for the legislation of a unified and global “Draft Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules Relating to Drone Operations and Transport.”


2018 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 540-563 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip Olson ◽  
Christine Labuski

In 2014, the United States Federal Aviation Administration chose six sites at which to conduct research crucial to integrating unmanned aircraft systems into the nation’s airspace. Analyzing data collected from five focus groups that we conducted at one of these test sites, this article centers on the gendered and racialized politics of civilian unmanned aircraft. Civilian drone use remains a relatively unchallenged space for displaying hypermasculinity via technological expertise. Focusing on the topic of surveillance, we argue that a very particular, intersectional perspective – white technomasculinity – profoundly influences how civilian unmanned aircraft are imagined, designed and deployed. While this perspective went unmarked and was taken for granted by most of our focus group participants, our analysis highlights the constructed and contingent nature of white technomasculinity, and we argue that a critical technological consciousness is necessary to prevent these technologies from reinforcing or exacerbating unequal distributions of rights and responsibilities among differently located social actors. We conclude our paper on a cautiously hopeful note, drawing attention to moments in which more distributed, or ‘sousveillant’, uses of civilian UAS appeared possible.


EDIS ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sri Charan Kakarla ◽  
Yiannis Ampatzidis

The purpose of this document is to provide guidance on the appropriate use of Unmanned Aircraft Vehicles (UAV) or Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) in the State of Florida. All research and commercial activities involving the use of UAVs shall be conducted in compliance with applicable federal and state laws, statutes, and regulations. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has jurisdiction over all navigable airspace in the United States. All aircraft, whether manned or unmanned, are subject to FAA rules and regulations and violations carry severe federal penalties. The FAA allows small (under 55 pounds) unmanned aircraft operated solely for hobby and recreational purposes to be flown under the rules and restrictions outlined in Section 336 of the FAA Modernization and Reform act of 2012 (Public Law 11295). Currently, the FAA considers the use of an unmanned aircraft for educational or training purposes to be commercial in nature. Below, we provide step-by-step guidance for operating an UAV for commercial (or research) purpose.


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