UAS Human Factors

 There are many different factors when evaluating someone for their ability to be a UAS operator. UAS operators are required to operate in dynamic environments almost every time they fly.  I personally have had the opportunity to fly small personal UAS in the past, and have noticed, even as a pilot, it can be quite challenging when you initially start learning.  This can often lead to crashes with objects or the ground.  In my experience, because I was working with a small UAS, I did not need to register it and could practice with no real training.  I eventually got the hang of the flight path, but it did take a couple of practices.   To actually be certified I believe it is important for a pilot to go through a multi-week course that covers a variety of topics.  These topics include aerodynamics, weather, and airspace.  Once the operator completes that course, they can then move on to actually learning to fly UAS.  Those fundamentals ar...

  UAS accidents and incidents have become more prolific because of the large quantity of UAS that are flying.   Flying manned and unmanned aircraft are inherently dangerous based on the type of operations that occur.   Over a period of six years the majority of hazards to unmanned aviation incidents in the FAA were equipment failures.   One third of the equipment issues were command and control link complications.   The command-and-control link is important because it allows the unmanned aircraft to communicate with the ground control station.   These issues must be fixed immediately because it means that the aircraft is operating without control inputs.   A lesser but still important hazard is pilot error.   The FAA deemed that about 20% of the UAS issues between 2009-2014 were pilot error (Joslin, R., n.d.).   These pilot errors include procedural deviation, altitude deviation, and airspace violations.   These violations and deviatio...

There are multiple levels of automation developed and defined for UAS operations.  NASA created the NASA level of autonomy that consists of 8 different levels.  They each have an observe, orient, decide, and act decision making task associated with the situation (Elliot, J.L. & Stewart, B., 2011, p. 113).  The chart listed below shows each level of automation.   Figure 1: NASA Level of Autonomy (Elliot, J.L.  & Stewart, B., 2011, p. 113) Level 1 is the most human oriented level.  The human is able to gather and filter through all of the data.  Level 8 is the most computer-based system.  The computer gathers all information and does not even display that information to the human.  Currently, most technology operates between a 3 to a 5.  The computer is able to gather information and make decisions, but most systems still require a human in the loop to impact large situations.   The...

            Physiological issues will affect all manned and unmanned pilots at some point during their careers.  Sometimes a pilot wakes up more fatigued than expected or with some type of head cold.  What makes pilots safe and professional is their ability to mitigate risk and determine if they are able to actually complete the flight or not.  UAS operators have to evaluate how they are feeling before every flight based on the IMSAFE procedure.  The IMSAFE procedure looks at illness, medication, stress, alcohol, fatigue, and emotion to determine if a pilot will be safe to fly the mission they are supposed to fly  (FAA, 2016, p. 49).  If they are not capable of completing the mission then they must not fly that day. Figure 1: OTC Medication Requirements (FAA, n.d.)               OTC medications can pose a threat to the illness an...