Version 2.0 of ANSI UAS Standardization Roadmap Published

By Mike Ball / 30 Jun 2020
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The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) has published Version 2.0 of the Standardization Roadmap for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS). The roadmap has been developed by the Institute’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems Standardization Collaborative (UASSC), in order to facilitate the safe integration of drones into the national airspace system of the United States. Development has been supported by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), other U.S. federal government agencies, standards developing organizations, industry, academia, and other entities.

The aim of the roadmap is to support the growth of the UAS market with an emphasis on civil, commercial, and public safety applications. While the UASSC does not itself develop standards, its roadmap recommendations are anticipated to see wide adoption by the standards community.

The roadmap groups issues under the following headings:

  • Airworthiness
  • Flight operations
  • Personnel training, qualifications, and certification
  • Infrastructure inspections
  • Environmental applications
  • Commercial services
  • Workplace safety
  • Public safety operations

The document also includes brief overviews of the UAS activities of the FAA, other U.S. federal government agencies, standards developing organizations, and various industry groups.

The new version 2.0 update expands and revises the document’s content, tracks progress in addressing the recommendations contained in version 1.0 and identify potentially overlooked gaps. New gap analysis sections have been added related to:

  • Blockchain for UAS
  • Recreational Operations
  • Design and Operation of Aerodrome Facilities for UAS
  • UAS Service Suppliers (USS) Process and Quality
  • Implementing UAS for Hydrocarbon Pipeline Inspections
  • Implementing UAS in Airport Operations
  • Commercial Cargo Transport via UAS
  • Commercial Passenger Air Taxi/Transport via UAS (both short- and long-haul flights)
  • Commercial Sensing Services
  • Use of small UAS for News Gathering
  • UAS for Emergency Management and Disasters
  • Standardization of Data Formatting for small UAS Public Safety Operations

Future work on the document is likely to entail promotion of the roadmap and establishing a mechanism to assess progress on its implementation.

Joe Bhatia, ANSI president and CEO, commented: “ANSI extends its thanks and congratulations to all the volunteers who contributed to the development of the updated UASSC roadmap. This latest accomplishment is illustrative of ANSI’s ability to bring together public- and private-sector stakeholders to define standardization needs for emerging technologies and national and global priorities.”

A webinar with UASSC leaders providing an overview of the roadmap will be held on July 15 at 12 noon Eastern. Register for this webinar here.

Posted by Mike Ball Mike Ball is our resident technical editor here at Unmanned Systems Technology. Combining his passion for teaching, advanced engineering and all things unmanned, Mike keeps a watchful eye over everything related to the unmanned technical sector. With over 10 years’ experience in the unmanned field and a degree in engineering, Mike’s been heading up our technical team here for the last 8 years. Connect & Contact