Commercial VTOL Precision Delivery

UAS Symposium and Technical Workshop

John S. Langford

Chairman & CEO

Aurora Flight Sciences Corporation

October 21, 2014

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Summary

• Unmanned aircraft have transformed military operations

• They are about to do the same in civil aviation

• The transition path has been traveled before

• Making the vehicles work is only part of the problem

• Collision avoidance is key to successful integration in the NAS

• This presentation will introduce:

A global vision of UAS-augmented package delivery

Aurora Flight Sciences – its products, technology, & operations

Aurora’s Commercial VTOL Precision Delivery Vehicle

The PANOPTES line of collision-avoidance products

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Global vision - cargo

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Introduction to Aurora

Aurora today is the second-largest privately held UAS

company

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Aurora UAS Products

• Orion (11,000 lb GTOW)

120-hour endurance MALE; affordable persistent ISR

Launch customer: USAF

• Centaur (4,000 lb GTOW)

Optionally piloted aircraft

Manned, unmanned, hybrid

Launch customer: Swiss Air Force

• SideArm (1,000 lb GTOW)

Runway independent MALE

Launch customer: DARPA

• GoldenEye (100 lb GTOW)

Quiet VTOL Ducted Fan

Launch customer: DARPA

• Skate (2 lb GTOW)

Briefcase UAS for education,

civil, and military

Launch customer: USAF

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Key Aurora Production Programs

• USAF/Northrop Grumman RQ-4B

Global Hawk & USN RQ-4C Triton

Five major composites structural

packages

• USMC/Sikorsky CH-53K King

Stallion

Main rotor pylons & nacelles;

5 delivered, 228 on order

• Gulfstream G-500 & Bell 525

Helicopter

Multiple major composite assemblies on

multiple new products

• Sikorsky S-97 Raider

Entire composite airframe for

Armed Aerial Scout prototype

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Key Aurora R&D Programs

• SPHERES Autonomous satellite laboratory

Sponsor: NASA & DARPA

• AACUS Autonomous helicopter landing system

Customer: ONR

• VTOL X-Plane VTOL strike platform

Customer: DARPA

• N+3 Efficient environmentally responsible flight

Customer: NASA

• ALIAS Robotic copilot portable to any aircraft

Customer: DARPA

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Aurora Main Facilities

VIRGINIA

Est. 1991

WEST VIRGINIA

Est. 1994

MISSISSIPPI

Est. 2005

MASSACHUSETTS

Est. 2006

Location Manassas Regional Airport Manassas, VA

Harrison-Marion Regional Airport Bridgeport, WV

Golden Triangle Regional Airport Columbus, MS

4 Cambridge Center Cambridge, MA

Key Functions • Corporate HQ Design • Engineering Rapid • Prototyping

• Composites Manufacturing • Metals Manufacturing

• Composite Manufacturing • Vehicle Assembly

• Research & Development

Capabilities • Design • Prototyping • HILSIM • Flight Ops • High altitude engine

test cells

• 8’x20’ Autoclave • Clean rooms • NDI • NC Machine Shop w/3 & 5 axis

machinery

• Automated Fiber Placement (AFP)

• 16’x40’ Autoclave • 16’x22’ Router • 18’x22’ Automated C-scan • Wiring and harness shop

• Flight simulation • Small prototype shop • Electronics lab • Clean room • Access to machine

shop, combustion test lab, and motion-capture lab

Area 124,000ft2 office/hangar 125,000ft2 office/hangar 114,400ft2 office/hangar 18,000ft2 office

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Aurora Satellite Offices

Office location Customer Focus Expertise

Luzern, Switzerland Armasuisse

Europe

Middle East

MRO

Product Development

Marketing & Sales

Pax River, MD U.S. Navy

University of Maryland

Flight test

Payload integration

Autonomy

Dayton, OH U.S. Air Force Classified programs

Mountain View, CA Google, Facebook, etc

NASA-Ames

Innovative vehicle design

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TALOS CONOPs and Architecture for AACUS Autonomous Aerial Cargo/Utility System

Program Overview – 18 months to flight demo

• Intelligent autonomous capabilities for a future aerial cargo / utility system

• Develop/demo open architecture, adaptable to multiple platforms (Boeing OH-6 Unmanned Little Bird and

JUH-60)

• Focus on sensing and perception, mission and path planning, and human-machine interfaces

Customers: Office of Naval Research, Naval Air Systems Command, USMC

Future: Army JUH-60

Planning & Autonomy

CONOPS

Combat Outpost

AACUS-Enabled

System

Landing Zone

LZ Evaluation

Flight computer in ULB

Route Planning

0 500 1000 15000

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

Easting (m)Northing (m)

Path

Filtered

Trajectory Planning

Perception Human-System

Interface

Phase 1-2 Boeing ULB

Touchdown Negotiation

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Precision Delivery in a Civil Environment

Characteristics Performance Payload Mass & Round Trip Emplacement Range

GTOW 180 lb Cruise Speed: 50 knots ground speed 10 lb Payload: 24 nm

VTOL Maximum Endurance: 1 hr 20 lb Payload: 16 nm

STANAG 4586 Useful Load (fuel + payload): 40 lb 30 lb Payload: 8 nm

Rover Interoperable Maximum Fuel Load: 36 lb

Avgas or Heavy Fuel

Block I GTOW 230 lb Cruise Speed: 80 knots ground speed 20 lb Payload: 106 nm

VTOL Maximum Endurance: 3 hr 40 lb Payload: 80 nm

Land, Shutdown, Relaunch Useful Load (fuel + payload): 100 lb 60 lb Payload: 53 nm

STANAG 4586 Maximum Fuel Load: 85 lb

Rover Interoperable

Heavy Fuel Only (JP8)

Baseline

1. User places order for urgent package

delivery via internet; downloads app to

mobile device

2. Central dispatch facility loads, launches

GoldenEye

3. AACUS-enabled GoldenEye IDs suitable

delivery site closest to recipient

4. Recipient Oks through app

5. GoldenEye lands to dropoff or pick up

package – engine stop not necessary.

Can release without landing if needed.

6. Launches to next destination.

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GoldenEye Video

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Increased Autonomy Enables Civil Operations

UAS Airspace

Integration at Aurora

Compliance with

Aviation Regulations

Commercial

Opportunities

Data Analytics of

Aircraft Operations

Autonomy Assisted

Flight Operations

Airworthiness

Regulations

Operational

Regulations

- Mainly FAR Part 91

- Sense and Avoid

- Aircraft

Surveillance

Technology

- Right-of-Way Rules

- etc.

- Airframe

Certification

- Avionics

Certification

- Manned operations

augmented by

technology

developed for UAS

- Markets and

capabilities opened

up by UAS

integration

- E.g. reduced crew

operations, bridge

inspections, store

inventory gathering,

etc.

- Takes advantage of

increasing availability

of data in aerospace

- Aircraft surveillance

data (ADS-B), cloud-

connected aircraft

(SWIM), downlinks

on all UAS, etc.

- Do what Google did

for the internet, but in

aerospace

Air Traffic

Management

- Inter-operability

with Air Traffic

Control

- Flight Planning,

Traffic

Management,

etc.

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Defining Collision Avoidance for UAS

vs.

The lack of comprehensive collision avoidance is the most

significant technological barrier to routine UAS operations

- Panoptes exists to solve this challenge

Collision Avoidance in manned aviation:

- Preventing the mid-air collision of two aircraft in mostly empty space

Definition too narrow for UAS operations

- Operational environment and SWAP constraints are significantly

different

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Defining Collision Avoidance for UAS

Yellow: strategic,

high-level mission

goal direction

Red: tactical maneuvering

through wide-field

clutter to target

Blue: reactive small obstacle

avoidance

maneuver that

preempts urban or

cluttered maneuvering

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Panoptes Vision

Vision – “Enabling Commercial UAS Applications

Through Comprehensive Environment Perception”

3 layers of increasingly complex interaction with environment

Responding

Perceiving

Collaborating

- Perceiving environment (location and

intent of objects)

- Responding to environment (taking

action based on perception)

- Collaborating with environment (communicating/planning with other

objects in the environment based on

perception)

Perception is the foundation which enables more complex

interaction with the environment

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Panoptes System Architecture

• System architecture of Panoptes (from “Function to Form”):

• Technology Roadmap is designed to incrementally develop the individual components of the architecture Key requirements: Vehicle -, Sensor- and Algorithm-agnostic to allow for addition of sensors and

operational functionalities

Surveillance of Non-

Cooperative Targets

(e.g. Echo-Location,

Optical Flow, Radar)

Surveillance of

Cooperative Targets

(e.g. ADS-B)

Own-ship Information

Sources

(e.g. GPS)

Surveillance

Processing and

Sensor Fusion Collision Avoidance

Algorithms

(Moving Targets)

Vehicle Control

Obstacle Detection

and Navigation

Algorithms (Stationary

Targets)

Environment Perception Operational Functionalities Vehicle Interface

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Panoptes Roadmap

• Aurora is developing a line of collision avoidance products

under the brand name “PANOPTES”

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Technology Development:

Borrowing From Nature

Using today’s methods to perform

environment perception would result in a heavy, power-hungry system

- Not well suited for most UAS

Insects and birds solve same problem with very little computational power (i.e. low SWAP)

- Sparse sensing - Comparatively few neurons - Apply same methods to UAS environment

perception

Prof. Sean Humbert at UMD’s Autonomous

Vehicle Laboratory (AVL) is an expert in this field

- AVL is developing sensing methods,

algorithms and demonstrators - Combination of sensors generates synergetic

benefits - Over past 10 years, Aurora has collaborated

with AVL on SBIRs

Proof-Of-Concept has been established

Aurora’s PanOptiS Sensor Head

Echolocation Optic Flow

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Insect Visuomotor Feedback

Flight

Motor

Commands

Luminance

Patterns Optic Flow

Estimation Wide-Field

Integration Optic

Flow

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The Panoptes eBumper

(Shown for DJI Phantom 2 – other system coming soon)

Echolocation

Sensors in

Forward, Up,

Left and Right

Retrofit –

Replaces top Shell

Aircraft Agnostic

Electronics Inside

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How It Works – Fly

Flight in open areas is unchanged. The pilot can switch to a precision mode

which scales back control inputs, reducing flight velocities.

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How It Works – Detect

If a threat is detected, eBumper responds to reduce the likelihood of a

collision.

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How It Works – Correct

As the aircraft moves away from the threat, normal control is returned to the

user, and operations can continue as before.

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What’s in the Box?

eBumper consists of two assemblies:

- Shell assembly, with 4 integrated echolocation pingers

- PCA assembly, consisting of PCB and connectors

Consumer installs eBumper v1.0 onto DJI Phantom sUAS

- Future versions may be created for other popular sUAS

Echolocation Sensors Printed Circuit Assembly Shell Assembly

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Want one?

User Benefits - Helps pilots fly more precisely in close proximity to objects - Increases pilot confidence in flying closer to objects - Increases likelihood of successful close proximity flight - Significant user benefits in both LoS and autonomous operations

eBumper DOES NOT: - Prevent crashes – you can still crash the sUAS - Avoid collisions – the sUAS can still collide with something (due to wind

gusts, etc.)

Initial sales focus on honoring pre-orders and beta testing requests - First units will ship early November - Due to large demand there is currently a waitlist

To be notified when more units become available, sign up at:

www.panoptesuav.com

Want to see if fly?

6-7PM: Demonstration at Indoor Arena