Welcome to Lesson 3! In this lesson, you will become familiar with the concept of operating a UAS and how to design a Concept of Operation (CONOP). The  CONOP subject focuses on the pre-flight description of the mission that a UAS operation will go through. You will also learn how to analyze risks surrounding UAS operations and to how to assess and mitigate the impact of such risks.

Lesson Objectives

At the successful completion of this lesson, you should be able to:

• understand the concept of operation design strategy.
• understand risk assessment.
• design a CONOP and Risk assessment for a UAS mission.

Lesson Activities

• Study lesson 3 materials on CANVAS/Drupal and the textbook chapters assigned to the lesson
• Start working on the "CONOP and Risk Assessment" report assignment
• Complete quiz 3
• Submit preliminary project idea
• Start your first post for the discussion on "SWOT Analysis."
• Start UAS Data Processing Using Pix4D for Exercise 1
• Download and practice Mission Planner Software
• Attend the weekly call on Thursday evening at 8:00 pm ET

The term CONOP means a complete description of the mission that a UAS operation goes through from launch to recovery. The CONOP includes a procedure for the mission to be carried out to achieve the mission objectives. The procedure depends on the system configuration and capabilities. UAS capabilities determined by its components such as sensors, guidance, endurance (in time), weather limitations (ceilings, wind speeds, etc.), navigation and control play key role in defining the CONOP. CONOP may also depend on other factors such as safety considerations for the UAS as well as to lives and properties along the flying path of the mission. The procedure will also include weather condition such as wind speed and visibility, as the mission may be halted or terminated if the favorable weather condition is not reached.

The FAA expectations from the provided CONOP are:

1. to give FAA clear understanding of the proposed operations;
2. to include:
   • description of UAS;
   • details of intended use;
   • proposed area of operations;
   • intended classes of Airspace.
3. to enable or to include the development of the Operational Risk Assessment (ORA).

There are many ways to design CONOP one of which is described in the final report published by the ITS Research Institute of the University of Minnesota entitled “Analysis of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Concept of Operations in ITS Applications”. In that report, the process describes the following main elements of the design:

1. CONOP Definition
2. Identification of CONOP Safety Risks
3. Designing Fault Detection Strategies

Figure 3.1 illustrates a flow chart for small UAS concept of operation (CONOP) design process.

Figure 3.1 A flow chart for small UAS CONOP design process

source: ITS Research Institute of the University of Minnesota

Many details need to be identified to complete CONOP development. Information such as:

• What are the known elements and the high-level capabilities of the system?
• What are the geographical and physical extents of the mission under execution?
• What is the time-sequence of activities that will be performed?
• What resources are needed to design, build, or retrofit the system?
• Which kind of risks are associated with different components of the system?

The block diagram in Figure 3.2 illustrates the components that make up most of the UASs available in the market today. Such a diagram is very beneficial to CONOP analysis and development, as it lists all the sub-systems included in a UAS. As you can see below, the main components that concern us in this course are the mission sensor payload, airborne data link, and navigation and control sensors. The mission sensor payload represents the highest priority for geospatial data users. Types and quality of sensors within the mission sensor payload block are directly linked to the end user's needs and expectations. The other two blocks, the airborne data link and navigation and control sensors, mainly concern the FAA and its regulations. Main FAA concerns lie in the quality of the communications and the navigational systems that steer and control the aircraft.

Figure 3.2: Block diagram of unmanned aerial subsystem

Source: “Analysis of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Concept of Operations in ITS Applications” by Department of Aerospace Engineering & Mechanics, University of Minnesota

Click for text description

At the center of this schematic drawing is a rectangle containing the words “Flight Computer.” Arrows leave the Flight Computer from the left, the right, and from its top and bottom.

From the right, an arrow points to a smaller rectangle with rounded corners that contains the words “Motor Controller.” A subsequent arrow leaves the left side of the Motor Controller and points to a labeled drawing of the engine.

From the right of the Flight Computer, an arrow points to a smaller rectangle with rounded corners that contains the words “Control Servo.” The Control Servo is attached with a thin line to a drawing of an aircraft, which is labeled “Control Surface.”

From the bottom of the Flight Computer, an arrow points to a rectangle entitled “Airborne Data Link Tranceiver.” From the Airborne Data Link Tranceiver, an arrow points back to the Flight Computer. The Airborne Data Link Tranceiver has a small “Data Link Antenna” attached.

One arrow leaves the top of the Flight Computer. It points to a rectangle entitled “Mission Sensor Payload.” In addition, an arrow flows from the Mission Sensor Payload back to the Flight Computer.

A second arrow points to the top of the Flight Computer. This arrow originates in a rectangle labeled “Navigation and Control Sensors.”

In this section, you will explore potential risks surrounding UAS operations. The block diagram provided in section 3.1 illustrates UAS system components, each of which carries its own operational risk. In addition, there are many external risks surrounding the operational environment, such as weather and other aircraft sharing the same airspace. Review the document assigned for this section to stand on the different types of risk associated with the UAS operations.

It's time to develop your own CONOP and Risk Assessment methodology for the UAS you selected for the SWOT analysis in Lesson 2, by doing the following:

1. List all potential risks that surround such an operation and classify them into detectable or undetectable risks.
2. Select three of the risks that you identified and assess the consequences of each of these risks, if they happened, on each of the following topics:

• Project Cost (budgetary)
• Project Schedule (time)
• Safety (personnel, vehicle, facilities, etc.)

3. Describe your mitigation strategy for each of these three risks, when they happen.

Your document, at a minimum, should include the following sections:

1. Cover page
2. Table of contents
3. Complete technical description of your system, element by element, with necessary illustrations and images. It should include at a minimum the following system items:
   • UAS and its components
   • Ground Control Stations
   • Data link and communications frequency and protocol
   • Payload (cameras, other sensors, and auxiliary systems such as GPS and IMU)
   • Batteries
4. Your project description and geographic site parameters. At a minimum, you should include the following:
   • Geo-referenced topographic map of the project area, showing the project boundary
   • Geo-referenced thematic map of the project area showing the project boundary and surrounding features, i.e., Google map
   • Sectional chart showing project boundary, airspace class, restricted flight areas, airports, towers/obstacles, etc.
5. An operational plan, i.e., project plan, budget, schedule, flight plan, etc. Your flight plan should be executed in two ways:
   • Manual computations according to the formulas provided in lesson 4, provide all details of computations, not just the final computed value.
   • From the Mission Planner software, provide a screen capture and details of the flight parameters.
6. Besides the details for the two flight plan design scenarios, provide at a minimum the following information:
   • Flying altitude
   • Number of flight lines
   • GSD
   • Ground control points layout
   • Illustration on a map showing flight lines, take-off and landing spots, etc.
7. The project budget should include the following cost items:
   • System acquisition or lease
   • Personnel travel and per diem
   • Man-hours for field operations during data acquisition, including RPIC and perhaps visual observation
   • Ground control points survey
   • Equipment insurance
   • Spare batteries and other supplies, if any
   • Data processing using Pix4D
   • Etc.
8. Identification and classification of all possible risks, classified as detectable and undetectable risks.
9. Analysis of the impact of three of these risks on project cost, schedule, and the safety of the surroundings.
10. Mitigation strategies for the three risks when they occur.
11. Summary and Conclusions.

Submit your report in a Word document, NOT a PDF, to the drop box. The report should not exceed 3500 words or 15 pages (single line spacing). You will have 3 weeks to complete this assignment. (7 points or 7%)

The deadline for this assignment is at the end of lesson 5.

Summary

Congratulations! You have finished Lesson 3, CONOP and Risk Assessment for UAS. As you may have noticed from reading the different materials provided in this lesson, the development and completion of CONOP is an important milestone that needs to be achieved for the successful operation of UASs, especially here in the United States where the FAA has strong rules and regulation against operating UASs. Without a CONOP, the operation may end up with chaotic operations and disastrous results. You also noticed that recognizing the risks surrounding a UAS operation and mitigating them not only results in a safe operation, but it will also please the FAA and encourage them to issue the required permissions to operate a UAS in the National Air Space (NAS).

Final Tasks