Unmanned & Autonomous Systems

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No longer do missions compromise merely human physiology; this means long-endurance missions lasting days or longer can be accomplished while vehicle flight does not need to be constrained by human tolerances and limitations. The FAA, in August of 2016, issued its rules and regulations for flying UAVs and “remotely piloted aircraft” in the National Air Space (NAS). Importantly, the use of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) removes the human directly from flying "dull, dirty, or dangerous" missions. These are the drivers that have and will encourage the development and deployment of UAS.

Why Oklahoma? Oklahoma has a rich history and legacy of aerospace innovation and a large aerospace presence through its relationships with the Air Force, FAA and OEMs. Please click here to see a graphical depiction of Oklahoma's public sector UAS stakeholders. These relationships enable Oklahoma to expand its presence into global opportunities. In addition to national and international markets, GVF Living Laboratory focuses on the following sectors for use and deployment as technology enablers:

Unmanned and Autonomous Systems
Weather Science & Atmospherics
Precision Agriculture
Utilities' Maintenance, Safety & Surveillance
Pipeline Maintenance Safety & Surveillance
Disaster Recovery & First Responders

According to the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI):

The economic impact of the integration of UAS into the National Air Space (NAS) will total more than $13.6 billion in the first three years of integration and will grow sustainably for the foreseeable future, aggregating to more than $82.1 billion between 2015 and 2025.
Integration into the NAS will create more than 34,000 manufacturing jobs and more than 70,000 new jobs in the first three years.
By 2025, total job creation is estimated at 103,776 and
The manufacturing jobs created will be high-paying and require technical baccalaureate degrees, at a minimum.

As was noted above, unmanned and autonomous systems are particularly well-suited for, among other tasks, dirty and dangerous missions.

Analysis of four key areas was instrumental in developing sound forecasts for UAS demand in the near to intermediate term. They are: technology, the mission, economics and a broad range of existing or anticipated challenges:

Technology: Included will be air frames; power plants; sensors; communication, command and control (C3) systems; and information technologies. These will continue to be driven by burgeoning growth in user demand and (like Facebook above) web-based services. DII - Urban Air Mobility Technologies, LLC envisions developing technology and services to support the emerging urban air mobility industry, including electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft.

Video drone flown by DII, LLC at GVF Living Laboratory

Missions: In the military, there are emerging mission-imperatives such as intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR). Other examples contemplated for the markets targeted at GVF Living Laboratory are store delivery, cargo transport, insurance adjusters and countless others that are emerging. As is planned for GVF Living Laboratory, unmanned and autonomous systems are technology enablers in the same way that “mission requirements drive technological changes.”

Economics: In addition to being a technology enabler, there are substantial and multi-dimensional business opportunities with the use and deployment of unmanned and autonomous systems. DII, LLC, the entity responsible for research and technology commercialization at GVF Living Laboratory has formed 11 companies, each targeted to different addressable markets and business opportunities.

Challenges: There are numerous challenges on the horizon that, in reality, represent opportunities for GVF Living Laboratory and its related stakeholders and constituencies, like DII and its constellation of application-specific companies. A few examples are the Autonomous Systems Innovation Center (ASIC) at TBIP which is focused on aggregating people and resources required to support and grow unmanned and autonomous systems: for example, curriculum, training, education, licensing, vehicle certification, robotics, driverless vehicles, additive and advanced manufacturing into one of the largest and most successful segments of technology enablers within the Oklahoma economy.