Unmanned Systems Technology 025 | iXblue DriX I Maintenance I UGVs I IDEX 2019 I Planck Aero Shearwater I Sky Power hybrid system I Delph Dynamics RH4 I GCSs I StreetDrone Twizy I Oceanology Americas 2019

40 Focus | Maintenance city missions using autonomous air taxis or aerial freight handling, Part 135 certification on commercial operations could become mandatory for manned and unmanned aircraft alike. Importantly, Part 135 comes with its own maintenance requirements above and beyond those for civil aviation, given the more immediate risk to civilians from commercial aircraft malfunctioning mid-mission. Under current laws, however, no UAV or OPV with a special airworthiness certificate can fly a Part 135-type commercial operation. But given that regulators want to encourage the unmanned industry’s growth without stifling innovation or operations, this discrepancy (and others) will need to be addressed before long. In the meantime, manufacturers, operators and maintainers of unmanned systems will need to continue conforming to existing and predictable regulations however they can. Conclusion The role of the maintenance technician is likely to evolve. For example, avionics and A&P skills have historically been held by different individuals with different sets of training. However, both sets will become necessary in order to service UAV propulsion systems while understanding the sensors, analytics and RF systems that will encompass increasingly large parts of service time. Programming skills could become vital too, as predictive maintenance systems are likely to evolve into neural nets or other AI systems as demand for intelligent self-checks increases, adding to the complexity of the overall system being tested and monitored. And as regulations become clearer and account for how technology is advancing, what could be seen as restrictions will become fonts for innovation as UAS developers gain awareness of how future projects will need to be maintained and tracked. Acknowledgements The author would like to thank Brad Hayden of Robotic Skies, Jeff Ratcliffe of Northwest UAV, Justin Armer of Latitude Engineering, and Robert Kidd and Dion Raymond of Fortress UAV for their help with researching this article. April/May 2019 | Unmanned Systems Technology CANADA Canadian UAVs +1 403 796 5102 www.canadianuavs.ca OmniView Tech +1 855 741 8324 www.omniviewtech.ca Weatherhaven Global Resources +1 604 451 8900 www.weatherhaven.com DENMARK Scandinavian Avionics +45 79 50 80 00 www.scanav.com UAE Ultimate-UAV +971 4 39 22 105 www.ultimate-uav.com UK Cobham +44 1202 882020 www.cobham.com Haiden Technology +44 1246 866498 www.haiden.co.uk USA AECOM +1 213 593 8000 www.aecom.com Battlespace Flight Services +1 702 485 3695 www.battlespacefs.com Corridor Aviation Services Software +1 512 918 8900 www.corridor.aero Fortress UAV +1 844 851 2184 www.fortressuav.com General Atomics Aeronautical Systems +1 858 312 2810 www.ga-asi.com Latitude Engineering +1 520 792 2006 www.latitudeengineering.com MAG Aerospace +1 703 376 8993 www.magaero.com NWUAV +1 503 434 6845 www.nwuav.com Pratt & Whitney +1 860 565 4321 www.pw.utc.com Kings Avionics +1 801 539 8412 www.kingsavionics.com RDO Integrated Controls +1 877 907 3642 www.rdoic.com Robotic Skies +1 505 289 0791 www.roboticskies.com ROV Systems +1 928 412 9995 www.rovsystems.net UAV Pro +1 434 292 4914 www.uavpro.com Examples of maintenance service providers