An increasing number of UAVs are designed to take-off and land automatically. Because ofrnthe potential damage that could result from a failed take-off or landing (to the UAV itself, or tornhumans or equipment located near the runway or the approach/departure path), specialrnattention must be placed on the design of the automatic system. As more efforts are put intornoperating UAVs in the national airspace, the need for reliable and safe UAV automatic take-offrnand landing operation is made even more acute. The proposed paper discusses the variousrnaspects of UAV automatic take-off and landing system performance, such as accuracy,rncontinuity of service and integrity, and shows how the UAV system architecture affectsrnautomatic landing performance. Methods for detecting and mitigating system failures arernpresented. Guidelines to be used while designing the UAV system architecture are presented,rnso that the required or desired performance can be met, making it easier to gain certification tornoperate along manned aircraft or to the same level of safety and reliability. The paper drawsrnfrom the operational experience gained from integrating automatic takeoff and landing systemsrn(ATLS) with more than a dozen UAV systems, including over three thousands of automaticrnlandings with the U.S. Army's Shadow 200 TUAV.
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