ACTIVITY THEORY AS A FRAMEWORK FOR INTEGRATING UASINTO THE NAS: A FIELD STUDY OF CREW MEMBER ACTIVITY DURING UAS OPERATIONS NEAR A NON-TOWERED AIRPORT

摘要

An Activity Theory framework was applied in investigating the pressing issue of Unmanned AircraftSystem (UAS) integration into the National Airspace System. As stated in the FAA’s UAS OperationalApproval policy notice, the UAS pilot and/or crew are collectively responsible for successfully exercisingsee-and-avoid duties. To describe how this is achieved in practice, field recordings of visual observers andother UAS crewmembers were collected during three phases of a long-endurance UAS flight test: takeoff,mid-flight, and landing. Four separate radio communications channels were utilized, and pilots’ workloadwas offloaded in three ways: takeoff and landing flight dynamics were offloaded to the external pilot, seeand-avoid duties were offloaded to visual observers, and some communications were offloaded to themission commander. Visual observers relied on a combination of visual perception, communication, andteam coordination skills to assist pilots and the mission commander in effectively accomplishing see-andavoidduties during UAS operations.