BASIC CHALLENGE
The Safeguard with Autonomous Navigation Demonstration (SAND) Challenge will be an opportunity for small businesses to compete in an autonomous unmanned aerial vehicle competition. The proposed challenge is in direct alignment with ARMD/AOSP, System-Wide Safety (SWS) Project’s Technical Challenge (TC)-2 that states “In-Flight Safety Predictions for Emerging Operations.” The challenge will address some of the safety critical risks associated with flying UAVs in the national airspace system: 1) flight outside of approved airspace; 2) unsafe proximity to people or property; and 3) critical system failure. The challenge will follow the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Part 107 Regulation Small Unmanned Aircraft Regulations provided in Appendix A.
NASA Langley’s patented Safeguard technology is designed to assuredly address the aforementioned safety critical risks and will fly onboard the competitor’s vehicle while navigating the course. Safeguard is NASA’s patented aviation quality fencing technology. Safeguard is a Verified and Validated independent system designed to supersede UAV manufacturer guidance, navigation and control systems, and when necessary, physically prevent the vehicle from accessing restricted air space assuring the UAV complies with regulatory property protection and safety requirements. The SAND challenge will demonstrate the successful surveillance of a post-natural disaster scenario amidst critical infrastructure. The SAND Challenge will be held in May of 2020 in Hampton, Virginia.
The primary objectives of the SAND Challenge are:
- 1. To demonstrate safe operations of autonomous UAVs amidst critical infrastructure using NASA’s Safeguard Technology to stakeholders, the emerging UAV industry and the public.
- 2. To collect post competition data from Safeguard for further analysis that could inform new regulatory policies that support expanded use of commercial UAV systems.
- 3. Inform regulatory stakeholders including federal, state and local governments on the potential operational benefits of integrating NASA’s Safeguard technology to UAVs to aid first responders in natural disasters events.
- 4. To engage the emerging UAV operator market to the value proposition of NASA’s Safeguard Technology and its potential use cases for commercialization and licensing.
The small business competitors will develop their own autonomous logic implemented on their drones to provide surveillance and identification of key targets in a simulated post-natural disaster scene. A preliminary description of the SAND Competition Course will be provided on the SAND Demonstration website by September 30, 2019. The Langley patented Safeguard technology will be flown as a stand-alone payload mounted on the drone. The Safeguard technology will transmit a signal as well as document breaches in the geo-fenced boundaries of the competition course.
OVERVIEW & CONTEXT
NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD) conducts research based on a deliberate and well-coordinated strategic plan that includes expanded research into advanced air mobility (AAM) including Unmanned Aerials Systems (UAS) and Urban Air Mobility (UAM). NASA’s vision for UAM is a safe, efficient and accessible system for air passenger and cargo transportation within an urban area, inclusive of small package delivery and other urban UAS services, which supports a mix of onboard/ground-piloted and increasingly autonomous operations. NASA is uniquely positioned to work with industry and academia to collaboratively work the technical challenges of advanced air mobility , building upon of decades of successful research to improve air traffic management and, more recently, focused efforts to safely integrate UAS, more commonly known as drones, into the national airspace system (NAS). NASA currently has effective partnerships with industry, academia, and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to identify and seek solutions to the challenges unique to enabling advanced air mobility operations in the NAS.
SAFEGUARD TECHNOLOGY INTEGRATION AND CONCEPT OF OPERATIONS
Competitors will be given the boundary conditions of the geo-spatial area in which the competition will be held in Hampton, Virginia. The Safeguard technology will transmit to the drone’s flight control system a discrete signal upon the breaching of the geo-fenced warning zone as well as transmit a signal upon breaching the geo-fenced do not enter zone. The competitor’s drone’s Autoland command must be engaged upon receiving Safeguard’s do not enter zone signal. Failure to fly out of the geo-fenced do not enter zone will result in termination from the competition. Final details addressing Safeguard integration and concept of operation will be provided by September 30, 2019.
NASA will evaluate the performance of the drones to autonomously perform their surveillance service function of identifying the post-natural disaster objects in an efficient manner as well as against the Safeguard data that highlights where the drone would have been prevented from violating of airspace restrictions by the Safeguard system.
All data generated during the SAND Drone Challenge shall be the property of NASA, and may be publicly released in NASA’s sole discretion. Subject to NASA’s data release processes and approvals, NASA will use reasonable efforts to provide to Participant, upon request, the GPS-location data, boundary violation data, and velocity flight path data tracked by Safeguard for Participant’s vehicle.
DRONE ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS
The following are the physical requirements and operational constraints that must be demonstrated in order to qualify as a competitor in the SAND Challenge:
- ⇒ Vehicle must be compliant with the FAA's Part 107 regulations.
- ⇒ Vehicle must be capable of Vertical Take Off and Landing and cannot be fix winged.
- ⇒ Vehicle cost inclusive of sensors shall not exceed $20,000.
- ⇒ General aircraft restrictions (size, weight, and power source):
- • No vehicle size requirement
- • Max Weight: 55 lbs.
- i. to include weight of Safeguard and weight of external battery
- ii. Drone will be weighed at check-in on the day of the competition
- • No exotic power sources such as hydrogen, helium, nuclear, etc.
- i. Electric power is preferred; however, other methods can be petitioned for exemption through the application process.
- • Cannot be tethered
- ⇒ Pixhawk is the preferred and recommended autopilot hardware; however, other autopilot hardware can be petitioned for exemption through the application process.
- ⇒ In the event of loss of the command and control link greater than one second, the vehicle must return to base (RTB)/return to launch (RTL).
- ⇒ All frequency communication must comply with FCC rules and regulations.
- • Capable frequencies include:
- i. 902 MHZ to 928 MHz
- ii. 862 MHz to 872 MHz
- iii. 5.8 GHz Spectrum
- iv. 2.4 GHz Spectrum
- ⇒ Company provided Ground Control Station
- • Use of ground based sensors such as wind monitors and trackers are allowed.
- • Ground station must contain: location, MSL altitude, heading, and speed.
- • Ground station must have an independent data link indication position and battery health.
- ⇒ Autonomous Operations
- • Maximum points given to full autonomous operations - no human interaction unless safety problem occurs.
DRONE OPERATIONAL RESTRICTIONS
- ⇒ Maximum Operational Altitude (during Competition): 50 ft. above sea level
- ⇒ Maximum Operational Speed (during Competition): 30 ft./second (approximately 20 mph/18 knots)
- ⇒ Drone should be capable of at least 15 minutes of flight time.
- ⇒ Drone's flight control system shall receive the discreet signal from the Safeguard technology upon breaching a geo-fenced Warning Zone and initiate correction to the flight path to leave the area.
- ⇒ Drone's Autoland command must be engaged upon receiving Safeguard's signal indicating breach of the Do Not Enter Zone.
- ⇒ Breach of a Safeguard geo-fenced Do Not Enter Zone will result in the elimination from the remainder of the competition course. The Safety Pilot will manually fly the drone back to home base.
- ⇒ Points accumulated prior to entering the Safeguard geo-fenced Do Not Enter Zone will count towards the total points earned in the competition.
DRONE DOCUMENTATION REQUIREMENTS
The following Drone documentation must be provided as proof of compliance to FAA Part 107 and must be submitted as part of the Participant Application:
- ⇒ Proof of ownership/purchase by the small business of the drone to be flown in the competition
- ⇒ Proof of FAA registration of the drone
- ⇒ Drone manufacturer, model number, and specifications
- ⇒ Sensor specifications (type, manufacturer, capability) already available on the drone, and planned acquisition of additional sensors to meet competition challenge
- ⇒ Identification of frequencies used (command and control, datalink, etc.)
- ⇒ Identification of GPS sensor (manufacturer and model)
PRE-FLIGHT SAFETY INSPECTION REQUIREMENTS OF COMPETITION TEAM AND DRONE
Prior to competition, teams will be sent a pre-flight safety inspection checklist that will be used by the NASA Safety Officer. Each team’s drone must pass the following pre-flight safety inspection requirements in order to qualify on the date of the SAND competition:
- ⇒ Verify drone can be operated in a safe manner with trained and qualified personnel. (Hover Test)
- ⇒ Verify drone can demonstrate approved failsafe measures prior to first flight.
- ⇒ Four person team has attended the mandatory safety briefing prior to first flight.
- ⇒ Demonstrate ability of drone to follow a well-defined process for procession to flight line prior to first flight.
- ⇒ A thorough inspection of required drone's safety mechanisms prior to being allowed on the flight line.
- ⇒ Verify acquisition and transmission of .tlog data collection to NASA Data Acquisition System.
- ⇒ Complete of visual inspection of drone, including Safeguard box and sensors.
- ⇒ Verify drone weight meets FAA Part 107 requirements.
- ⇒ Verify remote pilot qualifications and UAV pilot log on competition drone.
- ⇒ Verify drone FAA certification requirements are satisfied and meet Part 107 UAV specifications.
During inspection, a Safety Officer will verify integrity of the drone’s airframe as well as the robustness of the controlling software, algorithms and failsafe mechanisms against the competition safety check list and appropriate mounting of the Safeguard box to the participant drone. Failure to satisfy inspection will result in disqualification.
NASA’s Safety Officer will issue appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to competitors on the day of competition.
PARTICIPANT ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS
The SAND Challenge welcomes applications from small business teams that are duly licensed and incorporated in the United States and are in good standing. The following restrictions apply.
In order for a company to qualify to participate in the SAND Challenge the following requirements must be satisfied:
- ⇒ Provide documentation denoting the participant is a Small Business per the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) 13 CFR 121.201. See Table of Small Business Size Standards North American Industry Classification System Code in the Resource tab below.
- ⇒ Provide a copy of the Business’ certificate of incorporation documenting the small business is incorporated and licensed to do business in one of the 50 states of the United States.
- ⇒ A corporate officer with authority certifies the Participant Business will maintain, throughout the term of the SAND Challenge, insurance covering claims for bodily injury, personal injury, death, property damage, or other loss or damages arising from any activities conducted at the SAND Challenge at such limits and upon such terms as are acceptable to NASA in its reasonable discretion, and shall provide NASA acceptable evidence of such insurance.
- ⇒ A corporate officer with authority executes a liability waiver and indemnification agreement with NASA.
- ⇒ A corporate officer with authority executes an intellectual property agreement and media release agreement with NASA.
- ⇒ The Participant must submit a five page white paper that describes the business implementation plan for potential uses of NASA’s Safeguard technology. Specifically:
- • Provide a brief description of the nature and type of your business.
- i. Describe the technical capabilities of your product.
- ii. Give an example of how your company has implemented successful navigation.
- • Provide an overview of your company’s and team members’ experience with UAVs
- • Why do you want to participate?
- • What are the potential use cases of Safeguard that meet your business strategy?
- i. Product: Describe the product/services that will use the technology.
- ii. Market: Describe the markets and applications that will use the above described products/services.
- iii. Market Size: Estimate the expected annual revenue to be generated from the above described products/services.
- ⇒ The Participant must identify four employees to compete on the days of the SAND Competition. These four employees must provide proof of being an employee of the small business, and U.S. citizenship (participants may be Lawful Permanent Residents) as part of the application process. One of the four team members must be certified as a Remote Pilot (e.g. Safety Pilot) and one must be identified as the Captain of the four person team.
- • Proof of U.S. Citizenship: provide copy of birth certificate or U.S. Passport; or proof of Lawful Permanent Residency (copy of green card)
- • Proof of Employment: Small Business Company Badge or Document with Identification Number and Photograph
- ⇒ The designated Safety Pilot must provide the following documents that demonstrate FAA Part 107 compliance as part of the application:
- • A copy of their Remote Pilot Airman Certificate with a small UAS rating
- i. Must be at least 16 years old to qualify for a Remote Pilot Certificate, this certification can be obtained in one of two ways:
- 1. Pass an initial aeronautical knowledge test at an FAA-approved knowledge testing center.
- 2. If the Safety Pilot already has a Part 61 pilot certificate, other than a student pilot certificate, they must have completed a flight review in the previous 24 months and provide proof that the Safety Pilot has taken a small UAS online training course provided by the FAA.
- • Must provide the number of hours flown as a UAS Pilot on all UAVs as well as on the drone to be flown in the SAND competition as part of the application and bring with them their UAS Pilot log on the SAND Competition date. A participant will be disqualified if a valid UAS Pilot log is not presented as part of the SAND Competition Registration.
- • The pilot must be able to intervene to manually take control of the drone.
- ⇒ The Captain of the four person team shall be responsible for the actions of the team members and for the team’s compliance with the competition rules, including competition and prize eligibility rules. The Captain shall be responsible for all deliverable submissions and communications between team and competition committee as part of the SAND Challenge event.
- ⇒ There is no limit to team size, but only four members are allowed on the flight line during the SAND Challenge event. Please identify roles and responsibilities of each member of the team as part of the application process.
⇒ NASA LaRC Range Safety Commit Criteria
⇒ Small Business Size Standards North American Industry Classification System Code
