Luxembourg has recently become a participating member of the technical standardization subcommittee ISO/TC 20/SC 16, which develops technical standards for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), commonly known as drones. The technology is evolving today at a rate higher than its regulations. Standards, hence, play an essential role in setting the requirements establishing a minimum level of safety and quality of manufacturing, testing and operation. Indeed, the market for commercial drones has experienced exceptional growth in recent years and shows no sign of slowing down with the ever increasing fields of potential application, from package delivery, environmental monitoring (e.g. forest fires) and surveillance of remote places to other application that were previously deemed unfeasible. 

Testimony of Mr. Nader Samir Labib - Doctoral Student at the Interdisciplinary Center for Security, Reliability and Trust (SnT)

 

 In October 2017, I joined the Luxembourg’s interdisciplinary center for security, reliability and trust (SnT) as a PhD candidate part of the joint research program between University of Luxembourg and ILNAS. My core research focus is on Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) within the context of Internet of Things (IoT) as connected smart devices in this ubiquitous network of things. 

 

The rapid adoption of IoT has revolutionized the way we live, encouraged the integration of new connected devices and created new value-added services in every market sector. One sector showing great potential is aerospace and specifically the Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) industry. 

 

The miniaturization of lightweight, low energy consumption, wireless sensors has led to the rapid advancement in UAV technologies over the recent few years. In turn, promising new means of efficiently collecting and transmitting data as smart terminal devices capable of interacting with the physical world for a magnitude of IoT applications. Some predominant examples include smart agriculture, smart logistics, healthcare and monitoring, surveillance and disaster management.

 

Nevertheless, UAVs promise a pragmatic solution to the limitations of existing terrestrial IoT infrastructure that, in some cases, would not be economically feasible nor sufficient to guarantee communication coverage with an acceptable level of quality. Hence, making aerial technologies, such as UAVs a promising solution where they can contribute to overcoming such limitations by offering wider coverage, better availability and higher resilience when equipped with the appropriate sensory payload.

 

Such developments makes it safe to envision a future where heterogeneous swarms of UAVs would dominate the low-altitude airspace, operating beyond direct visual line of sight (BVLOS) within populated cities. 

 

However, for every technological advancement there will always be significant challenges. Are we ready for a sky full of drones? Are UAVs the future of IoT? And how will we handle such unprecedented traffic demands?

 

In alignment with SnT’s core values of conducting competitive research with high relevance and socio-economic impact, my PhD research attempts to tackle some of these pressing questions by addressing the challenges associated with the safe operation and management of UAVs, emphasizing the role of standardization throughout. 

 

In 2019 and after researching and working on different UAV Traffic Management (UTM) constructs I registered, via ILNAS, in the standardization technical subcommittee ISO/TC 20/SC 16 on UAS. Starting as Luxembourgish observing member of the committee, we rapidly decided to request the registration of Luxembourg as a participating member in order to engage actively in the standardization work. It marked the beginning of a new chapter where once again Luxembourg can be placed among those at the forefront of shaping technical standards in one of the world’s new promising technologies.

 

This opportunity allowed me to be proactive in UAV technical standardization, and specifically the work of the Working Group 4 of ISO/TC 20/SC 16 on UAS Traffic Management, as well as ensure alignment of my research with international and regional directions. Moreover, presenting Luxembourgish positions in the standards development process gave me the opportunity challenge my work and to progress in this domain.

 

In general, it is worth noting that adopting or endorsing evolving standards is not only an effective way of showing commitment and promoting an open approach, it also offers early adopters the opportunity to shape technical standards, creating additional revenue by promoting patented intellectual property and preferred technical approaches.

 

Personally, considering the high added value of the technical standardization work, I would definitely encourage everyone interested in UAVs to join the technical subcommittee ISO/TC 20/SC 16 and to share their views and expertise. Whether they directly work in the field, are regulators, policy makers or researchers, this participation represents a true opportunity for them. It is a chance to be part of shaping the future and paving the way for a technology that has the potential to offer significant improvements at economic, technical and societal levels.

 

Overview of ISO/TC 20/SC 16

 

The technical standardization subcommittee ISO/TC 20/SC 16 "Unmanned aircraft systems" was created by ISO in 2014 in order to develop the standards required by the market to classify, design, manufacture and operate these devices and manage the security of UAS operations. The subcommittee now brings together experts from twenty-nine countries and is made up of six Working Groups (WG) each of them with a specific area of work.

 

• WG 1 “General” is in charge of developing fundamental standards for UAS. The working group published a first standard in 2020 concerning the classification of civil UAS (ISO 21895:2020) and is currently developing a standard on the reference vocabulary of UAS (ISO/FDIS 21384-4) which will provide a common understanding of the field to all parties involved.
• WG 2 “Product manufacturing and maintenance” is working in particular on a draft standard intended to define requirements to ensure the quality and safety of the design and manufacturing of UAS (ISO/CD 21384-2).
• WG 3 “Operations and procedures” develops standards for all operational and procedural aspects related to UAS. It published a first standard in 2019 (ISO 21384-3:2019) which establishes requirements to ensure the safety of operating modes. Among its other projects, the working group is also developing a standard for the training of personnel involved in UAS operations (ISO/DIS 23665) and a standard for vertiport operations (ISO/NP 5012-2).
• WG 4 “UAS Traffic Management” is currently working on various projects including the remote identification of drones (ISO/NP 23629-8) as well as a model for spatial data that will allow different drone operators to use a common model for flight planning and thus ensure their safety.
• WG 5 “Testing and evaluation” is in charge of the development of all types of standards concerning the testing and evaluation of drones. This includes for example a project concerning the stability of drones in wind and rain conditions (ISO/NP 5110) and a standard on test methods for multi-rotor commercial UAS (ISO/WD 4358).
• WG 6 “UAS subsystems” develops standards for all UAS subsystems. The working group is for example in charge of the development of a project on the technical requirements for the electrical systems of light drones (ISO/WD 24352) in addition to a project on the flight control systems of light civil drones (ISO/WD 24355).

 

Do you want to get involved in the development of technical standards for UAS?

 

ILNAS offers the possibility to any interested person to participate free of charge in the development of standards by becoming a national delegate in standardization within one or more technical committees. This registration allows you to actively participate in the development of new standards and anticipate future market requirements.

 

To join the ISO/TC 20/SC 16 subcommittee, you can complete a registration form and then send it by e-mail to normalisation@ilnas.etat.lu.

 

Master MTECH, an innovative training to prepare you for the challenges of Smart ICT

More generally, are you interested in the field of IoT? You would like to discover the opportunities offered by this technology and the related normative challenges? This is one of the many topics covered in the MTECH Master's degree, which will start next September. Find more information on this training program on the University of Luxembourg website: mtech.uni.lu or on the LLLC website.

 

For more information:

• Home page of ISO/TC 20/SC 16 subcommittee
• Becoming a national delegate in standardization
• Master MTECH "Technopreneurship: mastering smart ICT, standardisation and digital trust for enabling next generation of ICT solutions"

 

Communicated by ILNAS