The second annual New York UAS Symposium, hosted by Northeast UAS Airspace Integration Research (NUAIR), will look to build off of a successful 2018 symposium that brought in more than 300 participants.

This year’s symposium will give attendees a chance to talk with fellow UAS industry leaders representing all sides of the industry — including from the FAA, NASA, and the New York City Fire Department (FDNY), to name a few — make new connections, and discuss key issues that the industry is facing.

According to Michael Hertzendorf, interim CEO for NUAIR Alliance, the number one challenge that the industry faces is public adoption.

“The technology is advancing, the standards are being developed, the industry and regulators are making great strides, but you seldom hear people talk about the steps that must be made for public adoption,” Hertzendorf tells AUVSI.

One entity that has taken a step to address the issue of public adoption is Syracuse University, which will have panel speakers present at the symposium, through the establishment of its autonomous systems policy institute (ASPI), Hertzendorf says. ASPI is a new interdisciplinary effort that will “advance knowledge and teaching in the field of autonomous systems by exploring new frontiers in policy, law and governance of these fast-expanding technologies,” according to its website.

One of the subsets of the issue of public adoption is the issue of public acceptance, Hertzendorf says. When it comes to public acceptance, Hertzendorf says a “broad approach” needs to be taken to reach people and get them to buy into this technology.

One of the ways to get the public to accept this technology is through education, Hertzendorf says, noting a lot of the educational aspect is tackled in schools, which helps groom the next generation to not only be comfortable with this technology, but also to know how to develop it and make it better.

Another aspect of this broad approach, however, is the public seeing this technology being used in real world scenarios by parties such as first responders, who have been early adapters of this technology.

“When people see how this technology can be used for safety, they begin to accept it,” Hertzendorf says. “You have to show people how UAVs are a positive benefit to them versus the perception that they are a nuisance to them.”

Hertzendorf adds that traditionally, when people think of drones, they think of the military and how the military has used them over the years, but civilian use cases are much different, so the UAS industry has to highlight the benefits that this technology can offer society. 

Importance of UTM

During this year’s symposium, a capstone demonstration will be conducted on New York's 50-Mile BVLOS Corridor. The demonstration will showcase several operational use case scenarios that have been conducted.

“Each scenario displays different capabilities of an operational UTM System,” Hertzendorf says.

“The first scenario highlights the benefits of UAVs for public use in a first responder scenario.  The scenario highlights how USS talk to each other through a discovery service, shows a UVR and highlights dynamic flight restrictions,” Hertzendorf says. “The second scenario shows complex capabilities in an urban environment, the challenges of performance in restricted terrain, altitude changes, and ACAS SXU.”

Hertzendorf says UTM is “vitally important” to the integration of UAS into society, adding that it is the first building block to operationalize and commercialize this technology.

UTM will also play a major factor in facilitating beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) flights, Hertzendorf says, noting that without a UTM system, the industry will be “beholden to Part 107,” which, while good, won’t allow the community to take advantage of the full potential of UAS for operations such as those conducted beyond the visual line of sight.

The second annual UAS Symposium will take place Sept. 16-18 at Turning Stone Resort in Verona, New York. Interested in attending? Register here.