A Required Navigation Performance Based Approach to Monitor the Accuracy and Integrity Performance of UAVs for Delivery Applications

As an emerging commercial application, deliveries using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have the advantages of low cost and flexibility over traditional logistic operations, and are therefore being increasingly adopted by logistics companies. In order to ensure the success of delivery missions, effective traffic management measures, including UAV safety or integrity monitoring, are essential. Currently, however, there is a gap in research on the concept and framework for the evaluation of integrity performance for the delivery application. This paper addresses the issue by proposing a UAV Navigation Monitoring Requirement (UNMR) specification for the monitoring of the accuracy and integrity performance of UAVs for use in delivery applications, based on the concept of Required Navigation Performance (RNP). The method used to determine the position accuracy requirement for en-route and terminal UNMR operations is based on the related factors in the context of UAV-borne delivery. This is represented by the width of the route and radius of the docking or landing spot. Simulation and initial field tests show that the flight technical errors and path definition errors should be considered for the total system error calculation for the UAV delivery. Effective application of the proposed framework for integrity performance evaluation has shown to be of potential benefits for the operational management of UAV deliveries.