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Challenges of developing UAV applications: A project management view

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DOI: 10.1109/IEOM.2015.7093730

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 Proceedings of the 2015 International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management
Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), March 3 – 5, 2015.

Challenges of Developing UAV Applications:

A Project Management View

Ahmed Idries, Nader Mohamed, Imad Jawhar, Farhan Mohamed Jameela Al-Jaroodi
UAE University University of Pittsburgh
Al Ain , UAE Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
{201370319, nader.m, ijawhar, 20085338}@[Link] jaljaroodi@[Link]

Abstract— With the recent advances in aircraft technologies, manufacture more expensive systems indigenously [2]. Thus,
software, sensors, and communications; unmanned aerial the larger UAVs will continue to dominate total sales while
vehicles (UAVs) can offer a wide range of applications. UAVs can representing only a small portion of the total volume as shown
play important roles in different applications such as search and in Figure 1. However, UAVs of all sizes have great
rescue, situation awareness in natural disasters, environmental opportunities for growth, regardless of their sizes.
monitoring, and perimeter surveillance. This paper discusses the
challenges of developing UAV applications from the information
technology (IT) project management point of view. Developing
UAV applications involves integrating hardware, software,
sensor, and communication components with the UAV systems.
UAV applications development projects are considered complex
projects due to the complexity of the development stages and the
components integration complexity. This paper addresses the
business and technical challenges that face UAV applications’
development and project management.

Keywords—UAV; UAV Applications; IT Management; Project

Management; Challenges

I. INTRODUCTION
UAV applications offer great opportunities for providing Figure 1. World UAV market forecast [2].
cost-effective solutions for diverse applications that require
different capabilities for the various tasks involved. Therefore, Although UAVs became important tools nowadays to
the demand for UAV civil applications is increasing perform many tasks, building applications that will effectively
significantly along with the growth of the UAVs market. and efficiently operate UAVs and utilize them for a certain
According to Forecast International, which predicts strong problem still requires a huge number of man hours in design,
growth in the UAV industry, a thousand UAVs of all types will development, testing and deployment. This is mainly due to the
be manufactured this year, with output rising to 1100 units in lack of existing technologies and management methodologies
each of the following two years. From 2017, production is that can be utilized to effectively develop UAV applications.
forecasted to average about 960 UAVs annually for the This growth requires efficient and cost-effective development
remaining seven years of the 2014-2023 forecast periods [1]. In processes while UAV applications can be considered as
addition, in another report published by Teal [2], shows that complex systems which creates several challenges for the UAV
there is an expected growth for UAV production between 2012 applications development at different stages.
and 2021 especially the smaller UAVs and the sales growth for Several technical and non-technical challenges that face
larger UAVs is expected to reach 43 billion USD, see Figure 1. their development processes need to be solved. Many project
While UAV production is expected to remain relatively stable management and technical challenges face UAV applications
over the next 10 years, the value of production will steadily development in terms of resource management, power
climb, from about $942 million in 2014 to $2.3 billion in 2023 management, security, communication and other challenges
[1]. Much of the growth can be attributed to the large UAVs. related to testing, simulation and regulations as well.
To that point, many countries around the world lack the Furthermore, how to integrate these components into a final
capabilities and funding to either procure or manufacture these UAV application product is also a challenge.
large and complex systems. However, countries such as India
and Brazil are forming partnerships today to help build these The purpose of this paper is to study the challenges of
capabilities now so that, in the near future, they can developing UAV applications from the information technology

978-1-4799-6065-1/15/$31.00 ©2015 IEEE

project management point of view. UAV applications helped stop some crisis. NGOs in Japan use UAVs to monitor
development projects are considered complex projects due to illegal Japanese whaling in the southern hemisphere. That is
the complexity of the development stages and the components what gave the research and technical communities a good
integration complexity. Developing UAV applications involves impression about UAVs and encouraged their use.
integrating hardware, software, sensors, actuators and
communication components with the UAV mechanical III. PROJECTS MANAGEMENT IN UAV INDUSTRY
systems. UAV application development is considered a complex
The remainder of the paper is structured as follows. In project due to the system complexity and sensitivity. Since
Section II, we provide a brief background about UAVs. Section UAV’s are considered as complex systems, most of the UAV
III discusses projects management in UAV’s Industry. In application development projects rely on the product lifecycle
Section IV, the business and technical challenges of project management approach throughout the different stages of a
management for UAV application developments are discussed. project. A UAV application development project consists of
Section V provides some discussions regarding some possible many processes and components from different sides such as
technologies that can be utilized to relax the challenges and payload, engines, avionics and software development,
risks of UAV application developments. Finally, we conclude integration and testing. As a result sound and effective project
this paper in Section VI with remarks about the main management methods involving system dynamics, program
contributions and planned future work. evaluation and reviewing techniques, critical path method,
design structure matrix, earned value method, Gantt chart and
II. BACKGROUND object process methodology are necessary. These methods are
used in various stages of the development process [3]:
To address the issues in this paper we need to understand
what UAV applications are and what the issues related to 1. System Dynamics: Project planning and dynamics
project management that may affect the development of UAV modelling
applications are. UAVs have a wide range of applications and
models. They are divided into three categories, which are 2. Program evaluation & reviewing techniques: project
safety control, scientific research, and commercial applications. planning and scheduling
However to achieve a well-designed UAV application, there 3. Critical path method: project planning and scheduling
must be an accurate information support, which is necessary
for a successful system. It is well known that UAV applications 4. Design structure matrix: project planning and product
have become involved in many industries ranging from design
agriculture to oil and gas production and transport. The 5. Earned value method: project control
architecture of a typical UAV application consists of several
main components comprising of the control system, the 6. Gantt chart: project planning and scheduling
monitoring system, the data processing system, and the landing 7. Object process methodology: combined project
system. The internal system provides a wide range of functions
ranging from navigation to providing data transfer to ground In aerospace industries, the challenges that are usually
stations or other UAVs. UAVs are involved in new activities facing the products development are alignment of resources,
and in solving new problems every day. Many organizations controlling costs, and improving programs and project
are interested in utilizing UAVs to reduce the cost of the management practices [4]. Many aerospace professionals
related services [5]. consider the UAV projects as comprehensive programs, such
consideration led into a number of program management
To date, some of the inhibiting factors for using UAVs in challenges. In addition, the growing regulatory requirements
many civilian applications include the cost of acquiring these create a big challenge for UAV development projects. One of
devices, building the required applications, and the operating the problems that face UAV application development is the
systems. UAVs are easy to deploy. They have the flexibility to lack of simulation environments either virtual or real. Some
perform difficult tasks, support high resolution imagery and countries do not even have testing areas for UAVs. Since, the
cover large and remote areas. On the other hand, a device with current UAV applications rely more on computational
such abilities must have some ethical and legal impacts. Some processes, they require more effective resource allocation and
countries have privacy and data protection acts and laws. resource management models during the different development
However, most of the UAV applications were mainly deployed stages. In case of FALTER [5] which is a UAV equipped with
in the military and security fields. Generally, the issues that many sensors and devices, the testing is harder due to many
were raised were safety, privacy and ethics that will be obstacles. Testing a UAV complex system poses threats to the
addressed in the challenges section. equipment under development as well as the test environment
UAVs at the beginning were known for their military use, and test personnel [5]. Since the UAV can move with
which gave some people a limited view of this technology. considerable speed using rotations of propellers, they pose
When the UAVs were allowed to serve in civil applications, physical risks during testing. Many risk factors need to be
the image of UAVs has changed. UAVs are involved in many considered when designing a portfolio for a project
civil applications these days. For example, in Nepal, UAVs management framework, which include [6]:
were involved in wildlife protection. The non-governmental 1. Strategic fits
organization (NGO) that was involved in the project trained the
guards on how to use UAVs to protect the wildlife, which 2. Financial rewards
3. Timing • Multiple or conflicting goals or conflicts of interests
4. Maintaining a competitive advantage • Resistance to change
5. Properly & efficiently allocating resources • Turfs and conflicts
6. Providing better objectivity for project selection In addition, the IT related challenges have two dimensions
7. Achieving focus which are the IT skills and the organizational dimension:

8. Having better communication between the projects, 4. IT skills:

organizations and stakeholders. • IT training programs
One of the issues that need to be considered in developing • Lack of employees with integration skills and culture
any UAV application is the cost of the development process.
Hence, it is highly important to consider the cost using suitable 5. Organizational:
cost estimation models. In addition, some factors affect the
• Lack of cross sectorial cooperation
maintenance performed on the application including the repair
of defects incorporated in the software during the development • Lack of interdepartmental coordination
process or because of changes in the agreed upon requirements
or the desire to improve the performance. There is a theory that • Unclear vision of IT management
states: “the totality of activities required supporting at the • Politics and cultural issues
lowest cost while some activities start during its initial
development but most activities are those following its Furthermore, the governance can be a challenge in smart
delivery” [7]. Therefore, the cost estimation techniques play a city development projects since there are many stakeholders
core role in reducing the project cost risk issue. Thus many and business partners [8]. In addition, the collaboration,
challenges face developing advanced solutions integrating leadership, communication, accountability and transparency
UAVs with other technologies to create useful applications. are challenges in such projects. UAVs consist of embedded
These challenges and factors are from different entities such as, systems and other sub-systems [9]. The design of embedded
technology, human and institutional bodies [8]: systems for UAVs can follow two approaches which are:
1. Technological Challenges: • The software lifecycle ends and the lifecycle for the process
of integrating the software with the hardware begin at the
• Systems integration time when a system is designed.
• Systems availability • Both cycles concurrently proceed when co-designing a time
• Support and maintenance critical sophisticated system.

• Disaster recovery and backup In such approach, hardware/software co-design is an

important aspect of the design process as well as the software
2. Human challenges : and hardware integration. In addition, before developing such
complex systems, detailed specifications need to be considered
• Human capital
such as specifications related to product functions and tasks,
• Education and awareness delivery time schedule, product lifecycle load on the system,
human machine interaction, operating environment, sensors,
3. Institutional factors and challenges : power requirements and environment and system cost [10].
• Collaboration and cooperation One of the challenges that face any project is the required
• Partnerships between different sectors and parties resources. In UAV applications development, the resources
allocation might be a critical issue during the coming period
• Citizen engagement to avoid administrative obstacles where the demand for UAV civil applications is rapidly
increasing. Resources can be divided into two types: physical
In addition, UAV applications development projects are
and logical resources. Physical resources include processors,
facing some issues in integration as the UAV’s might be
memory, peripheral devices, storage, APIs, workstations,
integrated with many other services, applications and
workshops, network elements and sensors. While all software,
platforms. One example is integrating UAVs with smart city
data, control modules are examples of logical resources.
platforms. In this case, the challenges may include several
managerial issues: Logical resources are defined as system abstractions which
have temporary control over physical resources. They can
• Project size provide support for application development as well as needed
• Managers attitude and behavior functions such as efficient communications protocols. These
resources include operating systems, energy/power, network
• Users or organizational diversity throughput/bandwidth, load balancing mechanisms, data
• Lack of alignment with organizational goals and security/protection mechanisms, APIs and protocols for signal
mission and image processing. In resource management there are
several issues to handle such as resource provisioning, resource constraints, visualization, flexibility, complexity, uncertainty,
allocation, resource adaptation, and resource mapping [11]. software failure, and the need for supporting change. In
Each of these issues has its own challenges and this paper is addition, these components have key success factors such as
trying to discuss those challenges and find a solution for each project parties’ relationships, contractual agreements,
challenge, which are discussed in the next section, evolutionary project management, change management, risk
factors, risk avoidance, organizational culture, software
Furthermore, one more issue that occurs in any upgrades, testing and test planning, technical issues,
development project is the risk. Risks can be either seen or requirement capture, system architecture, reusability,
unseen risks. For both types we need to identify the risks and verification, and validation and the most critical part which is
analyze them during the project lifecycle. In addition, we need the integration process.
effective mechanisms for risks evaluation, monitoring and
reporting. Many problems occur during the development of complex
computer-based systems. This is mainly due to the integration
New risks appeared together with the emergence of new between the system and software processes. Furthermore,
UAV civil applications. Since the trend is to engage UAVs many problems occur during the integration stages. To avoid
with the several other trends of IT, some issues have been such issues, it is advised to use the process that will decompose
imposed by law or regulations as well as the operational risks
the systems into multiple parts to be developed independently
and risk occurrences during the development of such products. and easily integrated together at the system level. Due to the
These risks can have great impact on UAV applications during digitization of electro-mechanical systems using emerging
and after the development process. The risk management software technologies, the non-recurring activities in system
techniques are driven by business strategies and must be development rose from nominally 30% during the mid-70’s to
integrated into the decision making processes within the UAV almost 70% currently [15].
development firms. Some risks are associated with UAV
application development such as the lack of simulation and IV. CHALLENGES
testing environments, the loss of direct control over resources
and software and risks associated with data protection and In this section we will discuss the challenges facing UAV
security in addition to legal risks, regulatory compliances, and applications development from different perspectives like
interference with civil aviation regulations [12]. In automated business, managerial and technical challenges..
system development some challenges occur such as change A. Project Resources Management Challenges
management challenges, scheduling, planning, monitoring,
Resource management is a core challenge in any project not
adherence, and communications [13], see Figure 2.
only UAV applications, since it affects the stages of the
product development. Foremost of all, resource management is
defined as the efficient and effective deployment and allocation
of an organization's resources when and where they are
required. Those resources may include financial, human,
production, IT and other types of resources. Resource
management consists of planning, allocating and scheduling of
resources to jobs and tasks which mainly include developers,
integrators, analysts, hardware and software designers,
manpower and materials. Resource management has an impact
on budgeting, financing and the overall cost of the project.
Resource management as an issue also has some sub issues or
related issues that might affect the process or the project of
developing UAV applications [16]. These include resource
Figure 2. Project Management Challenges.
provisioning, mapping, adaptation, modeling, estimation,
UAV application development is all about integrating discovery, selection, brokering and scheduling. Each of these
software (applications) and hardware (UAVs). A case study imposes some challenges to the projects:
about Oerlikon Aerospace shows that the software engineering
1. Resource provisioning: In UAV applications development a
manager is the owner of the software process. The process
challenge occurs in how to make the application hosted on
owner is responsible for the effectiveness and the efficiency of
UAV platforms achieve economy of scale while
the process, methods and tools. This person is also in charge of
preserving the application-specific service level agreement
developing the software processes improvement plan (PIP).
(SLA) such as response time and throughput. In addition,
Moreover, many responsibilities are assigned to this person
designing resource provisioning algorithms that correctly
such as reviewing and tailoring the software engineering
converge to the optimal CPU allocation based on data rate
processes before the development plan is approved. Many
and computational requirements is a challenge. In the case
issues need to be considered in different stages of the project .
of UAVs since the UAV can handle and host many
UAV application development projects are considered applications the challenge is how to design a scheme that
complex because of the complexity of UAV systems and can support n-tier clustered applications to be hosted in
software requirements [14]. Such projects involve complex IT UAV platform.
components with several characteristics such as lack of
2. Resource allocation: Resource allocation refers to dividing cost. Another cause is the modification of the project structure
resources economically among competing groups of by treatment strategies (treatment actions are presented by new
people or business units or programs. Designing an SLA- tasks in the planning) and that might affect the project
oriented resource allocation scheme that integrates resources from different prospectus.
customer-driven service management is one challenge.
Other challenges in resource allocation include finding a Such projects need configuration management which is
planning mechanism that compromise between the costs of defined as the management discipline that applies technical and
reconfiguration and maximizing the UAVs utilities and administrative directions to the development, production and
parts and creating techniques for allocating services to support lifecycle of a Configuration Item. The discipline is
applications depending on energy efficiency and applicable to hardware, software, processed materials, services,
expenditure of the clients/developers. and related technical documentation. Configuration
Management is an integral part of the life-cycle management
3. Resource mapping: Resource mapping refers to the way of [18]. Also it is described as the act of managing parts of a
creating symmetry between the resources taken by the product and design to ensure that the products perform as
customers and the resources available with the project intended. One of the challenges that face risk management in
parties. Resource mapping might face some challenges UAV applications development is designing/implementing a
such as mapping physical and logical components and model that could involve risk mitigation. Risk management is
determining the physical resource allocation to satisfy the considered important for many reasons like analyzing the
logical demand which may be prevented by some physical possible scenarios to judge the global risk level In addition, the
constraints and obstacles. Another challenge is designing global risk level represents the chance for the project to satisfy
an algorithm that can obtain a fast mapping using a generic commitments and to choose the best treatment strategies.
algorithm can speed up the mapping process while
satisfying the tasks and mission deadlines. Moreover, UAV applications development is gaining popularity among
mapping the application assignments to the UAV aerospace manufacturers, thus they are using several tools to
platforms and hardware attributes to validate the control change management such as standardizing the
compatibility between the UAV specifications and the processes, extending the configuration management with
application prerequisites need to be addressed. Also, advanced capabilities, and enabling configuration management
another challenge is in producing models that are able to [18]. As we mentioned earlier change management and
predict application performance considering different configuration management is linked and related to resource
parameters such as CPUs, computer storage, management and risks, since any change that might occur on
communication protocols and information warehousing. In the product/application requirements, will lead to changes in
addition, the load balancing between the factors resource allocation and risk expectations. Risk Assessment is
considered is a core challenge in resource mapping. therefore a means to hold the decision makers to select and
accept design and mission scenarios and technical
4. Resource adaptation: Resources adaptation means the implementation aspects [19]. Change management in such
ability or capability of that scheme to adjust the resources industries faces some challenges that might involve the
dynamically to meet and satisfy the demands of the product/application development, which can involve the whole
user/customers. Some UAV applications are considered operation of preparing the products. Such products usually
mission critical applications, which require very tough require a large number of components and are highly complex
SLAs. Such stringent cannot be met by some UAV in nature. Besides these companies are bound by various
vendor; for instance, high level UAVs which require high regulatory bodies and are involved in managing complex and
standards might still not find it desirable to consume key diverse teams to react to all the needs of the client. The major
resources and services from some vendors due to intrinsic element which drives Aerospace industries to implement
risks. configuration management is delivering a product as per the
customer needs, while managing the cost, schedule and quality
Business and Project Risks: Picking out the best strategy in of the product.
a project structure in the prep stage of a project is often tricky,
particularly when the project should bear a product presenting Risks are highly associated with the development and post-
technological novelty. As the UAVs civil applications are development activities such as testing [19]; therefore, the risk
considered a new trend nowadays, there will be some risks that assessment is important in such stages due to several purposes:
might bear on developing such products, which can be called
(New Product Development or NPD). Thus firms need to adopt 1. Identifying drivers and requirements
steps to reduce hazards that are associated with NPD. The risk 2. Supporting Risk Management policy definition
management framework should integrate the three most
significant risk genes that affect NPD performance: 3. Driving the definition of the design and operations strategy
technology, marketing, and governance. Risk management from the early phases of the project
methodologies refer to a standard process presenting the well- 4. Supporting trade-offs and optimizations among alternative
known steps of risk identification, risk evaluation and system design concepts and variables
quantification, risk mitigation for treatment and/or impact
minimization and risk monitoring [17]. The risks might occur 5. Ranking the risk contributors to modulate the risk reduction
in any project for several reasons such as the modification of efforts
existing tasks related to the risk influence on the duration or
6. Verifying the adequacy of safety measures tradeoff concerning security, operations, and price. Generally
implementations speaking, the higher the security, the less the public
demonstration.
7. Justifying design and operations with respect to the
probabilistic targets As UAVs are usually fully autonomous systems, security is
a key concern. Since the UAVs are equipped with sensors and
8. Supporting risk management in the selection of the most different types of communication tools, the possibilities of
cost-effective engineering techniques and development hacking are high, therefore high standards of authentication
approaches and encryption are highly recommended. Several types of
B. Technical Challenges possibilities, consequences and incidents are expected In any
Communication: Communication is considered the UAV application. Therefore, different techniques are used in
backbone of any UAV application, especially if that UAV system protection such as using state variables in the
application serves multi UAVs or serves data processing and system, redundant detection systems and alarm systems
transfer. Also, communication is related to the UAV safety connected to the UAV ground control station and other
(more commonly for large UAVs and high complexity UAV techniques which need to be discussed technically.
systems [20]) for several reasons: Likewise there are some proposed methods to prevent UAV
hijacking. The methods of risk mitigation proposed by the
• Loss of voice communications between a UAV pilot and
Department of Defense (DoD) and Humphreys address the
Air Traffic Control (ATC)
prevention of hijacking. However, there is very little published
• Interruptions to voice communications between a UAV information regarding insurance options to detect and mitigate
pilot and ATC the effects of a hijacking [23]. An example of UAV hijacking
could look like a malware embedded during application
• Intelligibility and latency of voice communications development stages, spoofing attacks, manipulation of sensors.
between a UAV pilot and ATC In addition, it may look like non cyber-attacks such as radio
• Loss of command and control links between a UAV and waves interference, unit redirection manipulation of feed via
Ground Control Station (GCS) the hardware of control station. Other types of attacks also
include transmission of faulty data, gaining control to
• Interruption of command and control links between a manipulate and disable some functions. In parliamentary law to
UAV and ATC (due to system reliability) mitigate the effects of these hijacking scenarios the team used
the questions connected with risk management: What can be
One of the most significant issues in UAV
sufficed with the options that are usable? What are the
communications, which is the most fundamental between the
tradeoffs among all risks, benefits, and prices? What are the
UAV and ground station, is that the data link is lousy and
impacts of current conclusions on future choices? In general,
transient [21]. These effects should not require management by
the execution of a UAV hijacking detection system is
an application like the flight controller. So, the messaging layer
beneficial because it informs the operator that the vehicle was
should hide and resolve problems such as misplaced or out-of-
compromised. Drawbacks to the carrying out of such a system
order packets from the application layer. For instance,
include cost of implementation, cost of training the operator to
commands sent from the ground station to the UAV flight
utilize the system, potential load increase on the UAV, and the
computer, usually require confirmed result feedback to the
potential that the system would falsely identify or fail to
ground station.
identify a hijacking. An accurate detection system might allow
Security and Privacy: UAVs are in essence “tethered” to decision makers to take a more appropriate course of action in
ground-based links which are, in some cases, widely a hijacking situation. Examples of detection techniques and
distributed geographically. These connections are used for methods include data link, software and hardware encryption,
vehicle control, monitoring, and air traffic communications and pilot authentication, backup for control systems, physical
are, to varying degrees, vulnerable to jamming, spoofing, and tracking confirmation system.
interference or attempts to seize control. To prevent this, a
System Integration: System integration includes the UAV
system of high-integrity, secure data links between the aircraft,
system integration during the development stages and
the ground control stations, and the air traffic facilities is a
subsequently setting up the final product integration. In the
central requirement in approving UAV operations in a National
UAV industry, UAV system integration has a wide scope of
Air Space (NAS). Modern encryption and authentication
issues, challenges and definitions. In this part we cover topics
techniques including augmented version, may mitigate the
and challenges that concern the system integration in the
event [22]. Nevertheless, high power jamming will impose a
different phases of application development. System
risk even with advanced encryption and certification
integration involves the discernment of the application
technologies.
operational requirements in terms of software and hardware
Communications security depends on the frequency used, components and it also involves agreement of the UAV
the communications media, the encryption technology utilized, aerodynamics and system mechanisms. For example, to
and the associative properties of the communication combine measurements from a set of sensors contributing
connection. Typically, encryption with a lower frequency and towards a motion estimate, the spatial interpretation between
low bandwidth poses more of an issue than higher more pricy the sensors has to be known precisely [24]. Therefore there
frequencies and bandwidths. In that respect, there is also a must be some synchronization between sensors, hardware and
UAV platforms. Otherwise, there will be some delays in data Energy: Power is considered as the core of any autonomous
capturing. Another challenge that needs to be considered system, in case of UAVs it is considered a big challenge when
during the system integration is the system integration with the it comes to UAV applications development. Some research and
regulatory framework. The US Federal Aviation Authority approaches are undergoing to address and solve the power
(FAA) summarizes the issues as follows[25]. related matters and issues. The quick growth of the UAVs
market pushed many firms and organizations to find solutions
1. UAVs must operate safely, efficiently, and compatible with for the power issues. The U.S. naval science and technology
service providers and other users of the NAS so that strategic plan [28] has been applied in the military. It suggests
overall safety is not taken down that there must be a focus on alternative power sources; the
2. UAVs will receive admittance to the NAS, provided they development of more efficient power storages solutions; the
have appropriate equipage and the power to fulfill the design of energy efficient components, processes, and
requirements for flying in various categories of airspace algorithms; and the design of compact, low power perception
and mapping for different types of UAVs.
3. Routine UAV operations will not involve the institution of
new special use airspace or alteration of existing special The weight of a UAV thus its power needs is determined
use airspace by the payload, type of sensors and the application
specifications and requirements. However, there are some
4. Except for some peculiar events, such as small UAVs limitations in UAVs power abilities which can lead to some
(Suez) with a very limited operational range, all UAVs shortages in their tasks. Such issues may lead to failure of
will require the design and airworthiness certification to UAVs development and growth, since the power requirements
fly civil operations in the NAS are deferring from one application to another. Due to such
5. UAVs pilots will require certification, though some of the issues the United States Air Force (USAF) attempted to retire
requirements may differ from manned aviation the RQ-4B drone; however, the decision was opposed by the
US congress [29], with the growth of research on power saving
6. UAVs will comply with ATC instructions, clearances, and solutions we expect the availability of these solutions soon.
procedures when receiving air traffic services
System Autonomy: The main aim of any UAV system is to
7. UAVs pilots (the pilot-in-command) will always have the provide full autonomy for its components to achieve its goals.
responsibility for the UAV while it is operating Any autonomous system must meet minimum requirements
8. UAVs commercial operations will demand to give the [30] which are:
operational control concept as appropriate for the type of 1. Without a driver error, high safety
functioning, but with different functions applicable to
UAS operations. 2. Less mobility of human element
In addition, integration issues also concern the sensors 3. Less traffic flow, in shell of both UAV and Unmanned
integration, since the sensors are the core component for data ground vehicles
capturing. Inertial sensors (INS) are often affected by bias, drift 4. Must meet low costs in terms of building, planning and
and noise and are prone to sensor based navigation errors. operating
Moreover, by using the INS alone the vehicle cannot reduce its
errors and needs external information about its absolute 5. Fuel efficiency can be increased and alternative energy
position [26]. Therefore some research uses algorithms to sources facilitated
avoid such problems. One of the very important elements 6. Occupy less physical spaces.
of the communication system dedicated for exchanging
information between a UAV and the operator is the antenna The autonomy in unmanned systems is divided into four
system. This system consists of two antennas, each for a categories:
communication subsystem. Due to constructional reasons the
antennas might be mounted on the fuselage, whereas the 1. Remote control and tele-operated - A human operator
wings are destined for fuel tanks, hence the antenna controls a robotic vehicle from a distance. The human
integration need to consider the hardware and body structure to performs all of the cognitive processes. The onboard
avoid any errors and defects [27]. The system integration sensors and communications enable the operator to see the
issues are mainly concerned with communication protocols, location and movement of the UAV within its
surroundings and its on-board effectors enable the human
techniques and devices. Another very important requirement is
that the transmission delay including the processing time in the to act on the information it supplies.
transmitter and receiver modules should not exceed 100ms. 2. Semi-autonomous - These systems have advanced
The transmission should be encrypted using the AES128 navigation, obstacle avoidance, and data fusion
encryption protocol and the modules should ensure proper capabilities that minimize the need for operator interaction
operation at ambient temperatures from 30° to +50° C and (e.g. to achieve point-to-point mobility or target point).
relative humidity of up to 95%. An Important limitation is the They also have sufficient on-board processing to conform
maximum size of the modules (limited due to the available free to simple changes in objectives designated by an operator.
space in the UAV) and the weight.
3. Platform-centric autonomous - A fully autonomous UAV
can undertake complex tasks/missions, gaining data from
 other sources as needed. Alternatively, it can respond to In UAV application development, many challenges occur
additional commands from a controller without the need from different aspects. During development and in the post
for further guidance. development stage, the challenges related to integration,
4. Net-centric autonomous - These collections of UAVs have power, resource management and communication must be
sufficient autonomy to function as independent nodes in a addressed.
Network Centric Warfare (NCW) engagement, in case of Project planning is a core key of success for developing
military applications. They should be capable of getting UAV applications. Project planning is a form of operational
data from the web, incorporating it in their mission planning [34], whereby the consecutive steps to implement the
planning and implementation, and reacting to other project activities are carefully mapped out based on an
information requests, including the resolution of analysis of relevant information and linked to the program in
conflicting instructions. which the project takes place and to which it should
contribute. Essentially, project planning involves establishing
The primary challenge in autonomy is the interaction
between humans and the unmanned system like the UAV. the scope, aims and objectives of a project, the way in which
Achieving a high degree of autonomy requires high system the project will be performed, the roles and responsibilities of
integration and high communication techniques with very high those involved, and the time and cost estimates. Planning
communication throughput. Another problem in this area is the entails a series of decisions, from general and strategic
interaction between the vehicles and the ground controller decisions to specific operational ones, based on the gathering
which is related to the human decision-making process on the and analysis of information. The field of planning
system performance, in general to reach high levels of encompasses a broad range of different approaches, including
autonomy, high levels of communication and integration is strategic planning, program planning and operational
highly required. This duality in the levels of automation planning. Therefore, such issues need to be addressed in future
presents a problem for the UAV application developer [31]. work to find solutions for it. In addition, other challenges need
to be considered such as the standards, licensing and lack of
V. DISCUSSION simulation platforms and environments. Middleware is
Complex systems are primarily independent networked considered a valuable solution for UAV development issues.
systems featuring the capabilities integrate systems, products However, it is not easy to develop a middleware that will meet
and services to achieve the required goals. The breadth of the many requirements in terms of considering the UAV
complex systems facilitates integration of technological, characteristics and different application architectures as well
human, cultural, environmental and political arrangements. as the required specifications for the middleware [35].
The survey of complex systems is used in both the innovation Middleware can provide the following features and
and entrepreneurship and project management fields. UAV advantages for UAV application developments:
applications are considered complex systems due to many 1. Offers tools and functions to simplify the development of
reasons as they [32]: collaborative UAV applications
1. Usually consist of adaptive systems of systems 2. Offers high-level abstractions and interfaces to facilitate
2. Have high uncertainty in scope definition UAV application integration, reuse, and development
3. Are distributed 3. Hides the heterogeneity of the UAV devices, platforms
4. Have ongoing environmental and internal turbulence and operating environments
5. Are implemented through wave planning 4. Hides the distribution and communication details in the
6. Cannot be easily decomposed to elements with clearly environment
defined boundaries 5. Facilitates the communications among the different
Many challenges may arise in the future, since the UAVs components of the UAV systems
are targeted to be fully autonomous. UAV are considered as a 6. Provides common services for general purpose functions
special case, since its complexity is all about sensors, images needed by different UAV applications to reduce the
processing, working on networked vehicles and connections development efforts and avoid duplication of services
with the ground stations and other services. With the correct 7. Provides a common architecture to add new services and
resource allocation and management techniques, efficient features without having to change the UAV applications
power solutions, and enhanced middleware systems, we can 8. Offers value-added features and nonfunctional properties
guarantee a well-functioning system. However, more issues such as security, reliability, and quality of services
and aspects need more effort to address like a management 9. Supplies the necessary tools to enhance the performance
framework for developing UAV solutions. Many issues and increase the stability, safety and scalability of the
concern software project management. Those issues include collaborative UAV applications
Risk assessment and mitigation, software architecture,
requirements engineering, testing, quality assurance standards, To design a middleware framework, many challenges and
configuration, software metrics and best practices in project issues need to be considered such as QoS, hardware resources,
management. In case of UAV’s applications development changes in network topology and size, heterogeneity, network
such issues need to be considered in order to guarantee a high organization, application knowledge, security and integration
quality application with a very good performance. with other systems. Furthermore, the middleware design may
include advanced services such as collaborative sensing, that have the ability to reduce the weight of the UAV
collaborative acting, collaborative communication, significantly. The future work may include the development of
collaborative data processing, collaborative data storage and effective simulation frameworks, platforms and standards,
collaborative control. Usage and deployment of an advanced project management frameworks and usage of projects
middleware for UAVs can reduce the cost of development, management software in managing UAV applications
deployment, and operations. A new and advanced approach in development.
middleware technologies is the use of service-oriented ACKNOWLEDGMENT
middleware (SOM) [36]. This approach has already been
proven to simplify the implementation as well as help in relax This work is supported in part by UAEU-NRF Research grant
the project management issues of a number of industrial number 3IT045.
domains. It was used for wireless sensor networks [37],
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Roadmap,” U.S Department of Transportation, 2013. Ahmed Idries is an MSc candidate at College of Information Technology,
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management, project management, industrial systems management and
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knowledge management and current technology trends. He graduated from
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Limkokwing Univeristy of Creative Technology, Malaysia in 2011. His
Automation (MED), Crete, Greece, pp. 513-518, 2013.
Current research is about managing risks of UAV application development.
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on Marine Navigation and Safety of Sea Transportation, vol. 7, no. College of Information Technology, UAEU, Al-Ain, UAE. He obtained his
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O. Oluwatala, “Autonomous Vehicle Technology - A Guide for several years. He has published numerous papers in international journals,
conference proceedings and book chapters. Dr. Jawhar worked at Motorola as
Policymakers,” RAND Corporation’ Policy Guide RR-443-1, 2014.
engineering task leader involved in the design and development of world's
[31] A. Finn and S. Scheding, “Developments and Challenges for
leading communication products and systems. His current research focuses on
Autonomous Unmanned Vehicles -A Compendium,” 3rd ed., L. C. the areas of wireless networks and mobile computing, sensor networks,
J. Janusz Kacprzyk, Ed. Sydney, Australia: Springer-Verlag Berlin routing protocols, distributed and multimedia systems.
Heidelberg, 2010.
[32] International center for complex Projects Management / Dept. of Farhan Mohamed is currently a Master’s student at the College of
Defense Australia, “Complex Project Manager Competency Information Technology in United Arab Emirates University specializing in
Standards,” International Center for Complex Projects IT Management. He obtained his Bachelor in Management Information
Systems from UAEU, Al Ain, UAE. Currently he is working on a trust based
Management / Dept. of Defense Australia, Canbeera, standards
protocol for efficient UAV communications. His area of interests lies in Smart
report, 2012.
Cities, UAVs and image and pattern recognition.
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(ed.), Handbook of Software Engineering and Knowledge Jameela Al-Jaroodi received her PhD. in Computer Science from the
Engineering Vol.2 – Emerging Technologies, World Scientific University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA in 2004 and joined Stevens Institute of
Publishing Co., Singapore, pp. 419-446, 2002. technology, New Jersey, USA as a research assistant professor. In 2006 she
[34] European Commission,” Managing Project,”, Available at: moved to the College of Information Technology at UAEU, UAE as an
[Link] assistant professor and later she became an independent researcher. Her
[Accessed 24 May 2014] research interests involve middleware, distributed systems, and Cloud
[35] N. Mohamed, J. Al-Jaroodi, I. Jawhar, S. L.-Molnar, “Middleware Computing. She published over 100 refereed articles in international Journals
Requirements for Collaborative Unmanned Aerial Vehicles ,” in and conferences.

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