Performance measurement of unmanned aerial vehicles to suit industrial applications

Abstract For the measurement and technical evaluation of industrial robots, a test procedure defined in ISO 9283 has existed for 25 years, with which the performance criteria of industrial robots relevant to users, e.g., path accuracy, pose accuracy, or position overshoot, can be measured. The specified test procedure and defined operating and environmental conditions are to be adhered to enable comparability of the tested robotic systems. In the production environment, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are increasingly being utilized for tasks such as material transportation and surveillance. However, for these applications, which are currently the subject of considerable discussion, UAVs must also adhere to industrial standards regarding performance criteria. To ensure that these performance criteria are met across all manufacturers, a defined test procedure for UAVs is required in which all relevant performance criteria can be determined based on ISO 9283. This article will, therefore, first conduct the test procedure for a UAV under ISO 9283 and examine the transferability of the standard for performance measurement of UAVs in detail. However, evaluating the measurements suggests that the procedure defined in ISO 9283 is not fully transferable to UAVs as measurements do not fully cover the potential strengths or weaknesses of UAVs regarding the test procedure. The article concludes by discussing modifications to the test procedure and thus suggesting establishing a standardized procedure for UAVs. This procedure should enable the acquisition of performance criteria and might function as a safety benchmark before operating UAVs.