UAS and Crewed Aircraft Autonomy

Describe the levels of automation and how they are applied to UAS operations:    
As touched upon in UASE 501, one example of the classification of the levels of automation in UAS operations is described in Wang & Liu (2012). The paper presents 3 different tables of 3 different methods to classify automation. The first is the Sheridan's method which is the most general in terms of application. It can be for UAS, or Mars Rovers, or an assembly line. The second method was developed by NASA for High Altitude Long Endurance or HALE UAS. The last one is developed by Draper Laboratory for UAS operations.
    






Are there different considerations for crewed versus UAS operations when it comes to UAS? Why or why not?
I think there are different considerations. For example, a crewed aircraft by definition carries humans on-board, meaning there is a safety consideration for those on-board as well as those on the ground. Also, for crewed aircraft, they have the safety net of a human being able to take manual control over the flight controls in case the automated system malfunctions or fails. 

Do you think that the aviation industry currently uses the appropriate amount, too little or too much automation?
The current aviation industry uses the appropriate amount of automation for our current technological capability. As we continue to develop, test, and validate better software and hardware, as well as the infrastructure to support more automation (think NextGen or TCAS-II), we definitely have more room to expand automated capability. 
So to sum it up, no we don't have enough automation from a potential capability standpoint, but yes we have an appropriate amount of automation for a current capability standpoint. 


References:
Wang, Y., & Liu, J. (2012). Evaluation methods for the autonomy of unmanned systems [Review of Evaluation methods for the autonomy of unmanned systems]. Chinese Science Bulletin, 57(26). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-012-5183-2

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