The purpose of this thesis was to implement an Model Predictive Control based system identification method on a micro-aerial vehicle (DJI Matrice 100) as outlined in a study performed by ETH Zurich. Through limited test flights, data was obtained that allowed for the generation of first and second order system models. The first order models were robust, but the second order model fell short due to the fact that the data used for the model was not sufficient.

abstract: ABSTRACT Although the US government has been using remotely piloted aircraft (RPA), more commonly referred to as drones, to conduct military strikes against terrorists and insurgents since at least 2001, only around 2011 did media outlets and polling organizations began assessing the attitudes of Americans towards the use of drones as a weapon of war. Initially, public support for drone strikes was robust with nearly 70 percent of Americans expressing approval. As the discussion of drone strikes intensified however, public support declined over 10 percentage points. Only a handful of studies have examined public opinion and drone strikes, and all have focused exclusively on explaining support. This study seeks to fill this gap in the literature and explain opposition to drone strikes. The primary argument put forth in this dissertation is that people’s beliefs determine their opinions, and their morality determines their beliefs. Although independent opinion formation is often considered a cognitive process, I argue that, at least in the case of drone strikes, the opinion formation process is largely an affective one. By examining media coverage and elite discourse surrounding drone strikes, I isolate three narratives which I believe communicate certain messages to the public regarding drone strikes. I argue that the messages produced by elite discourse and disseminated by the media to the public are only influential on opinion formation once they have been converted to beliefs. I further argue that conversion of message to belief is largely dependent on individual moral attitudes. To test my arguments, I conduct a survey-experiment using subjects recruited from Arizona State University’s School of Politics and Global Studies student subject pool. My research findings lead to two key conclusions. First, opposition to drone strikes is largely the product of the belief(s) that drone strikes are not necessary for protecting the United States from terrorist attack, and that drone strikes kill more civilians than do strikes from conventional aircraft. Second, whether an individual expresses support or opposition to drone strikes, moral attitudes are a relatively good predictor of both beliefs and disposition. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Political Science 2019

The military conflicts of the early 21st century have seen the introduction and rise of a new military technology: the armed drone. With the United States acting as the driving force behind this technological advancement, the U.S Air Force and intelligence agency CIA have madedrones their weapon of choice for pursuing suspected terrorists and insurgents in various remotelocations. American military leaders and policy makers assert that the armed drone’s high levelof accuracy make it the best available weapons platform for this task. However, new researchshows that the use of drones may result in more civilian casualties than previously thought, andmay in fact be more fallible than conventional aircraft in this respect. This paper examines this discrepancy between rhetoric and practice, and attempts to find potential causes for this in the development and early use of the first armed drone, the MQ-1 Predator. The paper cites statements from President Barack Obama and CIA director John Brennan and contrasts them with a recent research report on drone-caused civilian casualties, as well as examples of drone strikes where the wrong targets were struck. The analysis of the development and early use of the Predator Drone draws comparisons to Donald Mackenzie’s account of the development of accuracy for cold-war-era intercontinental ballistic missiles, applying the science and technology-concepts he uses to the case of the armed drone. The paper concludes with the argument that the accuracy of the early armed drones is fundamentally misunderstood or overestimated by U.S leaders, and that there are circumstances in the development-history of the system that may have contributed to this inconsistency.

The use of Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles (UCAV) or drones have in recent yearsbecome the modus operandi of US counterterrorism strategy to eliminate sought out terrorists.Since the initiation of systematic drone strikes in Pakistan 2004, their use has increased andalso expanded into other countries. In 2012 Yemen experienced equal levels of strikes asPakistan. Thirteen years have passed since the “war on terror” began and although Osama binLaden has been killed, al-Qaeda still prevails and might be expanding. This study examines apossible spread of al-Qaeda from Pakistan to Yemen, since the initiation of drone strikes, byprocess tracing. Building on the literature of al-Qaeda, counterterrorism and UCAV, the aimhas been to analyze drone strikes affect on terrorism by tracing al-Qaeda’s development.Findings suggest there are indications of a spread from al-Qaeda in Pakistan to Yemen,although further research is required to confirm uncertainties in the material.

The use of Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles (UCAV) or drones have in recent years become the modus operandi of US counterterrorism strategy to eliminate sought out terrorists.Since the initiation of systematic drone strikes in Pakistan 2004, their use has increased andalso expanded into other countries. In 2012 Yemen experienced equal levels of strikes asPakistan. Thirteen years have passed since the “war on terror” began and although Osama bin Laden has been killed, al-Qaeda still prevails and might be expanding. This study examines apossible spread of al-Qaeda from Pakistan to Yemen, since the initiation of drone strikes, byprocess tracing. Building on the literature of al-Qaeda, counterterrorism and UCAV, the aimhas been to analyze drone strikes affect on terrorism by tracing al-Qaeda’s development.Findings suggest there are indications of a spread from al-Qaeda in Pakistan to Yemen,although further research is required to confirm uncertainties in the material.

Submitted by PLINIO SAULO SIMÕES (pliniosaulosimoes@hotmail.com) on 2018-06-08T16:35:45Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Simões, Plinio Saulo.pdf: 2393743 bytes, checksum: 21c1d7219ce800d7f62a9b0fe0521340 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Maria Lucia Martins Frederico null (mlucia@fca.unesp.br) on 2018-06-08T17:31:05Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 simoes_pf_dr_botfca.pdf: 2327047 bytes, checksum: 127a2ae938111ffda628a2e377bb0cf0 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-06-08T17:31:05Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 simoes_pf_dr_botfca.pdf: 2327047 bytes, checksum: 127a2ae938111ffda628a2e377bb0cf0 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-04-05 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / O objetivo geral foi avaliar a eficácia de controle e seletividade do herbicida indaziflam, o potencial de controle em solos orgânicos com alta infestação de Panicum dichotomiflorum e o efeito da competição da espécie de planta daninha P. dichotomiflorum com a cultura da cana-de-açúcar em diferentes profundidades de lençol freático (PLF). O trabalho foi redigido em três capítulos. Para realização do experimento do capítulo 1, realizado no Brasil, foram utilizados os tratamentos testemunha; testemunha capinada; indaziflam nas dosagens 75; 150 e 300 g i.a ha-1; e as combinaçãos: indaziflam + metribuzim; tebuthiuron + ametrina; amicarbazone + clomazone; tebuthiuron + isoxaflutole. Avaliou-se, fitotoxidade, controle de plantas daninhas, características biométricas, produtivas e tecnológicas da cana-de-açúcar. No capítulo 2, realizado nos Estados Unidos da América, os tratamentos foram indaziflam nas dosagens de 0; 84,8; 170,04; 254,92 e 340,09 g i.a ha-1. No controle do P.dichotomiflorum sendo avaliado aos 44, 67 e 87 dias após a aplicação (DAA) e número de plantas por parcela aos 67 DAA. Aos 67 e 87 DAA foram realizadas imagens aéreas para estimativa de porcentagem de cobertura (nível de infestação) do P. dichotomiflorum com o uso de drone e trabalhadas em dois softwares (DroneDeploy e ImageJ). No capítulo 3, também realizado nos Estados Unidos da América, os tratamentos consistiram na cultura da cana-de-açúcar com ausência e presença do P. dichotomiflorum em competição, em três diferentes PLF, sendo elas: 0, 16, 40 cm, em duas texturas de solo. Avaliou-se máxima eficiência quântica do FSII (FV/FM), índice SPAD, altura de plantas, e índice de área foliar (IAF) aos 7, 23, 37, 48 e 67 dias após o início dos tratamentos (DAT). Aos 67 DAT foram avaliados os teores de clorofila a, b e carotenoides, número de perfilhos, e massa de matéria seca de colmos e folhas da cana-de-açúcar e de P. dichotomiflorum. No capítulo 1, o herbicida indaziflam foi eficaz no controle de plantas daninhas nos três anos de avaliação e não foi observada nenhuma injúria ou diferença entre os parâmetros produtivos em todos os tratamentos utilizados. No capítulo 2, o indaziflam foi eficaz no controle de P. dichotomiflorum até os 67 DAA com a maior dosagem utilizada. E o método de avaliação de cobertura vegetal, a partir de imagens aéreas, apresentou boa correlação com os resultados de controle e número de planta, e o software ImageJ pode ser utilizado como alternativa ao DroneDeploy para a análise de imagens aéreas e estimativa de nível de infestação. No capítulo 3, a competição afetou de maneira acentuada o desenvolvimento inicial da cana-de-açúcar e o melhor desenvolvimento da cultura foi observado a 16 cm de PLF.

This thesis approaches the study of the (aerial) military and non-military drone through an examination of the communities that variously compel and propel it into action: that culturally constitute it. Employing the term ‘proponent communities’, this thesis approaches the drone through an empiric-led exploration of such actors, those including: manufacturers, industry, regulators, governments, militaries, trade associations and end users. These proponent communities are accessed through fieldwork at three central sites, namely military and non-military tradeshows, military conferences, and through the completion of numerous industry educational courses. Whilst by no means a homogenous group, such communities remain important in crafting, composing, (re)producing and circulating both technical and cultural knowledges of the drone. In approaching the drone’s cultural constitution, the thesis pursues two distinct analytic foci. First, in response to the tendency of extant scholarship to focus upon what the functioning drone does and its implications, thus treating it like a ‘black box’, the thesis ‘opens’ the drone through an exploration of particular proponent cultures through which it is instituted. Examining both the role of military drone operators and the employment of drones with multi-sensory payloads in emergency service settings, over two chapters the thesis explores the cultures through which the drone comes to function in framing that below it. Second, the thesis explores a series of mechanisms through which the drone is articulated, visualized and otherwise legitimated as a tool, asset, and commodity within military and non-military drone tradeshows. In approaching the drone at the tradeshow, the thesis expands extant analyses of the drone by considering its cultural constitution at such hitherto unexamined sites of consumption. In approaching the cultural constitution of the drone through these two strands of investigation the thesis offers three contributions. First, in working within a research context punctuated with access limitations, the thesis opens up different windows of access at which drone proponent communities gather, form, and (re)compose drone knowledges. Second, in approaching the drone at sites in which it is instituted and traded, the thesis engages with both proponent knowledges of employment, and articulations of expectation and potential therein. It demonstrates that such an engagement facilitates the challenging of several dominant and entrenched narratives surrounding the drone, variously revealing them as inadequate, fractured, or fantastical. Third, whilst the main contribution of this thesis is to geographies, and the wider interdisciplinary field, of drone scholarship, the thesis argues for, and demonstrates the value of, engaging with alternative geographical literatures in developing its argumentation. In situating the drone within such wider discussions and landscapes the thesis thus productively develops distinct frameworks through which to conceptually and empirically engage with the drone.

From 2004 to the present the United States Government has employed drones for cross-border law enforcement purposes in the sovereign territory of Pakistan. Various opinions exist as to whether the US is justified in its intrusion into the territory of another sovereign state. Matters regarding to both the integrity of territorial sovereignty and the use of force by a foreign country within the sovereign domain of another state are confirmed by both customary and treaty law. The United States and Pakistan are both parties to the two treaties that enshrine the principle of sovereignty - the UN Charter and the Chicago Convention of 1944. Drones are being used increasingly by governments and private individuals for a host of reasons, ranging from military aggression to aerial recreation. They fulfil various military and useful other tasks, with the result that they are becoming increasingly indispensable. But, as with all technological innovations, the beneficial aspects of these inventions are counterbalanced by the aggressive and destructive use that can be made of them. Some see the employment of drones for military purposes, such as the elimination of terrorist leaders linked to Al Qaeda in Pakistan, as preferable to whole scale destructive warfare. By the same token though, the argument can be made that the reasoning offered to justify intrusions into the sovereign territory of another state is insubstantial to the point of being dispensable and that the abuse of drones as weapons on these insubstantial grounds thereby becomes a real threat to civilised society and to international peace and security. The purpose - and burden - of this study are to debate the legality and the justifications for the use of drones for law enforcement (seemingly military) purposes by the United States in the sovereign territory of Pakistan. A clear view of the permissibility and legality of this campaign in Pakistan is of considerable consequence to other countries that could find their sovereignty compromised. Two essential ‘tools’ used to establish legal clarity in this matter are the Chicago Convention of 1944 and the UN Charter of 1945. The relevant provisions of these international agreements will therefore be studied in detail. Both these conventions were signed by Pakistan and the United States, and both contain provisions protecting the territorial integrity and sovereignty of states. Reference will additionally be made to the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties in order to interpret the provisions of the Chicago Convention which is viewed by some as appropriate to regulate drone warfare. The writer intends to use this Convention to show that the applicability of the Chicago Convention may be open to dispute and that, instead, cross-border drone operations and the protection of aerial sovereignty depend on the purport of article 2(4) of the UN Charter and the customary principle of aerial sovereignty. Therefore, the need to thoroughly examine and understand the concepts of the so-called ‘war on terror’ and the principle of preemptive self-defence is considered critical for the purpose in hand, as the United States uses these elements as justification for their infringement of Pakistani sovereign territory and their cross-border use of force in drone operations. These matters will, therefore, receive appropriate attention by reference to the relevant provisions in the UN Charter as well as the principles set out in international case law dealing with the subject matter. / Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / gm2015 / Centre for Human Rights / LLM / Unrestricted

abstract: The current study aims to explore factors affecting trust in human-drone collaboration. A current gap exists in research surrounding civilian drone use and the role of trust in human-drone interaction and collaboration. Specifically, existing research lacks an explanation of the relationship between drone pilot experience, trust, and trust-related behaviors as well as other factors. Using two dimensions of trust in human-automation team—purpose and performance—the effects of experience on drone design and trust is studied to explore factors that may contribute to such a model. An online survey was conducted to examine civilian drone operators’ experience, familiarity, expertise, and trust in commercially available drones. It was predicted that factors of prior experience (familiarity, self-reported expertise) would have a significant effect on trust in drones. The choice to use or exclude the drone propellers in a search-and-identify scenario, paired with the pilots’ experience with drones, would further confirm the relevance of the trust dimensions of purpose versus performance in the human-drone relationship. If the pilot has a positive sense of purpose and benevolence with the drone, the pilot trusts the drone has a positive intent towards them and the task. If the pilot has trust in the performance of the drone, they ascertain that the drone has the skill to do the task. The researcher found no significant differences between mean trust scores across levels of familiarity, but did find some interaction between self-report expertise, familiarity, and trust. Future research should further explore more concrete measures of situational participant factors such as self-confidence and expertise to understand their role in civilian pilots’ trust in their drone. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Human Systems Engineering 2019

History has shown that assassination could be wielded as an effective weapon in the pursuit of interest, security and power. As the feudal age neared its end in Europe, nation states emerged. Despite its pragmatic usefulness, assassination was considered unfit for this new form of governance. States no longer sought to destroy one another as predicted by Thomas Hobbes, but adhered to John Locke's proposed values, which believed that states could mutually exist as rivals. In this system which favored negotiation and settlements, it was difficult for assassination to have a place. Yet at the start of the 21st century, assassination once again saw employment. As of today, it is preferably referred to as targeted killing by its employers and has become somewhat of a 'new normal.' Clearly, there must be certain permissive catalysts that allowed this to happen. This master's thesis firstly explores the ways the United States, Israel and Russia conduct their assassination/targeted killing operations to present the unique ways these states eliminate their enemies, and secondly pinpoints the permissive causes that allowed these three super and great powers of assassination to transform the international norm against assassination and turn a dishonest, immoral practice into something more acceptable and fit...