Blockchain and NFT-based digital passports for UAV preoperational certification

Abstract

Digital passports for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are used to create a unified system for tracking and identifying UAVs, which ensures compliance and security. A digital passport holds details like the owner's information, drone model, and activity history, thereby enabling easy tracking and identification of UAVs. However, the absence of decentralized and secure digital passport management systems for UAVs makes it challenging to ensure tamper-proof records and transparent ownership verification across borders. This paper proposes a proof of concept for a decentralized blockchain and Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs)-based digital passport to improve the transparency, traceability, trust, and security of UAV preoperational certifications. The proposed solution secures UAVs' preoperational stages such as design, manufacturing, and distribution, integrating best practices from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) for standardized compliance. The proposed NFT-based digital passport consolidates certification records into a single verifiable document, providing access to compliance history. Four smart contracts are developed to enforce role-based access control, and off-chain decentralized storage using the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) is employed to manage large UAV records. Evaluation through implementation and testing demonstrates the solution's effectiveness in managing UAV certification workflows and enforcing regulatory compliance. Security analysis shows robustness against unauthorized modifications and common vulnerabilities, while cost analysis assesses deployment viability across multiple blockchain networks. A comparison of the proposed solution with existing UAV compliance and certification frameworks shows that it effectively fills the gap by addressing preoperational certification. The smart contract code is publicly available on GitHub.