Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UASs) emerge as new possibility for civil and military aircraft applications, without having the need for a pilot onboard the aircraft. Although there is great potential, there is also the need to show that the introduction in nonsegregated airspace can be done without endangering other (manned) traffic. In this chapter the most promising candidate solutions for Detect and Avoid (DAA) for use of UAS in nonsegregated airspace are assessed against a set of DAA requirements. A DAA solution is the combination of the sensor suite, the avoidance algorithms, and the method of operation. The functions of a DAA solution are collision avoidance and, in uncontrolled airspace, separation provision. The focus of this chapter is the detection of conflicting traffic by the sensor suite. The sensor suite needs to be able to detect different classes of conflicting traffic in varying environments. Requirements for DAA solutions have to be set, and DAA systems must then be developed to meet these requirements.
ATM requirements for use of UAS in nonsegregated airspace have been drafted by EUROCONTROL (2007). This set includes a subset of requirements that are directly or indirectly of influence on the sensor suite used to Detect and Avoid other traffic. This subset is used as baseline for the establishment of DAA requirements and expanded by development of five additional generic requirements based on the main tasks of a DAA solution: (1) detection of other traffic, (2) tracking of other traffic and assessing if there is a conflict, (3) if there is a conflict, determining which evasive maneuver is to be executed, and (4) executing the selected maneuver. Five candidate solutions are assessed against the requirements: a noncooperative solution, a cooperative solution, and three solutions mixing cooperative and noncooperative sensors.
Overall it is concluded that it is a great challenge to develop a collision avoidance solution for UAS with a satisfactory level of safety. It is even more difficult to develop a DAA system that is capable of both collision avoidance and separation provision. Therefore, collision avoidance is considered a first step in developing DAA solutions for UAS, restricting the operations to flights in controlled airspace with ATC providing separation at all times. It is recommended to continue to develop suitable methods to perform the safety analysis for introduction of UAS equipped with DAA solutions in nonsegregated airspace.
Assessment of Detect and Avoid Solutions for Use of Unmanned Aircraft Systems in Nonsegregated Airspace
Handbook of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles ; Chapter : 70 ; 1955-1979
2014-08-09
25 pages
Article/Chapter (Book)
Electronic Resource
English
Detect and Avoid for Unmanned Aircraft in Very Low Level Airspace
Springer Verlag | 2021
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