The VUSIL program (“Validierung von UAS zur Integration in den Luftraum” in German) has developed a concept for the integration of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) into uncontrolled nonsegregated airspace, which is also used by manned civil aviation.
For the integration of UAS it is necessary for the unmanned aircraft (UA) pilot to be aware of the surrounding traffic in order to recognize and resolve possible conflicts. In the VUSIL program, the surrounding traffic was indicated on a display in the pilot ground control station (GCS), based on radar data provided by the Air Navigation Service Provider (ANSP).
In addition, the pilot was supported by means of a “detect and avoid” tool in detecting potential conflicts. This tool shows conflicts and possible avoidance maneuvers on a separate display. To validate the integration concept, two flight campaigns with two different UAS (helicopter and fixed-wing UAS), and several intruders were conducted.
In the first flight campaign, the intruders for the real flying UAS were simulated. In the second flight campaign, the intruder was a manned helicopter. The concept has been validated by the results of both flight campaigns and by a safety analysis.
The latter has addressed demonstrating the equivalent level of safety (ELOS) of “see and avoid” in manned aviation and “detect and avoid” as developed in the VUSIL program.
Test Flights to Demonstrate Effectiveness of a Ground-Based Detect and Avoid Integration Concept
Handbook of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles ; Chapter : 65 ; 1873-1894
2014-08-09
22 pages
Article/Chapter (Book)
Electronic Resource
English