Uas Integration in the NAS Project: Flight Test 3 Data Analysis of Jadem-Autoresolver Detect and Avoid System

by National Aeronautics and Space Administration

The Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration in the National Airspace System project, or UAS Integration in the NAS, aims to reduce technical barriers related to safety and operational challenges associated with enabling routine UAS access to the NAS. The UAS Integration in the NAS Project conducted a flight test activity, referred to as Flight Test 3 (FT3), involving several Detect-and-Avoid (DAA) research prototype systems between June 15, 2015 and August 12, 2015 at the Armstrong Flight Research Center (AFRC). This report documents the flight testing and analysis results for the NASA Ames-developed JADEM-Autoresolver DAA system, referred to as 'Autoresolver' herein. Four flight test days (June 17, 18, 22, and July 22) were dedicated to Autoresolver testing. The objectives of this test were as follows: 1. Validate CPA prediction accuracy and detect-and-avoid (DAA, formerly known as self-separation) alerting logic in realistic flight conditions. 2. Validate DAA trajectory model including maneuvers. 3. Evaluate TCAS/DAA interoperability. 4. Inform final Minimum Operating Performance Standards (MOPS). Flight test scenarios were designed to collect data to directly address the objectives 1-3. Objective 4, inform final MOPS, was a general objective applicable to the UAS in the NAS project as a whole, of which flight test is a subset. This report presents analysis results completed in support of the UAS in the NAS project FT3 data review conducted on October 20, 2015. Due to time constraints and, to a lesser extent, TCAS data collection issues, objective 3 was not evaluated in this analysis. Gong, Chester and Wu, Minghong G. and Santiago, Confesor Ames Research Center AUTOMATIC CONTROL; COLLISION AVOIDANCE; DATA PROCESSING; DETECTION; FLIGHT TESTS; INTEROPERABILITY; NATIONAL AIRSPACE SYSTEM; PERFORMANCE PREDICTION; PERFORMANCE TESTS; SYSTEMS INTEGRATION; UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS; APPROACH CONTROL; FLIGHT SAFETY; GUIDANCE SENSORS; OBJECT-ORIENTED PROGRAMMING; OPERATIONAL PROBLEMS; PILOTLESS AIRCRAFT; TRAFFIC CONTROL

30 pages, Paperback

Published May 22, 2018

About the author

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research.