SBIR-STTR Award

UAVs are perceived as a risk to existing aviation. Specifically it is assumed that a UAV cannot be flown in such a way as to react to collision avoidance situations in the same manner as a manned aircraft. It is further assumed that there are no costs in terms of dollars or in terms of general safety incurred by not allowing UAVs to fly. There are however significant costs incurred by not using UAVs for domestic missions and these costs can be quantified so that they can be considered as offsets for equipment or operational changes required to safely fly UAVs with general aviation. The FAA has indicated that before certifying a UAV for flight the UAV must be capable of collision avoidance in such a way as to be indistinguishable from a human operator. A sense and avoid system that can react to hazardous situations in the same manner as a human pilot will be developed and integrated into small UAVs so they can meet the FAA requirements and begin being implemented fully into the national defense strategy.

Keywords:
Uav, Collision Avoidance, Radar, Sensor, Signature, Scan

For UAVs to share airspace with manned aircraft they must be capable of reacting to collision avoidance situations in a manner indistinguishable from manned aircraft. Additionally since it is unlikely that manned aircraft will willingly adapt new equipment requirements it must further be assumed that UAVs must accomplish this task without requiring manned aircraft to carry anything other than what they are currently equipped with. This effort aims to provide a solution for UAVs to interact with manned aircraft through standard voice radio. Manned aircraft routinely communicate their position and intended maneuvers over voice radios so improve situational awareness of those they share airspace with. Since UAVs cannot understand natural language radio transmissions a new type of radio direction finder will be used to locate aircraft based on short voice radio transmissions. The UAV will be outfitted with a standard radio modified to broadcast the UAVs position and intended maneuvers. Additionally the UAV will broadcast a request for response from nearby aircraft. These responses will allow the UAV to radio locate and if needed track the aircraft in the vicinity. The track information developed by the radio and direction finder will be used to determine required UAV maneuvers.

Keywords:
Uav, Collision Avoidance, Radar, Sensor, Signature, Scan