Development of a Surrogate Autonomous Aircraft for Entry in the NASA Airspace Operation Challenge

The integration of UAS into the National Airspace, although imminent, still presents several technological challenges. Before a sucessful integration can occur, it is necessary to demonstrate different technologies in traffic detection, traffic avoidance, and communications, as well as in the integration of those technologies as a single unit. For this purpose, NASA developed its UAS  Airspace  Operation  Challenge;  a  Centennial  Challenge aimed at the demonstration of these technologies. The challenge consists of developing a UAS solution that can navigate autonomously while detecting and avoiding traffic using ADS-B signals. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical Univeristy developed an entry to this challenge: a UAS consisting of a surrogate UAV, a ground station, and a data link. The traffic detection challenges are addressed by processing images collected from an array of cameras mounted in the wingtips, while the avoidance challenges are addressed with a series of path planning algorithms. For communication, a ground station was built and equipped with a data link for monitoring the aircraft’s systems. The individual components were tested sucessfully, but flight test of the integrated unit is still in progress. The challenge was cancelled, but Embry-Riddle’s entry remains a valuable asset for UAS integration technology.