SBIR Phase I: 4D Flightpath-Based Autonomous Separation Assurance Systems (ASAS)

这项小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是实现空域的安全和自主管理和控制。无人机（UAV）和先进空中机动（AAM）领域预计将增长，但只有在无人机和AAM操作高度自动化的情况下，这在经济上才可行。该项目开发的技术采用了一种新的基于轨迹的飞机和空域操作方法，以支持该级别的自动化。该项目的当前重点是新兴的AAM飞机和空域，但该技术对商用空中交通管制（ATC）系统的应用具有更广泛的潜在影响。在美国，在一年的时间里，超过1800个操作错误（违反最低要求的间隔）被正式归因于空域管制员的错误。商业空中交通管制主要是一个手动系统，并且随着现有系统的逐步改进，空中交通管制员可以管理的航班数量有限。空中交通工具（各种类型的）数量的增加要求空中交通管制系统更加自动化，以保持其安全记录。该小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目旨在为AAM级车辆提供自主飞机和空域管理和控制系统的功能概念验证演示。这些航空部门预计将迅速扩张，但高度手动实施空域管制将不现实，也不经济可行。这项研究的目的是支持更高水平的自动化，使各行业的增长。飞机任务由四维解析航路模型定义；飞机必须精确地按照模型设定的飞行路线飞行。确定性和特定算法可以自动检测和解决空域中所有飞机航迹模型之间潜在的分离损失事件。自动驾驶仪使飞机能够自主运行，消除冲突确保空域的安全运行。拟议示范系统的开发将识别和解决通信和集成问题。演示系统旨在提供一个测试用例来评估该技术的可行性、可扩展性和健壮性，并探索对非标准和不可预见的操作条件的响应。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to enable the safe and autonomous management and control of airspace. The Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) and Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) sectors are expected to grow but that will only be economically viable if the UAV and AAM operations are highly automated. The technology developed in this project uses a new trajectory-based approach to aircraft and airspace operations to support that level of automation. The immediate focus of the project is on the emerging AAM aircraft and airspace, but the technology has an even broader potential impact for application to the commercial Air Traffic Control (ATC) system. In the United States, over a period of one year, over 1800 operational errors (breaches of minimum required separation) were officially attributed to airspace controller error. The commercial ATC is largely a manual system and and there is a limit to the number of flights air traffic controllers can manage with incremental improvements of the present system. Expansions in the number of airborne vehicles (of all sorts) requires that air traffic control systems be more automated to maintain their safety record. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project seeks to produce a functioning proof-of-concept demonstration of an autonomous aircraft and airspace management and control system for AAM class vehicles. These aviation sectors are expected to see a rapid expansion but the highly manual implementation of airspace control will not be practical or economically viable. The objective of this research is to support a much higher level of automation, enabling the growth of the sectors. Aircraft missions are defined by 4D analytic flightpath models; Aircraft are must precisely follow the flightpaths set by the models. Deterministic and certain algorithms autonomously detect and resolve potential loss of separation events between flightpath models of all aircraft in the airspace. The autopilots allow the aircraft to operate autonomously and the deconfliction ensures safe operation of the airspace. Development of the proposed demonstration system will identify and resolve communication and integration issues. The demonstration system seeks to provide a test case to evaluate the viability, scalability, and robustness of the technology and to explore the responses to nonstandard and unforeseen operating conditions.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.