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Five steps to facilitating the convergence of manned and
unmanned aviation
Learn what is happening
in the industry today to make
the coexistence of UAVs
and manned aviation
in commercial airspace a reality.
David Vos, Ph.D.Senior Director Control Technologies, Rockwell
Collins
Copyright 2009, Rockwell Collins, Inc. All rights reserved. All
logos, trademarks or service marks used herein are the property of
their respective owners.
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Many in the aerospace industry believe there are more questions
than answers related to mixing UAVs and manned aircraft in
commercial airspace
In this e-book, you will learn about what is happening today,
what can happen tomorrow and everything else you need to know about
facilitating the convergence of manned and unmanned, military and
civilian aircraft into one coordinated air traffic management
system.
Feel free to pass this e-book along to your colleagues in the
industry.
Defining future airspace
How do we improve safety and reliability of communications,
controls, sensors, engines and networking to enable the coexistence
of UAVs and manned aircraft in commercial airspace?
What are the pros and cons of UAVs and manned aviation flying
together in commercial airspace?
Who in industry and government is doing what tests,
demonstrations and pilots today?
What are the critical technologies needed to make UAVs as
reliable, or better yet, more reliable than manned aircraft?
What role does NextGen Air Traffic Management play in
facilitating the convergence of UAVs and manned aviation?
What is happening at the regulatory agency level today to
facilitate merged airspace operations?
Copyright 2009, Rockwell Collins, Inc. All rights reserved. All
logos, trademarks or service marks used herein are the property of
their respective owners.
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Integrating UAVs into commercial airspace is an initiative we
have been advocating for many years. There are just too many
benefits not to be on the leading edge of these emerging
capabilities. Similar to the Internet which grew out of use by the
military, then proliferated once civilian use and demand started,
we expect the same to happen with UAVs.
There is a lot happening in the industry today and progress is
being made with technology demonstrations and real time operations.
We wanted to aggregate some examples and share with you the latest
in this global initiative with Rockwell Collins e-book: Five Steps
to Facilitating the Convergence of Manned and Unmanned
Aviation.
What does it take to make integrated airspace happen? At the
most fundamental level, it takes the successful design,
demonstration and implementation of greater levels of automation,
redundancy, interoperability and safety into the critical avionics
and mechanical subsystems of both UAVs and manned aircraft. We are
very close. Enabling technologies such as Automatic Dependant
Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B), due regard radar, automatic flight
and engine control, navigation, damage tolerance, RNP and others,
tied into the NextGen Air Traffic Management system, are being
approved and certified at a rapid pace. The acceptance of these new
technologies is complemented by their availability in small,
lightweight form factors and at the required low acquisition and
implementation price points. Availability, approvals and
affordability all come together to facilitate this convergence.
Now that much of the technology is in place or, at least
available, the next step is working with key regulatory agencies
such as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and EUROCONTROL
to determine and implement the standards and certifications needed
for UAVs to coexist with manned aircraft for their reliability to
meet and exceed manned aircraft.
At Rockwell Collins, our UAV solutions are already performing
well on the major UAV production programs including Watchkeeper,
Shadow, and Sky Warrior. We are now taking our solutions through
the certification process to ensure compliance with existing
standards, while we continue to develop the next generation
capabilities to bring to fruition the true benefits of integrated
airspace.
Unlocking the potential of UAVs in commercial airspace
Copyright 2009, Rockwell Collins, Inc. All rights reserved. All
logos, trademarks or service marks used herein are the property of
their respective owners.
David Vos, Ph.D.Senior Director Control Technologies, Rockwell
Collins
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Five steps to integrated airspace
Step 1 Discover what is needed technically to facilitate the
convergence of manned and unmanned aviation
Step 2 Develop and engage automated air traffic management
solutions: controls, navigation, communications, sensors,
networking and more
Step 3 Stay apprised of the technology tests and evaluations
underway by industry and government
Step 4 Understand the rules as determined by agencies such as
the FAA and EUROCONTROL and collaborate to drive global air traffic
management
Step 5 Change embedded culture and imagine the possibilities
Copyright 2009, Rockwell Collins, Inc. All rights reserved. All
logos, trademarks or service marks used herein are the property of
their respective owners.
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Step 1 Discover what is needed technically to facilitate the
convergence of manned and unmanned aviation
While todays UAVs bring an unquestioned list of capabilities to
a growing variety of surveillance and proactive situations, their
array of uses is still limited by the need to safely migrate their
operation with that of manned military and commercial aircraft.
Copyright 2009, Rockwell Collins, Inc. All rights reserved. All
logos, trademarks or service marks used herein are the property of
their respective owners.
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Step 1 Discover what is needed technically to facilitate the
convergence of manned and unmanned aviation continued....
Fortunately a number of technological advancements have been
made in avionics and navigation capabilities to help create
solutions that facilitate the safe and effective integration of
UAVs into the next generation airspace. This migration will rely
heavily on automatic air traffic management systems like ADS-B,
which provides for the automated notification of an aircrafts
position to ground-based controllers, as well as to other manned
and unmanned aircraft. The cost-effective availability and
strategic implementation of these advanced avionics, navigation and
communications capabilities will help demonstrate the extremely
high level of precision, reliability and safety required for UAVs
to technologically and culturally coexist, waiver free, with manned
aircraft in common airspace.
Rockwell Collins is the recognized industry leader in the
development of new hardware and software systems that can enable
many of the capabilities needed to facilitate airspace integration.
We are introducing and demonstrating new technologies that
contribute to the improved performance of UAV, while optimizing the
interaction and communications between UAV, ground operators and
ATC.
Copyright 2009, Rockwell Collins, Inc. All rights reserved. All
logos, trademarks or service marks used herein are the property of
their respective owners.
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Step 2 Advanced automation and sensing enable Next Generation
Air Traffic Management
At Rockwell Collins, we are embracing automated air traffic
management from all perspectives, providing the advanced
capabilities needed to improve aircraft reliability and enable
manned, unmanned, military and civil aircraft to coexist more
efficiently and safely in common airspace.
Copyright 2009, Rockwell Collins, Inc. All rights reserved. All
logos, trademarks or service marks used herein are the property of
their respective owners.
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Step 2 Advanced automation and sensing enable Next Generation
Air Traffic Management continued....
Flight Control, Navigation and RedundancyTo help maximize
capabilities while controlling acquisition and operational costs,
Rockwell Collins provides the Athena family of INS/GPS/ADAHRS and
autopilot/flight control systems in a variety of integrated,
miniaturized and affordable packages. Dual-triplex-and
quad-redundant avionics for both UAVs and manned aircraft, critical
to safe and reliable integrated airspace operations, are available
today from Rockwell Collins. See Shadow Video:
http://www.rockwellcollins.com/athena/demos/shadow/index.asp
Auto-Takeoff and LandingTo take full advantage of all of the
capabilities offered by emerging UAVs, they must be able to operate
in a totally autonomous mode. Rockwell Collins proven automatic
flight control systems provide full-mission pilotless capabilities
with unsurpassed accuracy and reliability. Today this technology is
available for all types of manned and unmanned aircraft, from a
commercial airliner all the way down to the smallest civilian
aircraft or tactical UAV. See video of a UAV auto-takeoff and
landing with Athena flight controls.
http://www.rockwellcollins.com/athena/demos/alenia/
Structural Damage/Fault ToleranceIn emergency situations caused
by pilot incapacitation or structural damage to the aircraft,
Rockwell Collins advanced adaptive flight controls can enable an
aircraft to continue to fly and safely return to home base or the
nearest airport.
http://www.rockwellcollins.com/news/page11697.html
Copyright 2009, Rockwell Collins, Inc. All rights reserved. All
logos, trademarks or service marks used herein are the property of
their respective owners.
A U.S. congressional report found that current air traffic
delays and congestion cost the national economy
$41 billion per year.
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Step 2 Advanced automation and sensing enable Next Generation
Air Traffic Management continued....
Panic Button Emergency LandingUtilizing a combination of
adaptive flight controls, auto-takeoff and landing, and
damage/fault tolerance capabilities, manned aviation will in the
near future be able experience the benefits already realized by
unmanned systems, with completely automated panic button auto-land.
In the case of a bird strike or other damage, or pilot
incapacitation, a flight crew member or passenger can simply press
a button during an emergency and the aircraft will autonomously fly
to the nearest airport and land safely.
Copyright 2009, Rockwell Collins, Inc. All rights reserved. All
logos, trademarks or service marks used herein are the property of
their respective owners.
Step 1 Aircraft encounters emergency
Step 2 Crew/passenger presses guarded Panic Button
Step 3 Flight controls take over and fly aircraftto nearest
airport
Step 4 Flight controls land aircraft safely
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Step 2 Advanced automation and sensing enable Next Generation
Air Traffic Management continued....
Integrated Air Traffic ManagementThe FAA, other major
governmental agencies, and industry including Rockwell Collins, all
recognize the growing need for technological improvements in
airspace utilization and management. An example of this is the FAAs
Next Generation Air Transport System. The NextGen program utilizes
a variety of advanced automated technologies, including ADS-B,
which provides automated aircraft position reporting.
Copyright 2009, Rockwell Collins, Inc. All rights reserved. All
logos, trademarks or service marks used herein are the property of
their respective owners.
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Step 2 Advanced automation and sensing enable Next Generation
Air Traffic Management continued....
Situational AwarenessUtilizing advanced data link technologies,
IFF, ADS-B and multilateration solutions can greatly increase
situational awareness by automatically broadcasting an aircrafts
state vector, as well as communicating the positions of other
aircraft within a given sector of airspace. Capabilities like
these, along with distributed computing, automatic communications
and collision avoidance systems, give UAVs and manned aircraft the
ability to reactively and proactively anticipate and avoid
conflicts with not only other aircraft, but also buildings and
mountains. And with form factors and pricing continuing to
decrease, solutions for situational awareness such as ADS-B are
becoming affordable for general aviation, including homebuilts and
even for hot air balloons and sky divers. Soon, all aircraft will
be able to plug in to see and be seen in next generation air
space.
Integrated Communications: Radios, Data links and
NetworkingRockwell Collins offers superior communications, from
radios to common data links and high bandwidth networking to
provide valuable, real time, dynamic information about an aircrafts
location as it relates to others, both cooperative and
uncooperative. Our complete line of solutions features the smallest
form factors and the highest transmission speeds for both voice and
data.
Required Navigation Performance and 4D-Navigational
CapabilitiesAt Rockwell Collins we believe the ability to
seamlessly integrate with manned aircraft is crucial to opening the
skies to increasing UAV operations. Next generation navigation
capabilities like Required Navigation Performance (RNP) and 4D-Nav
ensure the predictability and accuracy of separation and arrival
times, improve aircraft trajectories, as well as increase the
safety and fuel efficiency of UAVs and manned aircraft.
Digital Engine ControlsEfficiency gains through automation can
be more easily achieved via simple interfaces to digital engine
control systems. For example, digital flight controls including
autoland require interfaces to engine controls. Also, aircraft
reliability can be significantly enhanced by bringing electronic
engine controls to a much bigger market manned, unmanned, military
and civilian aircraft. As fuel costs rise, levels of congestion
increase, and manned and unmanned aircraft occupy common airspace,
mission duration becomes a critical component to the success of the
convergence. To achieve their long mission duration times and
ensure engine reliability, optimum engine control and efficiency
are key to maximum UAV utilization. Rockwell Collins Full Authority
Digital Engine Control (FADEC) systems improve the overall
performance and reliability of both manned and unmanned aircraft
engines and have demonstrated up to a 20% increase in fuel
efficiency.
Copyright 2009, Rockwell Collins, Inc. All rights reserved. All
logos, trademarks or service marks used herein are the property of
their respective owners.
Approximately every 20 minutes,
a UAV equipped with a Rockwell Collins
Athena flight control system completes a
successful autolanding.
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Step 2 Advanced automation and sensing enable Next Generation
Air Traffic Management continued....
Due Regard and Weather RadarActively monitoring and avoiding
aircraft or severe weather are keys to optimal UAV utilization.
Rockwell Collins airborne due regard and weather radar systems
provide increased awareness and avoidance capabilities in all
operational conditions.
Copyright 2009, Rockwell Collins, Inc. All rights reserved. All
logos, trademarks or service marks used herein are the property of
their respective owners.
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Step 3 Stay apprised of the technology tests, evaluations and
operations underway by industry and government
At Rockwell Collins, we believe UAVs are capable of flying in
common airspace alongside manned aviation. Achieving the full
potential of this manned/unmanned integration is more than a
technological challenge it will take a change in thinking. Our risk
adverse culture is preventing faster integration. The only way to
influence a change in the standing culture is through demonstration
seeing is believing. Demonstrations, pilot programs and some
operations are occurring on a regular basis to show that the
technology to enable UAVs to operate with extremely high
reliability exists today. Key technologies such as ADS-B, due
regard radar, redundant control systems and more are enabling the
convergence to materialize. Following are some examples of the
demonstrations and operations that are happening every day.
What Manned/Unmanned Demonstrations and Operations are Happening
in the Industry Today?Manned/Unmanned integration in the
Battlespace
The reliability of todays UAVs has, in fact, increased
significantly over the past decade making them critical tools in
military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Through advancements
in flight control and navigation systems, as well as engines, radar
and air frames, UAVs are operating today alongside manned aircraft
around one of the busiest airports in the world.
Copyright 2009, Rockwell Collins, Inc. All rights reserved. All
logos, trademarks or service marks used herein are the property of
their respective owners.
Image concept courtessy of the United States Army.
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Step 3 Stay apprised of the technology tests, evaluations and
operations underway by industry and government continued....
Balad Air Base in IraqCurrently, there are up to 30 UAV flights
daily from Balad that are completely integrated with manned
military helicopters and jets, military and civilian cargo planes,
as well as many other aircraft types. This is undeniable proof that
this level of interaction is absolutely feasible in the near future
for the commercial airspace. Link to Aviation Week article:
Demand for UAVs continues to growTotal number of military UAVs
has grown from 167 in 2001 to 5,500. Predators and Reapers for
example are flying over 30 patrols a day in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Because these airplanes cost less, are less risky and are
invaluable for surveillance information, demand for UAVs will
continue. In fact, in the meantime, the U.S. military is equipping
turboprop airplanes with the same video cameras as UAVs. With
increasing demand for UAVs in the battlespace, UAVs and manned
aircraft will increasingly coexist in the same airspace. World News
Week Network article:
http://article.wn.com/view/2009/03/17/Drones_US_weapons_of_choice/
UAVs are serving to keep you safeUAVs continue to increase their
presence in commercial airspace as demand for these low cost, high
utility aircraft continues to climb. Places such as Grand Forks Air
Force Base in North Dakota are encouraging faster integration to
meet their goals of hosting an Unmanned Aircraft Wing by 2011. The
FAA is considering restricting airspace just for UAVs around the
air base. UAVs are being granted certificates of authorization
(COAs) from the FAA to fly tests or operational missions related to
police surveillance, border patrol, fire fighting and weather
monitoring. Under the current rules, COAs require UAVs to fly under
restrictions related to low population areas or VFR only
conditions. Often times a chase aircraft or ground observer is
required. Aviation Today
article:http://www.aviationtoday.com/asw/categories/military/Drone-Flight-Authorizations-Take-Off_30526.html
Proliferation of UAVs in safety-related and civil missions UAVs
are again being deployed for use in natural disaster situations. A
Predator UAV was dispatched to conduct surveillance over the Red
River flood area in North Dakota supplying video of the damage to
authorities to compare against pre-flood images. After taking some
criticism for not deploying UAVs after the Hurricane Katrina
disaster, UAVs are getting clearances more quickly and easily to
fly over disaster affected areas, as was also the case during the
Gulf Coast Hurricanes and Southern California fires. Star Tribune
article:http://www.startribune.com/local/41841417.html?elr=KArks:DCiUHc3E7_V_nDaycUiacyKUUr
Copyright 2009, Rockwell Collins, Inc. All rights reserved. All
logos, trademarks or service marks used herein are the property of
their respective owners.
Demand for UAVs is increasing. Did you know that
the total number of UAVs in the United States
in 2001 was 167? Today it is over 5,500.
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UAVs are helping scientists with critical weather and climate
research The benefits of using UAVs for dangerous and dirty
assignments is obvious for the scientists assigned to the Arctic to
survey summer melting trends or for the assessment of hurricane
intensity. Furthermore, the use of UAVs enables a sustained period
of analysis and constant data reporting as well as the ability to
continue nonstop to remote locations. It is among these reasons
that NOAA funded a $3 million, three-year Unmanned Aircraft Systems
Program intended to test UAVs for this purpose. According to Marty
Ralph, manager of NOAAs UAV Program, Data gathered by unmanned
aircraft can help us understand how humans are affecting the planet
and how we might mitigate the impacts of natural disasters
resulting from severe weather and climate. The funding of this
program is further evidence of the expanding market and potential
use of UAV technology. NOAA Article:
http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2008/20080122_aircraft.html
UAVs give local police eyes in the skyThe law enforcement
community is trailblazing the use of UAVs in civilian airspace, and
for good reason the benefits are enormous. UAVs can operate around
the clock. They dont tire, are more economical and can cover more
territory than manned aircraft. But similar to military use, the
purpose of UAVs in law enforcement and civilian applications is to
augment manned aircraft operations, not replace them. Police
departments across the country are trialing UAVs to use for
reconnaissance and surveillance. In Los Angeles, the Sheriffs
department experimented with a UAV in commercial airspace in 2006.
BBC article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/5051142.stm
In Miami and Houston, police departments are conducting trials
of UAVs in cooperation with the FAA to determine restrictions on
when, where and under what conditions the aircraft can be flown.
Many police departments see the value of UAVs, which can provide
real time video, fly for longer periods of time and cost less than
operating similarly equipped manned aircraft. Government Video
article: http://www.theppsc.org/Archives/wp/?p=2388
Major United Kingdom UAV research program - ASTRAEAAutonomous
Systems Technology Related Airborne Evaluation and Assessment,
ASTRAEA, is an initial 32 million joint government and industry
evaluation program with the mission to research and test
technologies to facilitate flying UAVs in desegregated airspace in
Europe. Some of the technologies being researched and developed
include: ground technologies, communications, UAS handling,
adaptive routing, collision avoidance, multiple aircraft
integration, vehicle health monitoring and decision modeling. Phase
I of ASTRAEA culminated with simulated UAV flight demonstrations,
while Phase II will involve actual flight demonstrations. ASTRAEA
article: http://www.projectastraea.co.uk/
Step 3 Stay apprised of the technology tests, evaluations and
operations underway by industry and government continued....
Copyright 2009, Rockwell Collins, Inc. All rights reserved. All
logos, trademarks or service marks used herein are the property of
their respective owners.
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ASAC is key to DARPAs successful damage tolerance
demonstrationRockwell Collins completed a successful flight test of
a significantly damaged unmanned F/A-18 subscale model air vehicle.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) sponsored the
flight demonstrations held in the spring of 2008, at the Aberdeen
Proving Grounds in Maryland.
During the first flight test, nearly half of the airplanes right
wing was ejected to simulate battle damage and in-flight failure.
During the second flight, almost 60 percent of the airplanes right
wing was ejected. Upon ejecting the wing section during both
flights, Rockwell Collins Automatic Supervisory Adaptive Control
(ASAC) technology reacted to the airplanes new vehicle
configuration, automatically regained baseline performance,
continued to fly the plane, and then autonomously landed it using
internalInertial Navigation System/Global Positioning System
(INS/GPS) reference only. Defense News article:
http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=3609855
Step 3 Stay apprised of the technology tests, evaluations and
operations underway by industry and government continued....
Copyright 2009, Rockwell Collins, Inc. All rights reserved. All
logos, trademarks or service marks used herein are the property of
their respective owners.
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Step 3 Stay apprised of the technology tests, evaluations and
operations underway by industry and government continued....
Army Aviations Dynamic Airspace Management DemonstrationThe U.S.
Armys Aviation System Project Office briefed the audience at the
Association of Army Aviation UAV Symposium in December 2008 about a
demonstration titled Dynamic Airspace Management. The office
demonstrated that UAVs can maintain the equivalent level of safety
of manned aircraft, which is an FAA requirement before UAVs will be
granted unrestricted access to the national airspace. Current FAA
restrictions require a UAV to either have a chase aircraft or an
observer on the ground. In addition, daylight only operations are
allowed. In a demonstration held in October of 2008, the Army
incorporated sensors, communications, mitigation procedures and
tunnels of airspace to demonstrate UAVs could fly collision free
with manned aircraft. See presentation on AAAA website:
http://www.quad-a.org/Symposiums/08UAS/Presentations/Potts%20COL.ppt
What ADS-B Demonstrations and Operations Are Happening in the
Industry today?
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logos, trademarks or service marks used herein are the property of
their respective owners.
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Step 3 Stay apprised of the technology tests, evaluations and
operations underway by industry and government continued....
ADS-B: unifying NextGen airspaceOne of the keys to making the
safe integration of UAVs with manned aircraft in the NextGen
airspace is the global implementation of Automated Dependent
Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B). Because ADS-B radiates a signal
containing an aircrafts type, identification, GPS position,
altitude, heading, speed, intent (i.e., climbing, descending or
level) and other data, the technology gives aircraft, manned and
unmanned, the ability to know where they are and where they are
relative to other aircraft.
NextGen Air Traffic Management is making progress as a result of
the success to date with ADS-B pilots and demonstrations in Alaska
and by UPS. With ADS-B in the NextGen airspace, air traffic
controllers will become air traffic managers. Federal Computer Week
article:
http://www.fcw.com/Articles/2009/03/09/FAA-NextGen.aspx
UPS flights fakeoff with ADS-BWhen youre operating the worlds
ninth largest airline, it pays to take advantage of emerging
technologies thatcan help you save time and fuel. United Parcel
Service, Inc., which operates 266 aircraft totaling some 1,900
flights to and from its hub in Louisville, Kentucky, has initiated
a test program by installing ADS-B on six of its aircraft.
According to a story in The Washington Times, the goal of the test
is to determine what kind of increased efficiencies the company can
gain through improved information handling. One of the early
benefits is that it enables the air carriers pilots to perform a
continuous descent landing, which cuts down on emissions and,
according to the story, saves 40 to 70 gallons of fuel per landing.
The Washington Times article:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/mar/02/air-traffic-control-evolves-as-faa-adopts-gps/
Copyright 2009, Rockwell Collins, Inc. All rights reserved. All
logos, trademarks or service marks used herein are the property of
their respective owners.
ADS-B has been proven to save 40-70 gallons
of fuel per commercial airliner landing.
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Step 3 Stay apprised of the technology tests, evaluations and
operations underway by industry and government continued....
Capstone Project improves Alaskan air safetyAlaska has one of
the largest populations of general aviation aircraft and pilots in
the world. Unfortunately, because of its combination of rough
terrain, unpredictable weather and lack of radar and navigational
aids, it also has a high rate of fatal accidents. During his
testimony to the House Committee onTransportation and
Infrastructure Subcommittee on Aviation, Agam N. Sinha Sr., Senior
Vice President and General Manager of The MITRE Corporation,
discussed the Capstone Project. Capstone was a joint project
between the FAA and aviation industry that ran from 1999 to 2006.
Under the test program, the FAA provided aircraft avionics,
including ADS-B, to both private and commercial aircraft in the
region. According to Mr. Sinhas testimony, the results of the
Capstone program were dramatic, achieving a 49% reduction in fatal
accidents for ADS-B equipped aircraft. Video:
http://republicans.transportation.house.gov/hearings/hearingdetail.aspx?NewsID=532
Written Testimony:
http://republicans.transportation.house.gov/Media/file/TestimonyAviation/2009-03-18-Sinha.pdf
US Air puts ADS-B to the transatlantic testAccording to a recent
story in Aviation Week & Space Technology, the FAA has given US
Airways $6 million dollars to begin a pilot program to evaluate the
benefits of satellite-based navigation and ADS-B for flights in the
congested Northeastern airspace and long-haul transatlantic routes.
US Airways expects to have the ADS-B equipment on 20 of its Airbus
A330 aircraft by 2010. The aircraft will use both ADS-B In and
ADS-B Out, so they will not only transmit their own position
information, but also be able to receive information from other
aircraft. This automated two-way communication is key to achieving
the goals of NextGen airspace. Aviation Week article:
http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_generic.jsp?channel=awst&id=news/aw012609p3xml&headline=US+Airways+A330s+Slated+to+Test+ADS-B
NextGen ADS-B Debuts in FloridaAn early milestone was reached
with the roll out of NextGens ADS-B system at Miami International
Airport in April 2009. This is the first location in the United
States where radar will be phased out and replaced with satellite
based ADS-B, providing more location information for air traffic
controllers and pilots. Long term, the NextGen system, with the aid
of ADS-B, will allow pilots to fly more direct paths while
improving safety and reducing fuel consumption and will facilitate
the integration of UAVs into combined airspace. Miami Herald
article:
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation/story/989545.html
Copyright 2009, Rockwell Collins, Inc. All rights reserved. All
logos, trademarks or service marks used herein are the property of
their respective owners.
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Step 4 Understand the rules as determined by organizations such
as the FAA and EUROCONTROL and collaborate to drive global air
traffic management
Global air traffic management and UAVsGlobal air traffic
management and UAVs are intertwined. In the planning and
development of next generation air traffic management systems in
the U.S. and in Europe, it is critical that global collaboration
within government and industry groups occur and that UAVs be
considered and planned for in the mix. Rockwell Collins Chairman,
and CEO Clay Jones, when discussing the challenge of global air
traffic management, the importance of collaboration, and increasing
use of UAVs for an article in Flight International, said, We can be
the generation and the global industry that truly unites the planet
politically, economically and culturally as we face future
challenges.
United StatesFlying UAVs outside of segregated airspace in the
United States National Air System (NAS) today can occur by one of
two methods: Certificate of Authorization (COA) and Experimental
Certification. Neither method is a fixed, set-in-stone process. The
FAA evaluates each applicant on its own merits, based on its needs,
the aircraft, desired flight location, time, etc.
Outside of emergencies and disaster recovery, applying for a COA
is generally a one flight at a time process and tends to be easier
the second time if nothing about the request/application has
changed. UAV manufacturers are no longer able to apply for COAs,
making flying a UAV in the NAS more challenging if the manufacturer
does not already have a military sponsor for the work. Only
military and public use operators may be granted COAs.
An Experimental Certification must be applied for each aircraft,
but is good for multiple flights for a given set of fixed
equipment, location and other conditions.
The FAAs website contains an extensive amount of information
about how to apply for a COA, an Experimental Certification, who to
contact, Q&As and more. The site posts newsletters about
approvals for COAs and other progress related to integrating UAVs
in the NAS including the passage of the Small Unmanned Aircraft
System Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC), to begin to determine
the first set of standard rules for flying UAVs in the NAS,
starting with smaller UAVs.
http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/avs/offices/air/hq/engineering/uapo/
http://www.faa.gov/aircraft/air_cert/design_approvals/uas/cert/http://www.auvsi.org/news/sUAS_ARC.pdf
Copyright 2009, Rockwell Collins, Inc. All rights reserved. All
logos, trademarks or service marks used herein are the property of
their respective owners.
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Step 4 Understand the rules as determined by organizations such
as the FAA and EUROCONTROL and collaborate to drive global air
traffic management continued....
Other organizations involved in facilitating safe and efficient
integration of UAV into the NAS include the Radio Technical
Commission for Aeronautics (RTCA) Special Committee 203 (SC-203):
(http://www.rtca.org/comm/Committee.cfm?id=45) and UAV National
Industry Team (UNITE)
:(http://www.uniteaero.com/Archives/UNITE%20v2/html/index2.html).
SC-203s operates under the Federal Advisory Committee Act to
make formal recommendations to the FAA for UAV technical standards.
UNITE is a non-profit industry organization comprised of several
major UAV and subsystem manufacturers including Rockwell
Collins.
Europe EUROCONTROL is the intergovernmental organization
responsible for the safety of air navigation in Europe. The
organization has 38 members and is responsible for the vision,
master plan, working plan and oversight of the Single European Sky
Air Traffic Management Research (SESAR) program. The goal of SESAR
is to convert the segmented air space of Europe into one sky with
two major ATC centers. The program vision is to modernize the air
traffic management system in Europe, accommodate increasing air
traffic, improve safety, reduce emissions through more direct
flight paths and ultimately reduce costs. The European Parliament
and the European Council have finalized the Single European Sky
legislation which should be formally adopted later in 2009,
accepting the SESAR master plan.
http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/en/trans/106966.pdf
While UAV integration into nonsegregated airspace is an
objective of EUROCONTROL and is actively being pursued, convergence
of manned and unmanned aircraft may be more complex in Europe than
in the U.S. until SESAR is actually implemented and there is truly
one sky instead of several.
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their respective owners.
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Step 4 Understand the rules as determined by organizations such
as the FAA and EUROCONTROL and collaborate to drive global air
traffic management continued....
Part of EUROCONTROL, the European Organization for Civil
Aviation Equipment (EuroCAE) Working Group 73,
(http://www.eurocae.net/workinggroups.html), recommends
certification standards for UAVs in Europe, working closely with
the RTCA SC-203 committee in the U.S. to ensure technical standards
will be consistent across the globe. Some of WG73s subgroups and
priorities for UAV standards include 1) UAS operations, 2)
airworthiness and continued airworthiness, 3) command and control,
communications and spectrum, and security, and4) UAS for visual
line of
sight.http://www.eurocontrol.int/eatm/gallery/content/public/events/Updated%20Presentations/9%20EUROCAE%20WG%2073.pdf
EUROCONTROL is approaching UAV integration into nonsegregated
airspace in two phases: Phase I) integration of UAVs as it relates
to the requirements and standards of Europes current ATM system
through 2020, and Phase 2) integration beyond 2020 in line with the
modernized Single European Sky ATM System.
EUROCONTROL published a set of comprehensive UAV specifications
for flying military UAVs as operational air traffic (OAT) in
commercial airspace and plans to have a UAV road map by the end of
2009 that details how UAVs will be integrated into common airspace.
Information is available at:
http://www.eurocontrol.int/mil/public/news/UAV_specifications.html
Copyright 2009, Rockwell Collins, Inc. All rights reserved. All
logos, trademarks or service marks used herein are the property of
their respective owners.
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Step 5 Change Culture - Imagine the possibilities
Whether it is from a mission success and performance standpoint,
or the economic and safety value of unmanned aircraft, the world
has seen enormous success with UAVs conducting reconnaissance in
Iraq, Afghanistan and other countries. As the need and desire to
use UAVs in law enforcement, disaster recovery, fire fighting,
weather monitoring, cargo delivery and other applications continue
to increase, and the civilian airspace becomes more and more
utilized by UAVs and manned aviation, the need for NextGen air
traffic management, sophisticated levels of technology, and greater
automation are critical.
It is unlikely that there will ever be an adequate number of ATC
operators added to the system to manage the increase in air
traffic. The problem has to be solved with automation. This is a
similar scenario to the growth of the Internet. After years of
increasing traffic, today Internet traffic and conflict resolution
are fundamentally managed through automation. With programs such as
FAAs NextGen air traffic modernization and the Single European Sky
ATM Research (SESAR) program underway, more funding of technology
and automation, such as ADS-B and RNP, is coming.
With positive results from technology demonstrations in the
areas of ADS-B, multilateration, RNP, damage tolerance, networking
and communications, and with changes to industry and government
cultures, we can expect to see UAVs flying in commercial airspace
in the very near future.
And one day, we may in fact be stepping onto an unmanned
commercial or business jet, pressing a button to select a
destination, then sitting back, relaxing and enjoying a cup of
automatically brewed coffee.
Copyright 2009, Rockwell Collins, Inc. All rights reserved. All
logos, trademarks or service marks used herein are the property of
their respective owners.
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About the Author
Dr. Vos joined Rockwell Collins with the acquisition of Athena
Technologies a leading flight control and navigation systems
company in April 2008. Vos was Founder, CTO and CEO of Athena
Technologies. Having worked in the unmanned systems industry since
its inception, he is a pioneer and a thought leader in the area of
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs).
While still studying for his Ph.D. at MIT, Vos developed a new
mathematical approach for treating nonlinear, highly timed-variant
systems as if they were both linear and time invariant. He proved
this approach and the resulting technology with the invention of
the worlds first autonomous unicycle. With this success, Vos opened
the door to an entirely new field of dynamics and control.
Born in South Africa and now a U.S. citizen, Vos is the inventor
and developer of Rockwell Collins Control Technologies core
technology. He holds patents in nonlinear control systems and other
areas and has broad experience in guidance and control systems.
In August of 2007, Vos was appointed by Virginias Governor Kaine
to Commissioner of the Vint Hill Economic Development Authoritys
Board of Commissioners. In June of 2007, Vos was named by Ernst
& Young as an Entrepreneur of the Year in the greater
Washington area.
Vos holds a B.S. in Engineering with Honors in Aeronautical
Engineering from the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa, an
M.S. in Dynamics and Control from MIT, and a Ph.D. in Estimation
and Control from MIT, in the Department of Aeronautics and
Astronautics.
David W. Vos, Ph.D.Senior Director,
Rockwell Collins Control Technologies
Copyright 2009, Rockwell Collins, Inc. All rights reserved. All
logos, trademarks or service marks used herein are the property of
their respective owners.
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Building trust every day.
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logos, trademarks or service marks used herein are the property of
their respective owners.
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