Collision Avoidance Method for Multirotor Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems in Multilateration Environments

Abstract

With the increase in the number of small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) flights, the risk of collisions between sUAS and manned aircrafts such as helicopters flying at relatively low altitudes is also increasing. To improve safety at the low altitude airspace, we have been developing collision avoidance methods for sUAS. In our previous study, we developed a collision avoidance method that takes advantage of the performance of a multirotor sUAS in a assumed collision between a multirotor sUAS and a helicopter. However, for the sake of simplicity, this previous study did not consider the method of acquiring location information. Therefore, this study conducted collision avoidance simulations in a multilateration (MLAT) environment, which is assumed in helicopter surveillance, to examine how MLAT surveillance characteristics affect avoidance behavior.