Integration and Flight Test of Small UAS Detect and Avoid on A Miniaturized Avionics Platform

Abstract

Detect and avoid (DAA) all other aircraft is a critical component to enable small unmanned aircraft system (sUAS) beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) operations. Derived from the version of Airborne Collision Avoidance System X (ACAS X) for large UAS (ACAS Xu), a new member of the ACAS X family for sUAS (ACAS sXu) is being developed by the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA's) Traffic-Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) Program Office. ACAS sXu is intended to provide both collision avoidance (CA) and remain well clear (RWC) capabilities with both vertical and horizontal advisories for the remote pilot in command (RPIC) and/or automated response system onboard the aircraft. ACAS sXu is envisioned to utilize a standard logic to serve sUASs with different equipages and operating in different airspace domains. The standard ACAS sXu logic may be hosted either in the embedded environment on board the sUAS vehicle or in a Cloud environment such as a UAS traffic management (UTM) Service Suppler (USS) platform. It may be integrated with surveillance sources such as Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B), the anticipated remote identification (remote ID) tracking, networked/shared telemetry, airborne surveillance radar, and ground based surveillance radar, for both cooperative and non-cooperative intruders. To demonstrate proof of concept, gather surveillance data, verify simulation environment, and characterize early logic performance, the FAA and industry partners integrated DAA systems featuring the ACAS sXu logic Version 0, in both embedded environments and a Cloud environment, and successfully conducted a week-long flight test in October 2018 at the New York UAS Test Site in Rome, NY. This paper presents the integration of the sUAS DAA on a miniaturized avionics platform and flight test with a fixed-wing sUAS platform.