Reliable Robotics has completed a contract with the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) under the Broad Agency Announcement programme to execute Detect and Avoid (DAA) data collection flights in and around airport environments.
The test programme provided validation data to the FAA as it finalises certification standards for DAA systems and to standardisation bodies as they evolve technical standards. Testing was completed in collaboration with Virginia Tech’s Mid Atlantic Aviation Partnership (MAAP) and with support from integration partners Sagetech, Collins and uAvionix.
Reliable’s DAA system is designed to facilitate a remote pilot’s responsibility to perform both Remain Well Clear and Collision Avoidance functions against all airborne traffic. It is based on Airborne Collision Avoidance System X (ACAS X), the FAA-developed algorithm which improves upon the existing Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System II (TCAS II) in most transport-category aircraft. ACAS X versions include ACAS Xu for autonomous fixed-wing aircraft, among others.
The FAA-contracted flight testing evaluated the threshold and boundaries between en route and terminal environments around airports and assessed the ability of Reliable’s DAA system and ACAS X to provide alerts and guidance for remote pilots in these environments. Reliable collected and shared data from flight tests to substantiate drone DAA standards currently in development with the FAA.
Brandon Suarez, Vice President of UAS Integration at Reliable Robotics, said the data captured in the testing is almost impossible to generate in a lab environment. “Through this testing, we’ve been able to confirm several key aspects of the technical standards that the FAA is leveraging for UAS.”
A key finding from the flight test included the distinction between en route and terminal environments for DAA. Behaviour and output of the ACAS X algorithm changed between en route and terminal airspaces, confirming an important adjustment that pilots under Instrument Flight Rules make to interoperate with Visual Flight Rules aircraft.
To complete the contract, Reliable conducted Hardware In The Loop testing of its system and a flight test campaign including scripted ‘encounters’ in and around the terminal area at the public Hollister Municipal Airport in California.
Reliable partnered with vendors to complete the flight testing campaign, including Sagetech for its prototype ACAS X hardware, Collins for its prototype ground-based radar, and uAvionix for its prototype Skylink C-Band communication equipment.
The data collected from this flight test campaign has been shared with RTCA Special Committee 228 (SC-228) and Special Committee 147 (SC-147) to inform the validation of the next set of standards for advanced DAA systems.
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