3) Analysis a) Establish a conservative estimate for well clear definition based on the error budget above, desired probability of near mid air collision for each mission safety case, and what can be attained from sUAS and sensor technologies.
b) Determine minimum requirements for sUAS and sensors involved in DAA given the above. For example range and volume coverage, bandwidth, update rates, LOS limitations and blockage mitigation, reaction time, necessary failure modes, etc. Target density will also be a driving factor for these requirements and several could be parameteric on density.
c) Generate a report that will ultimately guide the testing phase. Outputs from simulation should point to edge case scenarios to find potential weaknesses in the theory. These can then be tested with physical craft to reinforce the theory with real data.
B. Facilities The design and maturation of DAA requires controlled infrastructure to develop requirements and standards for all applicable equipment and to test different scenarios. These facilities can provide a venue for rapid technology progress by providing the infrastructure that is often costly and time consuming to stand up. Examples include:
• Cleared airspace for UAS operations • Approved frequency plan for various sensor types • Truth data instrumentation to measure performance • Network connectivity and standard interfaces • Data collection ability on aircraft and sensors • Testing of multiple mission scenarios • Longer term test improvement
C. Test With access to facilities and the above analysis tasks done, the testing phase can begin. The goal is to construct a test plan per requirement with the purpose of matching up predicted performance with actual performance.
Tests should be broken up by mission space and to minimize risk, virtual targets can be flown in tandem with real targets to exercise the DAA algorithms based on prior simulation. This allow for quick scalability with low overhead. It is also much safer than flying manned craft in close proximity of sUAS until performance can be verified.
III. CONCLUSION
This paper summarizes a few of the high level trades regarding technology that enables sUAS integration into the airspace for BVLOS operation. Radar systems are necessary to provide all weather, day/night surveillance of large volumes for DAA operations. The exact mix of sensors is scenario dependent, but many will be optimized through the use of ground based radar.
Instrumented test facilities require development in order to develop system requirements, understand con-ops, verify simulation models, and advance the technology required to successfully integrate UAS into the airspace.
A clear research, analysis, and test plan was laid out as a list of smaller tasks.