Online Risk-Based Supervisory Maneuvering Guidance for Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems

Abstract

To achieve a level of safety equivalent to manned aircraft in the national airspace system, the pilot-in-command of small unmanned aircraft systems should be able to maintain situational awareness and make necessary maneuvers to avoid potential conflicts with nearby air traffic during mid-air encounters. However, due to ever-changing flight environments, the pilot-in-command often mis-estimates collision risks and cannot engage appropriate maneuvers to prevent mid-air traffic from violating the safety boundaries of small unmanned aircraft systems. To fix this problem, an online risk-based guidance method is therefore designed and developed in this paper to quantitatively assess mid-air collision risks and provide online mitigation solutions for detect-and-avoid systems. This will help the pilot-in-command identify hazards and choose appropriate avoidance maneuvers before a safety boundary violation occurs.