Toward run-time assurance in general aviation and unmanned aircraft vehicle autopilots

Abstract

When compared with most other common methods of travel, travel in general aviation aircraft is relatively unsafe. Fortunately, the most frequent causes of fatal general aviation (GA) mishaps could be significantly reduced with very simple autopilot systems. However, such systems can be prohibitively costly due in large part to the expense of validation and verification required to certify them. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), NASA, and the US Air Force have been working to develop alternative certification methods to reduce this cost. In particular, run-time assurance (RTA) methods have recently been gaining momentum as a potential avenue to achieve this goal. This has led researchers from the aforementioned group to propose an RTA system for GA autopilots, which uses the human pilot as the baseline controller and a lesser certified autopilot as the advanced controller. This paper expands on that work by developing a hybrid control model which takes into account the human pilot's variable timing and control ability. Simulation results and a discussion on the impact of these findings are also provided.