Common Airspace Research Articles

Capacity modelling for UAM

The management of the operation of unmanned aircraft systems and their integration into the common airspace faces various challenges, among which those associated with determining the airspace capacity can also be included. This paper focuses on this challenge and proposes an approach to determine the airspace capacity through the utilization of mathematical modelling, algorithmization, and statistical methods. The constructed model accurately determines airspace capacity, considering factors such as aircraft size, control methods, and potential conflicts resolved at the strategic level of traffic management. Results from simulations demonstrate the model’s validity and effectiveness, highlighting its potential application in planning and evaluating services that are provided to unmanned aircraft.

METHODS OF PROCESSING ANALOG PARAMETERS OF AIRCRAFT FLIGHT INFORMATION

Modern systems of aircraft objective control make it possible to accumulate a whole mass of information obtained during a certain cycle of operation, which makes it possible to increase the flight safety. It is important to determine the main control parameters and methods of processing the data obtained. The article discusses the main analog parameters for objective flight control and modern methods of their processing. The information technology of statistical data processing is considered, which involves determining the necessary nomenclature of objective information, determining the frequency of data collection and the accuracy of measurement channels, the technology of hardware acquisition, exchange and storage of data, performing statistical data processing and forecasting the state of the control object. It is noted that the accuracy of the measured parameters is always subjective and corresponds to the established tolerances. Parameters always change their values over time under the influence of various factors, creating a general picture of "white noise". Isolation of useful signals ("state signs") from general "noise" requires the recognition of some standard for groups of researched objects (subjects). The number of processed "signs" is determined by the principle of sufficiency, with the desire for "minimalism". In order to fulfill the requirements of ICAO and integration into a unified flight safety control system, with the agreement on common airspace with the EU (Open Skies Program), it is necessary to create (improve) a modern flight control system based on new physical and digital principles of flight data processing using high-speed transmission technologies.

Anatomy of the Pharynx and Cervical Esophagus.

The pharynx is a complex muscular structure allowing breathing, swallowing, as well speech through common airspace. The normal imaging appearance of the pharynx and cervical esophagus can be challenging given the numerous interleaved surrounding muscles and numerous connections. This article presents the imaging anatomy of the pharynx and cervical esophagus and also discusses the clinical relevance of selected anatomical structures that have important significance in disease development and extension.

Systematic Review of Collision-Avoidance Approaches for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Over the past decade, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have demonstrated increasing attention and promise. They demonstrate great potential for application in both civilian and military fields. In this context, collision-avoidance (CA) approaches play an extremely important role in collaborative and noncollaborative UAVs in a common airspace for reliable and safe operation. In this article, we give an analysis and description of the CA functions, including the CA process, state sensing, conflict detection, and conflict resolution. Then, an overview of the recent progress in CA technologies is systematically provided, particularly in terms of sensing techniques, conflict detection, and conflict resolution. The state-sensing methods include ground-based and air-based sensing technologies, and cooperative and non-cooperative sensing. The conflict-detection methods contain conflict detection with certainty and without certainty. The conflict-resolution methods include methods for individual UAVs and for UAV formation. In addition, several challenging problems are introduced to develop a lucid research direction. This review gives a unique perspective and contributes toward the further development of CA approaches for UAVs.

Priority-Aware Conflict Resolution for U-Space

In the context of the future urban mobility airspaces, U-space lays the foundation for unmanned aircrafts to be integrated with conventionally manned traffic to offer a multitude of services to citizens and businesses, such as urban public transport, goods movement, parcel delivery, etc. Given these extensive possibilities, it is estimated that thousands of aircrafts (or even more) from different owners will share common airspace volumes, and the probability that all of them will travel without colliding is extremely low if no means are put in place to prevent it. This paper aims to introduce the reader to the conflict management policy proposed in U-space and proposes a new version of the PCAN (Prediction-based Conflict-free Adaptive Navigation) algorithm to adapt to this policy. In particular, the new implementation of PCAN takes into account a more than likely classification of flights according to their priority. The evaluation of this priority-aware algorithm shows that it is still possible to avoid any conflict between the set of aircraft in flight, with an insignificant detriment to higher priority flights, while maintaining minimal detriment on average.

Panoramic radiography and patients with disability: a new simple breathing technique to reduce common airspace error.

Patients with intellectual disabilities often fail to follow traditional tongue position instructions for panoramic radiographs resulting in missed pathology or unnecessary further radiation. This simple breathing technique is a new clinical instruction method for panoramic radiography developed to reduce the most common patient position error: patient failure to hold the tongue to the roof of the mouth. The technique is suitable for all patients including young patients and those with intellectual disabilities. The simple breathing technique uses ‘tell‐show‐do’ communication methods and does not mention the tongue but utilises the known tongue positions that occur during breathing and swallowing. This simple breathing technique instruction for panoramic radiography uses a demonstration of ‘breathe‐in, breathe‐out, swallow, lips closed and hold still’ to reduce the intensity of both the palatoglossal and pharyngeal airspaces on panoramic radiographs. This method, referred in this article as the simple breathing technique, can improve the diagnostic potential of panoramic radiographs and can be used with young children and patients with intellectual disabilities, and this slow breathing technique can help them further relax.

In-Flight Tests of Intruder Detection Vision System.

In the near future, the integration of manned and unmanned aerial vehicles into the common airspace will proceed. The changes taking place mean that the safety of light aircraft, ultralight aircraft and unmanned air vehicles (UAV) will become an increasing problem. The IDAAS project (Intruder Detection And collision Avoidance System) meets the new challenges as it aims to produce technically advanced detection and collision avoidance systems for light and unmanned aerial vehicles. The work discusses selected elements of research and practical tests of the intruder detection vision system, which is part the of IDAAS project. At the outset, the current formal requirements related to the necessity of installing anticollision systems on aircraft are presented. The concept of the IDAAS system and the structure of algorithms related to image processing are also discussed. The main part of the work presents the methodology developed for the needs of dedicated flight tests, its implementation and the results obtained. The initial tests of the IDAAS system carried out on an ultralight aircraft generally indicate the possibility of the effective detection of intruders in the airspace with the use of vision methods, although they also indicated the existence of conditions in which this detection may prove difficult or even impossible.

Formation Offuture pilots’ Adaptive Competence In The Process Of Their Professional Training: Characteristics Of Basic Concepts

Abstract.The study of the formation of adaptive competence of future pilots in the training process is relevant given the active integration of Ukrainian aviation into the world community, development of relations and increasing interoperability of Ukrainian military aviation with the NATO Air Forces, in accordance with the Military Doctrine of Ukraine and the Strategic defense bulletin, as well as the urgent need to use the rules of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), which cooperate with ICAO, when using the common airspace. Recently, civil and military aviation have been working closely together, and military pilots are increasingly involved in evacuating the population during emergencies abroad, multinational military exercises, etc.
 Pilots of civil and military aviation of Ukraine should adapt to the requirements of the new environment as soon as possible, and higher education institutions that train pilots should adjust the training process in accordance with the new requirements. The issue of adaptive competence in general and in particular, the adaptive competence of future pilots has not been sufficiently studied yet in the modern scientific literature and therefore needs further consideration. The article aims to define and characterize the basic concepts of formation of adaptive competence of future pilots in the process of their training, which will be followed by scientific substantiation, creation of structural-functional model of formation of adaptive competence of future pilots, and creation and approbation of author's technology at the educational institutions which train pilots.
 The article considers and investigates the concepts of adaptation and its types; professional adaptation of the pilot; adaptability; competencies and competency; professional competency of the future pilot, its components and criteria of its formation; concepts and features of adaptive competency of future pilots. It also describes and characterizes the features of the future activities of pilots and certain requirements for the training of pilots in civil and military aviation.
 Key words: adaptation, adaptability, competence, adaptive competence, professional training.

Integration of UAM into Cities – The Public View

The paper is focused on urban air mobility and its future integration into common airspace and urban transportation. Urban air mobility is seen as the third dimension for urban transportation, but its integration into cities needs a completely new approach. To find out the perspective of possible future users of urban air mobility, a questionnaire was created comparing the various options for urban transport. The result is the determination of the suitability of integrating and using Urban Air Mobility in cities according to the public’s opinion. The conclusion showed an important point, that the selection of respondents for public acceptance studies of UAM should be city-related for the results to be valid.

SPECIAL FEATURES OF FORMING THE READINESS OF FUTURE MILITARY PILOTS FOR PROFESSIONAL INTERACTION WHEN USING THE COMMON AIR SPACE

Abstract. The article is devoted to the special features of the military pilots training and the problem of forming their readiness for professional interaction when using the joint airspace with other countries. The article deals with the specifics of a military pilot’s job and the specificity of military pilots training at the Kharkov National Air Force University, in particular, at the Aviation English Department. The components of military pilots' readiness for professional interaction, criteria and levels of such readiness are determined.
 It is emphasized that readiness for professional interaction in the common airspace is a necessary requirement today in view of the active development of cooperation and formation of interoperability between Ukrainian aviation and foreign partners. Such readiness is impossible without a proper level of military pilots’ foreign language command. Successful formation of future aviation pilots' readiness for professional interaction while using common airspace requires the modernization of cadets training and the use of innovative pedagogical technologies that promote personality development and increase the training effectiveness.

SLIDE: A Straight Line Conflict Detection and Alerting Algorithm for Multiple Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Conflict detection is an important research issue in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles to ensure safety and collision free flights. In this paper, we first propose a comprehensive analytical framework for a three dimensional conflict detection. Then, we propose SLIDE a new Straight LIne conflict DEtection and alerting algorithm for a set of UAVs to safely share a common airspace. SLIDE is fully distributed and requires a limited state information exchange between UAVs. The assumptions of precise state information and packet-loss free communications are relaxed so as to guarantee the applicability and efficiency of the algorithm in real world situations. A thorough discussion is also presented to deal with appropriate tuning of the different parameters of the collision detection framework. Extensive simulations based on OMNeT++ are used to validate SLIDE and evaluate its performance. Simulation results indicate that SLIDE guarantees a reduced number of false and missed alarms even in high density traffic scenarios and communication perturbed environments, yet it leaves adequate time to accomplish the required maneuver actions.

Collision Avoidance for Cooperative UAVs with Rolling Optimization Algorithm Based on Predictive State Space

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have recently received notable attention because of their wide range of applications in urban civilian use and in warfare. With air traffic densities increasing, it is more and more important for UAVs to be able to predict and avoid collisions. The main goal of this research effort is to adjust real-time trajectories for cooperative UAVs to avoid collisions in three-dimensional airspace. To explore potential collisions, predictive state space is utilized to present the waypoints of UAVs in the upcoming situations, which makes the proposed method generate the initial collision-free trajectories satisfying the necessary constraints in a short time. Further, a rolling optimization algorithm (ROA) can improve the initial waypoints, minimizing its total distance. Several scenarios are illustrated to verify the proposed algorithm, and the results show that our algorithm can generate initial collision-free trajectories more efficiently than other methods in the common airspace.

Onboard visual sense and avoid system for small aircraft

The sense and avoid (SAA) capability is a key issue in the integration of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) into the common airspace [1]. Besides the lack of a regulatory framework in most countries, some technological challenges are still not resolved which holds back routine UAS applications. Most UAS or Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) have no SAA capability. The separation for these aircrafts must be done solely by the Air Traffic Control (ATC) which is not cost effective. Furthermore, in the case of a lost link, there should be some kind of collision avoidance capability onboard; otherwise, if we want to maintain the current safety level of the air traffic system, a single unmanned airplane would block a significant sector of the airspace.

ANALYSIS OF UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS APPLICATION IN THE CIVIL FIELD

The basic directions of unmanned aircraft systems applications in the civil field has been reviewed, the concepts of creation and organization of civil unmanned aircraft systems has been considered depending on the task orientation as well as the wide range of issues concerning the use of existing capacity for the design, manufacture and operation, with subsequent integration into the common air space.

Scheduling safe movement of air traffic in crowded air spaces

AbstractThis paper considers the problem of generating conflict-free movement schedules for a set of vehicles that are operating simultaneously in a common airspace. In both civilian air traffic management and military air campaign planning contexts, it is crucial that the movements of different vehicles be coordinated so as to avoid collisions and near misses. Our approach starts from a view of airspace management as a 4D resource allocation problem, where the space in which vehicles must maneuver is itself managed as a capacitated resource. We introduce a linear octree representation of airspace capacity to index vector-based vehicle routes and efficiently detect regions of potential conflict. Generalizing the notion of contention-based search heuristics, we next define a scheduling algorithm that proceeds by first solving a relaxed version of the problem to construct a spatial capacity profile (represented as an octree), and then using spatio-temporal regions where demand exceeds capacity to make conflict-avoiding vehicle routing and scheduling decisions. We illustrate the utility of this basic representation and search algorithm in two ways. First, to demonstrate the overall viability of the approach, we present experimental results using data representing a realistically sized air campaign planning domain. Second, we define a more abstract notion of ‘encounter set’, which tolerates some amount of conflict on the assumption that on-board deconfliction processes can take appropriate avoidance maneuvers at execution time, and show that generation of this more abstract form of predictive guidance can be obtained without loss in computational efficiency.

АНАЛІЗ ЗАСТОСУВАННЯ БЕЗПІЛОТНИХ АВІАЦІЙНИХ СИСТЕМ У ЦИВІЛЬНІЙ СФЕРІ

Розглянуто основні напрями застосування безпілотних авіаційних систем у цивільнійсфері, концепції створення й організації безпілотних авіаційних комплексів залежно відорієнтованості на завдання. Показано можливості використання авіаконструкторського йавіапромислового потенціалу для проектування, виробництва та експлуатації безпілотнихавіаційних систем із подальшою інтеграцією в повітряний простір.Ключові слова: безпілотні авіаційні системи, ефективність застосування в цивільній авіації.

Conflict Detection and Resolution Method for Cooperating Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

This paper presents a Conflict Detection and Resolution (CDR) method for cooperating Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) sharing airspace. The proposed method detects conflicts using an algorithm based on axis-aligned minimum bounding box and solves the detected conflicts cooperatively using a genetic algorithm that modifies the trajectories of the UAVs with an overall minimum cost. The method changes the initial flight plan of each UAV by adding intermediate waypoints that define the solution flight plan while maintaining their velocities. The method has been validated with many simulations and experimental results with multiple aerial vehicles platforms based on quadrotors in a common airspace. The experiments have been carried out in the multi-UAV aerial testbed of the Center for Advanced Aerospace Technologies (CATEC).

UAVs and Their Integration into Non-segregated Airspace

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have become a reality in military aviation. It is only a matter of time before we see civilian UAVs in manifold roles. Unlike military UAVs, operations of civilian UAVs cannot rely on specially designated and reserved (military) airspace. Therefore, one of the key issues for using UAVs for civilian purposes will be their integration into non-segregated common airspace. The author proposes a multi-tier approach for integrating different classes of UAVs into different classes of airspace. Certification of airworthiness is linked to this solution. Depending on the class of UAVs, regulatory parameters relating to airspace, flight rules, and certification are discussed. The goal is a realistic road map for the integration of UAVs into non-segregated airspace.

Proposals for the Regulation of Unmanned Air Vehicle Use in Common Airspace

In the past UAVs have mainly been used for military purposes. Recently, UAV applications for civil use have been developed, but a clear legal framework is needed so as to permit UAVs to fly outside segregated areas with other traffic, assuring the same safety and security standards as for manned aircraft. Modern UAVs are in effect an entire system, i.e. UAS (Unmanned Air System), which comprises the aircraft and the ground control station. The correct interpretation of EU Regulation 216/08 leads to the conclusion that even UAVs are subject to the same airworthiness requirements as those for manned aircraft. The certification of the system, while a fairly complex exercise, should not penalize this sector with excessive requirements. Beyond the need of a legal framework relating to the airworthiness and operations of UAVs, special attention should be given to further legal implications deriving from the use of these aircraft, such as civil liability regulations for damage to persons or property caused by an incident involving a UAV. The resolution of this problem would be a decisive contribution to increasing the use of UAVs for civil purposes outside segregated areas. One of the aims of this article is to identify the international and European Community legislation established for manned vehicles that could be applied also to UAVs.

Design and Hardware-in-the-Loop Integration of a UAV Microavionics System in a Manned–Unmanned Joint Airspace Flight Network Simulator

One of the challenges for manned-unmanned air vehicles flying in joint airspace is the need to develop customized but scalable algorithms and hardware that will allow safe and efficient operations. In this work, we present the design of a bus-backboned UAV microavionics system and the hardware-in-the-loop integration of this unit within a joint flight network simulator. The microavionics system is structured around the Controller Area Network and Ethernet bus data backbone. The system is designed to be cross-compatible across our experimental mini-helicopters, aircrafts and ground vehicles, and it is tailored to allow autonomous navigation and control for a variety of different research test cases. The expandable architecture allows not only scalability, but also flexibility to test manned-unmanned fleet cooperative algorithm designs at both hardware and software layer deployed on bus integrated flight management computers. The flight simulator is used for joint simulation of virtual manned and unmanned vehicles within a common airspace. This allows extensive hardware-in-the-loop testing capability of customized devices and algorithms in realistic test cases that require manned and unmanned vehicle coordinated flight trajectory planning.