NASA ERAST Non-Cooperative DSA Flight Test Author / Presenter: Russell C. Wolfe, Modern Technology Solutions Inc. Phone: (703) 212-8870 x126 Fax: (703) 212-8874 [email protected] www.mtsi-va.com Executive Summary The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Environmental Research Aircraft & Sensor Technology (ERAST) Non-Cooperative Detect, See, and Avoid (DSA) flight test was accomplished between March 31st and April 4th 2003 at the Mojave Airport (KMHV) located in Mojave, CA. The purpose of the test was to demonstrate the ability for a remotely operated aircraft (ROA) to detect non-cooperative manned aircraft flying on near-collision trajectories and make the appropriate maneuver to avoid the collision; while always maintaining a minimum of 500 feet separation. To meet this objective, a 35-GHz radar was installed on the Scaled Composites Proteus Optionally Piloted Aircraft to detect the approaching aircraft. Data from this radar was then down linked to a ground control station, where an ROA Pilot would assess the data displayed on his monitor. If necessary, the ROA Pilot would initiate the appropriate maneuver to maintain safe separation and avoid the potential collision. A total of 20 near-collision flight test scenarios were completed against seven different manned aircraft, each with different radar cross-section characteristics. These scenarios included both single and multiple intruder aircraft in various collision geometries (+/- 90o Az. and +/- 10o El.) and closing speeds (30 – 610 knots). In addition, both line-of-sight and over-the-horizon systems were used to downlink the data and uplink the commands during the flight test scenarios. MTSI / RCW 1 The Challenge Currently ROA are permitted to operate within the National Airspace System (NAS) with an FAA approved Certificate of Authorization (COA). However, a COA will only be approved if the applicant meets the requirements found in FAA Order 7610.4J, which is entitled “Special Military Operations” and dated 12 July 2001. Within this order, Chapter 12, Section 9-2 specifically addresses the operation of ROA outside Restricted Areas and Warning Areas. Sub-paragraph a.4 of Section 9-2 states that all requests to operate ROA must provide the FAA with the “method of pilotage and proposed method to avoid other traffic.” In addition, this sub-paragraph goes on to state that “Approvals for ROA operations should require the proponent to provide the ROA with a method that provides an equivalent level of safety, comparable to see-and-avoid requirements for manned aircraft. Methods to consider include, but are not limited to; radar observation, forward or side looking cameras, electronic detection systems, visual observation from one or more ground sites, monitored by patrol or chase aircraft, or a combination thereof.” Also related to the topic of conflict avoidance is FAR Part 91.113 – Right of Way Rules. This rule states that: “regardless of whether an operation is conducted under instrument flight rules or visual flight rules, vigilance shall be maintained by each person operating an aircraft so as to see and avoid other aircraft…” In order to satisfy the requirements identified within 7610.4J and Part 91.113, all ROA must be able to reliably avoid collisions with cooperative and non-cooperative intruder aircraft, both in the air and on the ground. At a minimum, the ROA DSA system should provide enough time for the ROA pilot and/or autonomous flight executive to perform the appropriate maneuver necessary for avoiding the cooperative or non-cooperative aircraft. Addressing the Challenge To help address this see and avoid challenge, the NASA Environmental Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology (ERAST) Project Office based at Dryden Flight Research Center in Edwards, California sponsored a flight test during the week of March 31st through April 4th, 2003. During this test, a series of 20 near-collision flight test scenarios were conducted within the Isabella Military Operating Airspace (MOA), located near Mojave, CA (below R2508 and west of R-2515). MTSI / RCW 2 The purpose of this test was to demonstrate a real-time capability for ROA Pilots to detect, see, and avoid non-cooperative aircraft using an onboard radar and a specially developed situational awareness DSA Display, located within the ground control station (GCS). As such, the primary objective of this test was to demonstrate the ability of the non-cooperative system to detect, track, and avoid non-cooperative targets using a 35 GHz, Ka-band Amphitech OASys Radar. A secondary focus of the test attempted to assess the increased ability of the ROA Pilot to detect, track, and avoid cooperative targets using data provided by both the cooperative Skywatch HP traffic advisory system and the non-cooperative Amphitech OASys radar. Figure 1 depicts a concept of operations for this flight test demonstration. Inmarsat III AOR-W er Ov ori e -H -th ink L Lineof-Sit Link e zon ch ar e r S me da olu a R V Inmarsat Ground Earth Station Proteus GCS (Mojave Airport) Figure 1: Flight Test Concept of Operations In addition to the program sponsor, NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center (DFRC), this test was performed with the cooperation and assistance of several NASA ERAST Alliance MTSI / RCW 3 members. Participants included: Scaled Composites, LLC (SCI), Modern Technology Solutions Incorporated Amphitech Technical (MTSI), International, Analysis and Applications Center (TAAC), and the Naval Air Warfare Center (NAWC) - China Lake. Figure 2 provides a list of these companies and a summary of their individual responsibilities leading up to and during the flight test. The success of the test was largely due to the hard Figure 2: Non-Coop DSA Flight Test Participants teamwork demonstrated by all. The key enabling technologies demonstrated within this test included the Amphitech OASys radar [Figure 3] and the Goodrich, Skywatch HP traffic advisory system [Figure 4]. Both of these systems were integrated onto the Proteus [Figure 5] optionally piloted aircraft (OPA) and provided the ROA Pilot, who was located in a ground control station (GCS), with the necessary situational awareness to be capable of safely avoiding mid-air collisions. The Amphitech radar was installed just below the nose of the Proteus aircraft, and provided the capability to detect all non-cooperative aircraft within +/- 85o azimuth, +/- 10o elevation, and out to a range of 4 to 6 nmi depending upon the aircraft’s RCS signature. The orange radar search Fig. 3: Amphitech, OASys Radar MTSI / RCW Fig. 4: Goodrich, Skywatch HP 4 volume depicted in Figure 1 shows the basic shape of the radar’s search volume. The Goodrich Skywatch HP was installed just above and behind the cockpit of Proteus and provided detection capability of all cooperative-only aircraft within +/- 9,900 feet altitude and 35 nmi range from Proteus. The data from both of these systems was downlinked to the ROA ground control station via either a line-of-site (LOS) telemetry link or through the Inmarsat Mini-M SATCOM system. Both of these data-link systems were used to transmit data to the ground control station and to transmit commands uplinked to the Proteus aircraft. Both means of data-link were alternated throughout the 20 flight test scenarios to evaluate impacts of SATCOM latency on the overall system performance. Skywatch HP Inmarsat Mini-M Amphitech Radar Figure 5: Proteus OPA with Amphitech Radar and Skywatch HP Systems Since the test largely depended upon the performance of the Amphitech radar, a variety of non-cooperative aircraft were selected to represent a wide range of RCS signature aircraft. These included a variety of propulsion types (single prop, dual prop, and jet) as well as structural differences (metal, composite, and cloth). The aircraft used during the test may be seen in Figure 6 and included: a glider (composite, no engine); Stinson (cloth, single prop); Long EZ (composite, single prop); Extra-300 (metal, single prop); Beech Duchess (metal, dual prop); King Air (metal, dual prop); and an FA-18 Hornet (metal, jet engine). All seven intruder aircraft were supplied by NASA DFRC and Scaled Composites. The NASA test aircraft and personnel operated out of Edwards AFB, and the SCI test aircraft and personnel operated out of the Mojave Airport. MTSI / RCW 5 Stinson BeechDuchess Duchess Beech - Long EZ Extra 300 F/A-18 Glider NASA King Air Figure 6: Non-cooperative Intruder Aircraft To demonstrate the ability to detect, track, and avoid non-cooperative intruder aircraft, a series of twenty-two (22) near-collision scenarios were designed. All scenarios were performed in accordance with the NASA ERAST Non-Cooperative DSA Flight Test Plan, Revision 0, dated February 28, 2003 and developed by Modern Technology Solutions, Inc. This test plan, in addition to a set of flight test cards, were the final products culminating from a five-month planning phase leading up to the flight test activities. Each scenario was designed and choreographed to place Proteus and the intruder aircraft above the same location on the ground at the same time, thereby forcing a near-midair collision scenario. Each of these scenarios also had a 200-foot altitude separation buffer built into the intruder aircraft’s flight path for safety reasons. Regardless of this separation buffer, a maneuver still had to be initiated by the ROA Pilot to ensure no aircraft came within 500 feet of Proteus. Keeping all aircraft outside this 500foot bubble was one of the many evaluation criteria used for this test, and is based upon the direction provided within FAA-Order 8700.1. This FAA Order categorizes a missed distance of 500 feet or greater as a “no hazard”, and is therefore a non-reportable incident. Anything less than 500 feet of separation is considered reportable. For safety precautions, the test plan also provided explicit instructions for the test pilots to react appropriately in the case of an ABORT situation. For this, the intruder aircraft would deconflict to a safe altitude and either set up for the next scenario or redo the current scenario. The onboard Proteus pilots would also assume control of the aircraft and avoid the near-collision MTSI / RCW 6 by operating in accordance with the ABORT procedures and returning to its initial altitude. The ROA Pilot or any of the test pilots had authority to call an abort. Although 22 scenarios were developed, only 20 of these could be completed. Both of the scenarios that were not completed involved a hot-air balloon, which was unable to be flown due to the high wind conditions in Mojave during the week of the flight test. The test scenarios included a variety of collision geometries, a wide range of closing speeds, as well as single and multiple intruding aircraft. The collision geometries were confined to the radar gimbals limitations of +/- 85o azimuth off the nose and +/- 10o elevation above and below the nose. Some geometries were co-altitude while others involved the intruder climbing or descending into Proteus. The closing speeds ranged anywhere from 30 KTAS for a scenario involving Proteus overtaking the Stinson from behind, up to 610 KTAS for a head-on scenario with the FA-18 Hornet. 13 of the 22 scenarios involved a single intruder aircraft, while the remaining 9 scenarios involved two intruder aircraft approaching at the same time. Other variations included changing the means of data-link from LOS to SATCOM. For this, 10 scenarios were controlled using LOS while the remaining 12 were controlled using SATCOM. The last variation involved providing radar-only data to the ROA Pilot for 9 of the scenarios and radar data plus Skywatch data for the remaining 13. Table 1 shows how these variables changed for each scenario. Table 1: Non-Cooperative DSA Scenarios Variable Matrix MTSI / RCW 7 Some of these scenarios were designed as near-mid-air collisions, thus posing a threat to Proteus and requiring it to maneuver, while other flight scenarios were not threatening and therefore did not require an evasive maneuver be taken. In each scenario, it was ultimately up to the ROA Pilot to determine which of the intruder aircraft were flying on potential collision trajectories and which were not a concern. To do this, the ROA Pilot used the Amphitech radar data that was downlinked to the GCS from the Proteus aircraft. When it was determined that an aircraft was flying on a near-collision track, the ROA Pilot would initiate an evasive maneuver from the GCS by entering a desired altitude and heading change for the Proteus aircraft using only the computer’s keyboard and mouse. This command was then uplinked, via the LOS or SATCOM link, to the Proteus’ onboard Flight Management System computer. This would then cause the Proteus to perform the desired evasive maneuver at a 3o/sec rate of turn. Adjustments to altitude and heading could be made at any time during or after the maneuver. For all 20 scenarios performed, the Proteus ROA Pilot was able to assess which aircraft posed a threat and, if necessary, safely maneuver the Proteus aircraft while always maintaining at least 500 feet of separation. A specially designed display, located within the GCS, provided a “TCAS-like” DSA display [Figure 7] of all non-cooperative aircraft (shown as red diamonds) flying within the radar’s search volume. The DSA display also had the capability to simultaneously overlay the Skywatch HP data onto the same screen showing the cooperative aircraft (shown as white diamonds) within 35 nm of the Proteus. As the aircraft would move across the DSA display screen, a track history of the intruder’s past 5 updates was also displayed using small blue diamonds as can be seen in Figure 7. This target-track history not only enabled the ROA Pilot to better visualize the intruder aircraft’s flight path, but also the speed of the intruder. The slower the intruder, the closer together the blue diamonds appeared, whereas the faster the intruder the more separation appeared between the blue diamonds. One additional feature of the DSA display was the ability to zoom-in and get a close-up of all intruders within 4 nm or zoom-out to get a big picture of all cooperative intruders within 35 nm. This DSA display essentially provided the ROA Pilot with the necessary situational awareness of all cooperative and non-cooperative intruder aircraft within the respective surveillance volume of the radar and Skywatch systems. In addition to the DSA display, the ROA GCS also included a GPS moving map display of where Proteus was operating, as well as all of the essential cockpit avionics essential for MTSI / RCW 8 operating the vehicle. Other information located on the GCS screen included state-of-health information, fuel-tank capacities, and data link status for the LOS and SATCOM equipment. Proteus avionics and State of Health data Radar data symbol (red diamond), showing two aircraft: one located 300 feet below at ~3 nmi range and one 1,400 feet above at ~ 5 nmi range. INTRUDERS = 3 GPS moving map showing Proteus’ position. - 03 Track history of the target (small blue diamond) + 14 2 Nmi Skywatch HP data symbol (white diamond), showing an aircraft located 700 feet below and climbing (up arrow). 4 Nmi - 07 8 Nmi Figure 7: Proteus Ground Control Station Display MTSI / RCW 9 Lessons Learned One of the benefits to using the Proteus aircraft is the fact that there are pilots onboard that can take over the controls of the aircraft if the ROA Pilot fails to command the appropriate maneuver in sufficient time. Another added benefit to having human pilots on board was the fact that they had a front row seat to the collision scenario as it developed and could provide instant feedback following each run. The Proteus pilots, as well as the pilots of the intruder aircraft could critique the maneuver performed by the ROA pilot by providing information such as whether or not it was the appropriate maneuver for the given collision scenario and whether the maneuver was made at the correct time (too soon or too late). The insight and feedback that was provided by the pilots was formally captured in a questionnaire that was developed prior to the flight test. Questions were asked of all test pilots and the ROA Pilot following the completion of each scenario while everyone was setting up for the following scenario. The results of this questionnaire were captured in the final flight test report. Of particular interest was recording the time at which the pilots were able to first detect the approaching aircraft. Even though the Proteus pilots had the flight cards in front of them and knew where to look for the oncoming traffic, they typically could not see the aircraft until it was within 1 to 1 ½ nm away. Given the high closing speeds of some of the scenarios, the pilots often stated that they would have been very challenged to get out of the way in time to avoid the collision. In most of the radar-only scenarios, the ROA Pilot was usually aware of the approaching aircraft when it was between 4 nm and 5 nm from Proteus. This variation in the radar’s detection range was largely due to the RCS signature of the approaching aircraft. This RCS signature could vary greatly with respect to the aspect angle of the collision, structural material of the intruder aircraft’s body, and the type of propulsion system. Regardless of the scenario, the ROA Pilot was always aware of the approaching traffic long before the pilots on board Proteus detected the intruder aircraft. The table to the right shows the difference in time-to-collision, based on detection range, for a headon scenario at 500 knot closing speed. Here it can be seen that for the onboard human pilots, a 1.5 nm MTSI / RCW 10 detection range equates to having only 10.8 seconds to react; whereas for the average radar detection range of 4.5 nm the ROA Pilot had approximately 32.4 seconds to react before reaching the collision point. For those scenarios where only the radar data was made available to the ROA Pilot, the stress level largely depended upon the closing speed of the collision scenario and when/where the intruder aircraft was first detected. For those scenarios in which the closing speed was between 100 to 300 KTAS and the intruder was detected at least 4 to 5 nmi away, the ROA Pilot typically had enough time to track the intruder for several seconds, determine the collision potential and react accordingly with an appropriate maneuver (if necessary). However, for the scenarios that had faster closing speeds of greater than 300 KTAS and/or a detection range of less than 4 nm to 5 nm, the ROA Pilot could not successfully complete an assessment of the situation before exceeding his minimum time to collision. One reason for this was due to the relatively slow update rate of the radar, which was approximately 3.5 seconds. Therefore, in a typical 30 to 40 second timeframe following the first detection only 10 to 13 radar hits, respectively, would be expected. The ROA Pilot would need to base his decision on when and how to maneuver based upon this few number of radar hits. Increasing the update rate of the DSA sensor could greatly improve the prediction accuracy of the ROA Pilot and reduce the time needed to make a decision. Since the developers of the test plan suspected that the radar’s range capability would not be sufficient for the faster closing speed scenarios (those > 400 KTAS) all scenarios involving closing speeds of > 400 KTAS allowed the ROA Pilot to have both radar and Skywatch HP data available. For those scenarios where both the radar data and Skywatch HP data were available to the ROA Pilot, the cooperative aircraft were almost always detected at least 15 nm away, resulting in more than a minute of time that could be used to track the target and determine if it might pose a potential threat. In each of the scenarios in which the ROA Pilot had both radar and Skywatch data sets available, the comfort factor and ease of deconfliction was noticeably improved. Quite often the ROA Pilot had ample time to think about what evasive maneuver he wanted to make and could focus on selecting the most optimal maneuver before it was necessary to react. One item of note was that the radar azimuth data was usually more accurate than the Skywatch data, whereas the Skywatch elevation data was always more accurate than the radar’s elevation data. Table 2 lists the detection ranges at which the radar and Skywatch systems first MTSI / RCW 11 detected the intruder aircraft and provides whether the radar range was adequate for assessing the scenario and allowing time for the ROA Pilot to make a well thought out maneuver. Table 2: Detection Range of Radar and Skywatch HP by Scenario Scenario 1** 2** Slow Closure 3** 4** 5 6 7 8 9 10 Medium Closure 11** 12** 13** 14** 15 16 Fast Closure 17** 18 19** Intruder Aircraft Closing Speed (KTAS) Radar Detection Range (nm) Skywatch Detection Range (nm) Was Radar Range Adequate for Scenario Extra 300 210 4.1 16 Yes Extra 300 210 2.5 Off No Extra 300 Long EZ Extra 300 Long EZ Stinson Long EZ 210 220 210 220 190 220 30 (over taking) Not performed Not performed 4.2 Not detected Not detected 2.1 3.1 3.9 Glider Stinson MTSI / RCW 12 12 Off Yes No No No No No 4.8 16 Yes Not performed Not performed Not performed Not performed Not performed Not performed 165 4.0 Off Yes Glider 165 3.5 Off Yes Duchess 230 4.9 16 Yes Duchess 230 4.3 16 Yes Duchess 230 4.2 Off Yes Duchess King Air Duchess King Air Duchess King Air 230 290 230 290 230 290 4.9 Not detected 4.2 2.9 2.2 5.2 FA-18 610 6.1 18 No FA-18 610 4.3 18 No FA-18 610 7.2 16 No 5.1 6.2 4.3 5.1 4.1 7.4 17 20 12 20 18 16 No No No No No No Balloon Balloon King Air 290 FA-18 410 King Air 290 21** FA-18 410 King Air 290 22 FA-18 410 ** Designates scenarios flown using SATCOM 20** Off Off 16 12 Off Yes No Yes Yes Yes No 12 Post-Test Data Analysis Following the test demonstration in Mojave, a detailed analysis of the test data was performed to verify that all test objectives and evaluation criteria were satisfactorily met. The data analyzed included: GPS position data collected onboard all test aircraft; FAA radar data on all participating aircraft; Amphitech radar data gathered on all intruder aircraft, Skywatch HP data on all cooperative aircraft within 35 nm of Proteus; Flight Management System data stored onboard Proteus, and the data downlinked to the GCS. This data was analyzed to ensure none of the data was degraded during the downlink/uplink telemetry, as well as ensuring that none of the aircraft punctured the 500-foot bubble that was to be maintained throughout each collision scenario. To verify this, several 3-D plots were generated using the GPS test data gathered on board each test aircraft as a means to determine the closest point of approach. The 500-foot bubble was never penetrated for any of the 20 scenarios. FAA ARSR-4 radar data was also used to verify these results. Figure 8, reveals an example of one of the 3-D data plots generated for all three test aircraft flown during scenario #15. In this scenario, the Proteus was commanded to perform a climb to maneuver above the two approaching aircraft prior to reaching the impact point (yellow triangle). For this scenario, the closest point of approach to the King Air was 4,950 feet (green diamond) and to the Duchess was 3,600 feet (red diamond). A complete detailed analysis of all 20 scenarios can be seen in the NASA ERAST Non-cooperative DSA Final Test Report. 13000 12500 Proteus King Air Duchess 12000 11500 11000 10500 10000 Altitude (feet) 13000 12500 12000 11500 11000 10500 10000 9500 9000 9500 35.5 35.45 35.4 La titu 35.35 de 35.3 9000 35.25 -118.35 -118.3 -118.25 -118.2 -118.1 -118.15 ude Longi t Figure 8: 3-D Plot of Scenario #15 MTSI / RCW 13 Suggested Improvements to the System Although each of the flight test objectives and supporting evaluation criteria were met, the system did not operate flawlessly and additional software and hardware changes to the entire system would have made the test that much more successful, and should be considered for future testing. These modifications should include the following: • Displaying traffic on the ground control station relative to the aircraft’s ground track (not body axis heading). Winds aloft made it necessary for the Proteus to crab in order to maintain the fixed ground track required by the Test Plan. Since the GCS DSA Display showed the intruder aircraft relative to the Proteus’ nose, the display was often misleading, resulting in inappropriate evasive maneuvers on a few occasions. • Integration of predictive tools into the ground station that would provide the ROA Pilot with course prediction and closure rate information. These tools could be similar to those used currently by air traffic control and the CDTI software developed at NASA Ames. • The Amphitech OASys radar detected and tracked most aircraft at a distance of ~4.5 nm from the Proteus. Although this range was sufficient for scenarios with less than 300 KTAS closures, it was not adequate for the faster scenarios. Increasing the range by a factor of 2 would greatly increase the ability to detect even the fastest of collisions scenarios. However, it should be noted here that if an ROA is autonomously maneuvered, it could be argued that the radar’s current 4.5 nm detection range would have been sufficient for many of the faster scenarios. Having the human in the loop forces a longer time-to-collision, which ultimately drives the detection range outward for the faster scenarios. • The radar data should have been sent after each azimuth raster scan, not after every 3 raster scans as was employed during this DSA testing. This modification would give the ROA Pilot a faster update rate and better resolution on the intruder aircraft’s track. • Enhanced line of sight telemetry performance. This could be accomplished by better placement of the line of sight telemetry antenna on the aircraft relative to the ground station or by increasing the power output of the transmitter. • Although the Inmarsat Aero Mini-M SATCOM system worked well for this test, there are other more capable over-the-horizon systems now available. These newer systems provide greater bandwidth, better coverage, and in many cases are cheaper to operate. The Mini-M system relies on a gimbaled antenna that has a tendency to lose link in turns with bank angles MTSI / RCW 14 exceeding twenty degrees. This link loss causes the GCS pilot to go blind at the critical time just following a commanded maneuver. Summary Before ROA are allowed to operate within the NAS, the challenges associated with detecting and avoiding other aircraft must be overcome. The NASA ERAST ROA Subsystems project has begun to develop the sensor requirements necessary to provide an equivalent level of safety, as well as to demonstrate a method for how this may be done in an operational environment. The flight test, performed during the week of 31 March 2003 at the Mojave Airport, was performed to demonstrate the ability for a ROA to detect non-cooperative manned aircraft flying on near-collision trajectories and make the appropriate maneuver (if necessary) to avoid the collision; while always maintaining a minimum of 500 feet separation. Data from the commercially available Amphitech OASys radar was used by the ROA Pilot to assess the collision scenario and then make the appropriate maneuver needed to maintain safe separation and avoid the potential collision. It was also demonstrated that by providing the ROA Pilot with situational awareness data from both a cooperative and non-cooperative sensor, his ability to safely avoid the potential collision greatly increases, compared to when only one data source is made available. A total of 20 near-collision flight test scenarios were successfully completed against seven different manned aircraft, each with different RCS characteristics. These scenarios included both single and multiple intruder aircraft, ranging in collision geometry and closing speed. In addition, both line-of-sight and over-the-horizon data-link systems were used to downlink the data and uplink the commands during the flight test scenarios. A formal flight test report was written, capturing the results from the data analysis performed on all flight scenarios, as well as providing a very comprehensive list of lessons learned gained from performing this enabling technology demonstration. MTSI / RCW 15
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