Flight test completed with sense and avoid technology for UAS
NewsMay 07, 2015
ATLANTA. The completion of flight tests of the Multiple Intruder Autonomous Avoidance (MIAA) program was announced during AUVSI Unmanned Systems show in Atlanta. The tests conducted by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratories (AFRL) demonstrated the Department of Defense’s (DOD) Multiple Sensor Integrated Conflict Avoidance (MuSICA), a collision avoidance software.
The MIAA program, led by Northrop Grumman Corp., is a building block for an AFRL portfolio of applied research and advanced development program that is developing Sense and Avoid (SAA) technology for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) to have the capability to detect and avoid collisions with other airspace users.
The flight tests, equipped with the SAA system, utilized a Learjet program to fly like an autonomous Global Hawk UAS. Its configuration also included MuSICA software incorporating the “well-clear” designation as defined by the DOD Science and Research Panel and modified by RTCA SC-28 to maneuver the jet automatically while remaining clear of other air traffic.
MuSICA was able to execute and maintain the RTCA SC-228 definition of “well-clear” with single and multiple cooperative and non-cooperative Federal Aviation Administration-supplied aircrafts, says Paul Schaeffer, Air Force program manager for Air Borne Sense and Avoid.
