Unmanned aircraft system traffic management

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Unmanned aircraft system traffic management (UTM) is an air traffic management ecosystem under development for autonomously controlled operations of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) by the FAA, NASA, other federal partner agencies, and industry. They are collaboratively exploring concepts of operation, data exchange requirements, and a supporting framework to enable multiple UAS operations beyond visual line-of-sight at altitudes under 400 ft above ground level in airspace where FAA air traffic services are not provided.

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A scheme of UAS Traffic Management system UTM schematic.png
A scheme of UAS Traffic Management system

UTM is separate from but complementary to the FAA's Air Traffic Management (ATM) system. UTM development will ultimately identify services, roles/responsibilities, information architecture, data exchange protocols, software functions, infrastructure, and performance requirements for enabling the management of low-altitude uncontrolled UAS operations. [2]

A Research Transition Team (RTT) has been established between the FAA, NASA and industry to coordinate the UTM initiative. Areas of focus include concept and use case development, data exchange and information architecture, communications and navigation, and sense and avoid. Research and testing will identify airspace operations requirements to enable safe visual and beyond visual line-of-sight UAS flights in low-altitude airspace. FAA published a UAS Traffic Management Research Plan in 2017. [3]

The FAA on July 18 released its Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) Implementation Plan, which provides the steps it, and others, will need to take to safely enable AAM operations as part of UTM. [4]

Main functions of UTM

The main functions of UTM include: [1]

Operation Zenith

On November 21, 2018, a total of 13 independent organisations took part in an event at Manchester Airport coordinated by UTM Service Provider Altitude Angel and Air Navigation Service Provider for the United Kingdom, NATS, which demonstrated the safe integration of unmanned traffic into controlled airspace.

It is regarded as one of the first live-demonstrations of its kind [6] [7] and was considered to be the "most technically complex and comprehensive demonstration in the world so far of a UTM system". [8]

U-space

The SESAR Joint Undertaking, which is a public-private partnership supported and funded by the European Union, Eurocontrol and a number of industry partners, has defined the U-Space Blueprint. [9] U-space is a set of new services relying on a high level of digitalisation and automation of functions and specific procedures designed to support safe, efficient and secure access to airspace for large numbers of drones. The EU regulations now requires implementation of a UTM system in order to support U-space by 26/1-2023.

Related Research Articles

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An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without any human pilot, crew, or passengers on board. UAVs were originally developed through the twentieth century for military missions too "dull, dirty or dangerous" for humans, and by the twenty-first, they had become essential assets to most militaries. As control technologies improved and costs fell, their use expanded to many non-military applications. These include aerial photography, precision agriculture, forest fire monitoring, river monitoring, environmental monitoring, policing and surveillance, infrastructure inspections, smuggling, product deliveries, entertainment, and drone racing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aerial photography</span> Taking images of the ground from the air

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boeing Insitu ScanEagle</span> Reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicle

The Boeing Insitu ScanEagle is a small, long-endurance, low-altitude unmanned surveillance and reconnaissance aerial vehicle built by Insitu, a subsidiary of Boeing, and is used for reconnaissance. The ScanEagle was designed by Insitu based on the Insitu SeaScan, a commercial UAV that was intended for fish-spotting. The ScanEagle continues to receive improvements through upgrades and changes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elbit Hermes 450</span> Israeli military drone, 1998

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aeronautics Defense Systems</span> Israeli defense company

Aeronautics Ltd. is an Israeli company specializing in the manufacturing of Unmanned Aerial Systems for military uses. Since its establishment in 1997, the company has sold its products to more than 20 defense, military and homeland security customers in 15 countries. Its headquarters are in Yavne, Israel.

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The Australian Research Centre for Aerospace Automation (ARCAA) was a research centre of the Queensland University of Technology. ARCAA conducted research into all aspects of aviation automation, with a particular research focus on autonomous technologies which support the more efficient and safer utilisation of airspace, and the development of autonomous aircraft and on-board sensor systems for a wide range of commercial applications.

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Operation Zenith was a demonstration of UAV and ATM integration held at Manchester Airport on November 21, 2018. The event aimed to illustrate that "drones can be flown safely alongside manned aircraft in controlled airspace". A total of eight scenarios were demonstrated in real-time, including On Airfield Delivery, Beyond Visual Line-Of-Sight (BVLOS) Infrastructure Inspection, and Commercial VLOS Operations.

Parimal Kopardekar is a senior technologist for NASA as the Air Transportation Systems and principal investigator for the Unmanned Aircraft Systems Traffic Management project at the NASA Ames Research Center. He holds a doctorate and master's in industrial engineering and bachelor's degree in production engineering. He is the recipient of the Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals in the promising innovation category for the UTM system in 2018.

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References

  1. 1 2 Vinogradov, Evgenii; Minucci, Franco; Pollin, Sofie (2020). "Wireless Communication for Safe UAVs: From Long-Range Deconfliction to Short-Range Collision Avoidance". IEEE Vehicular Technology Magazine. 15 (2): 88–95. arXiv: 1910.13744 . doi:10.1109/MVT.2020.2980014.
  2. Baum, Michael S. (2021). Unmanned aircraft systems traffic management : utm. [S.l.]: CRC Press. ISBN   978-1-000-37951-8. OCLC   1258660339.
  3. UAS Traffic Management Research Plan
  4. Host, Pat (1 July 2023). "Industry Clamors for UAS Traffic Management Regulatory Framework". Avionics International. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
  5. Vinogradov, Evgenii; Kumar, A. V. S. Sai Bhargav; Minucci, Franco; Pollin, Sofie; Natalizio, Enrico (2023). "Remote ID for separation provision and multi-agent navigation". 2023 IEEE/AIAA 42nd Digital Avionics Systems Conference (DASC). pp. 1–10. arXiv: 2309.00843 . doi:10.1109/DASC58513.2023.10311133. ISBN   979-8-3503-3357-2.
  6. Press (2018-11-23). "Aviation partnership takes to the skies in UK-first to fly drones safely in controlled airspace". sUAS News - The Business of Drones. Retrieved 2020-06-26.
  7. Wright, Mike (2019-10-05). "'Drone lanes' and new air controls needed to manage growing number of devices, report says". The Telegraph. ISSN   0307-1235 . Retrieved 2020-06-25.
  8. Butterworth-Hayes, Philip (2018-11-22). "Operation Zenith provides landmark demonstration of UTM technology capabilities". Unmanned airspace. Retrieved 2020-06-26.
  9. U-space blueprint