BR&T-E UAS activities 2012

Transcription

1 BR&T-E UAS activities 2012 Lima April 2012 BOEING is a trademark of Boeing Management Company.

2 Overview Boeing UAS activities Trajectory Technologies: AIDL Environmentally friendly UAS Scan Eagle

3 Current Situation No Regulations No UAS Operations No Technology Available No Market Development

4 AIDL: Say what you fly Many disparate methods to describe AV trajectories: ARINC-424, ARINC-702A, SCAP, NATO STANAG-4586, etc None of them capture all the details required to fully determine the 4D motion of the AV The AIDL (Aircraft Intent Description Language) has been designed to formally capture the necessary and sufficient information that completely determines the 4D motion of the AV in any possible case Thus, the AIDL enables rigorous trajectory expression, i.e. rigorously say (and tell others) what you fly Copyright 2010 Boeing. All rights reserved.

5 AIDL: Fly what you say Because AIDL trajectory expressions fully determine the AV motion, they can be used to either predict the corresponding AV trajectories or rigorously execute them in real life (i.e. rigourously fly what you say ) This enables decoupling decision making processes (based on trajectory prediction) from the actual execution of the flight Among other advantages, this feature allows removing from the AV trajectory management processes large uncertainties that are inherent to the unknown, unexpected and/or improvised guidance decisions that result from executing incomplete trajectory expressions. Copyright 2010 Boeing. All rights reserved.

6 Sample UAS mission Problem: area sweep Applications: surveillance, SAR, biology/agriculture, photogrametry, intelligence, etc KPIs to measure mission QoS: time and fuel to sweep the area, % area uncovered, % area repeated, % unnecessary PL activation, etc area to sweep Basic SAR pattern sweeping direction ( ) North

7 Poor trajectory management Trajectory model: IAS hold combined with pitch and roll control for the ground speed to point to the next active waypoint (path as a sequence of 3D waypoints) Unnecessary PL activation area uncovered area repeated

8 High performance trajectory management PL deactivation point (assuming h=0) Trajectory model: sequence of TLPs (great circle, circular arc) combined with CAS and altitude hold PL activation point (assuming h=0) Desirable features Fine-grain PL control based on trajectory/intent-related events Minimum possible info to be sent over the air/ground datalink Higher predictability of mission time and fuel costs Higher predictability of autonomy increased safety Higher predictability of AV position and speed at any time better controllability in multi-vehicle situations (traffic, fleets) Higher trajectory accuracy & repeatability higher mission efficiency (lower % area uncovered/repeated; reduced fuel/time consumptions) Flexibility (rich library of guidance/control modes) Operational concept-agnostic Etc

9 Trajectory comparison flight tests Copyright 2010 Boeing. All rights reserved.

10 Trajectory comparison flight tests Copyright 2010 Boeing. All rights reserved.

11 AIDL/enabling UAS mission enhancements The AIDL is able to capture the timeline (i.e. the 4 th dimension) in the definition of UAS trajectories, as opposed to state-of-the-art methods (e.g. STANAG-4586), which sparsely capture 3D aspects Has potential to precisely synchronize trajectory execution events with mission execution and payload control & management events The higher fidelity of executed vs. planned (intended) trajectories can be translated into improved mission accuracy, effectiveness and efficiency Copyright 2010 Boeing. All rights reserved.

12 AIDL/Intent sync supporting UAS insertion This best possible synchronization between trajectory expression and trajectory execution significantly improves predictability of AV trajectories Is achieved at the expense of the less possible amount of information exchange (reduced bandwidth requirements) Allows a common picture of the AV trajectories across the automation elements involved in the trajectory management process Improves safety and robustness (virtual tracking in absence of better surveillance info) Reduces architectural complexity Improves security (4D positions never exposed) Copyright 2010 Boeing. All rights reserved.

13 UAS Management System The concept Login to the designated airspace C2 link Telemetry Flight plan Trajectory data Integrated Communications System Traffic Info Data Distribution Trajectory negotiation Route modifications (deconfliction messages) Local Surveillance System Ground System Surveillance Source-n Surveillance Source-2 Surveillance Source-1 Surveillance Data Integration and Server Sub-system Automatic Conflict Detection and Resolution Service Planning and Support Systems (Trajectory Computation Infrastructure)

14 UAS Management System Capabilities Provides automatic aircraft separation on a designated area Capable of providing cooperative to cooperative and cooperative to noncooperative separation Capable of supporting large number of aircraft simultaneously Advanced trajectory management system based in AIDL take into account the user preferences and operational restrictions Provides a redundant and reliable data link at a low cost Increased situational awareness of all stakeholders by providing surveillance information based on existing technology

15 Conclusions Uninhabited Aerial Systems (UAS) represent a major opportunity for emerging businesses, technology advances and game-changing regulations in aviation Their necessary insertion in the airspace is both coupled and synergistic with the modernization of the ATM system (Highly automated) trajectory management technology is at the core of both ATM modernization and UAS insertion in ATM Achieving best possible AV trajectory predictability is key to introduce higher levels of automation, safety and efficiency in the operation of AVs of any kind The AIDL is an emerging technology that represents a promising approach to enhance trajectory predictability in support to trajectory management automation Besides its advantages in support to UAS insertion in ATM, the higher trajectory execution fidelity enabled by the AIDL offer a great potential for improving UAS mission performance Copyright 2010 Boeing. All rights reserved.

16 Fuel Cell technology applied to UAS - In 2008 BR&TE performed a feasibility study of fuel cell technology in aviation: UAS with MTOW < 25 kg were identified as an application in which fuel cells offer unique advantages (low noise, no GHG emissions & low thermal signature) while improving reliability and endurance. - To validate the study BR&TE chose to develop & flight test an example (a 14 kg, 5 m wingspan, fixed wing fuel cell powered UAS -PCON) to gain knowledge & hands-on experience for the future integration of fuel cells in a wider UAS range. - Our main activities comprises: was focused on systems integration, preparation for flight tests of the PCON & performing a feasibility study of fuel cell powered InSitu Scan Eagle to improve reliability, while having a drastically quieter, low thermal signature UAS platform with yet acceptable endurance is focusing on flight tests of the PCON, optimization of endurance and extrapolating to other platforms depending on our customers demands - Also looking at energy harvesting (from solar) to power payloads, as starting point for future HALE applications. - To close the loop, we are developing the ground systems (an off-grid transportable hydrogen refueling station based on highly efficient CPV panels & alkaline/pem electrolyzers, and ground control station), to offer a complete autonomous & practical surveillance solution without any extra logistical needs The scaled model MESC and conventional platform PCON. 16

17 Insitu Snapshot Leading provider of Small Long-Endurance Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) and Services Developer of ScanEagle System Over 430,000 Flight Hours (4 th Most in US Fleet) Major Customers: United States Army U.S. Marine Corps U.S. Navy Australian Defense Force Canadian Defense Forces USAF, DoD Customers, etc. Strong Track Record of Historical Growth 800+ Highly Qualified Employees Proprietary IP and technology partnerships Location: Columbia Gorge (near Portland, OR) 10 17

18 Products & Services Product Lines Services Demos & Site Surveys Training Installations & Set-Up Deployment Operations Custom Engineering Specialized Payloads 18

19 Thanks for your attention Questions??? EOT_RT_Template.ppt 19