IGF::OT::IGF AIRCRAFT LOSS OF CONTROL (LOC) IS A KEY CONTRIBUTOR TO FATAL ACCIDENTS ACROSS ALL VEHICLE CLAS…

Public award description

IGF::OT::IGF AIRCRAFT LOSS OF CONTROL (LOC) IS A KEY CONTRIBUTOR TO FATAL ACCIDENTS ACROSS ALL VEHICLE CLASSES. IT IS ALSO THE MOST COMPLEX ACCIDENT CATEGORY, RESULTING FROM NUMEROUS CAUSAL AND CONTRIBUTING FACTORS THAT CAN OCCUR INDIVIDUALLY OR (MORE OFTEN) COMBINE TO RESULT IN LOC. NASA HAS CONDUCTED AND CONTINUES TO CONDUCT EXTENSIVE STUDY OF AIRCRAFT LOSS OF CONTROL FOR PILOTED CIVIL TRANSPORT AIRCRAFT, AND IS DEVELOPING TECHNOLOGIES FOR LOC PREVENTION AND RECOVERY. FOR EXAMPLE, THE SAFE-CUE SYSTEM WAS DEVELOPED AND FLIGHT TESTED UNDER SBIR I&II CONTRACTS TO PROVIDE A PILOT INTERFACE THAT PREVENTS PILOT-INDUCED OSCILLATIONS (PIOS) EVEN IN THE PRESENCE OF ADAPTIVE FLIGHT CONTROL SYSTEMS. THIS WORK WAS SUCCESSFULLY EXTENDED THROUGH AN SBIR III CONTRACT TO INTEGRATE AND TEST SAFE-CUE AS PART OF A LOC PREVENTION SYSTEM FOR PILOTED AIRCRAFT. TO DATE, LITTLE TO NO RESEARCH RELATED TO LOC HAS BEEN CONDUCTED RELATIVE TO UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS (UAS) OR TO THEIR SAFE OPERATION UNDER UNCERTAIN, UNEXPECTED, AND HAZARDOUS CONDITIONS. THE OVERALL OBJECTIVES OF THIS RESEARCH EFFORT ARE TO IDENTIFY SAFETY CONCERNS FOR UAS OPERATION IN THE NAS (INCLUDING LOC), INVESTIGATE THE APPLICABILITY OF LOC PREVENTION AND RECOVERY TECHNOLOGIES FOR UAS OPERATIONS, AND TO ESTABLISH A METHODOLOGY FOR EVALUATING THEIR RESILIENCE UNDER UNCERTAIN, UNEXPECTED, AND HAZARDOUS CONDITIONS. AS PART OF THIS EFFORT, SAFE-CUE WILL BE INVESTIGATED FOR LOC PREVENTION IN REMOTELY PILOTED UAS AIRCRAFT, WHERE PIO SUSCEPTIBILITY MAY BE HEIGHTENED BY TRANSPORT DELAYS AND THE LACK OF SENSORY INFORMATION AVAILABLE TO ONBOARD PILOTS. IN ORDER TO ACCOMPLISH THIS RESEARCH, AND DUE TO THE LACK OF ANALYSIS RELATED TO UAS SAFETY, THE FOLLOWING SPECIFIC TASKS ARE IDENTIFIED: 1.) PERFORM AN ANALYSIS OF UAS ACCIDENTS AND INCIDENTS (I.E., MISHAPS) THAT HAVE OCCURRED TO DATE (CIVIL AND MILITARY); 2.) IDENTIFY FUTURE SAFETY HAZARDS RELATED TO UAS OPERATION IN THE NATIONAL AIRSPACE SYSTEM (NAS); 3.) DEVELOP A SET OF HAZARDS-BASED TEST SCENARIOS THAT CAN BE USED IN THE DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION OF UAS TECHNOLOGIES FOR RESILIENCE UNDER UNCERTAIN, UNEXPECTED, AND HAZARDOUS CONDITIONS; 4.) DETERMINE THE APPLICABILITY OF SAFE-CUE TO THE MITIGATION OF KEY UAS HAZARDS (AS IDENTIFIED IN TASKS 1 - 2); AND 5.) EXTEND (AS NECESSARY), IMPLEMENT, AND EVALUATE SAFE-CUE FOR LOC PREVENTION AND/OR RECOVERY IN UAS UTILIZING THE HAZARDS-BASED TEST SCENARIOS DEVELOPED IN TASK 3 (OR AN APPROPRIATE SUBSET THEREIN). THE RESULTS OF THIS STUDY WILL DEMONSTRATE THE USE OF HAZARDS-BASED TEST SCENARIOS TO ENSURE UAS SAFETY AND RESILIENCE UNDER UNCERTAIN, UNEXPECTED, AND HAZARDOUS CONDITIONS.