EO/IR Due Regard Capability for UAS Based on Intelligent Cloud Detection and Avoidance

Current Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) flights, including the Global Hawk weapon system, face limitations on their utilization of civil airspace because they have no capability to sense-and-avoid (SAA) other air traffic. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Regulation states that remotely/autonomously operated aircraft must have an equivalent level of safety, comparable to see-and-avoid requirements for manned aircraft, to satisfy FAA safety requirements, and must exercise due regard for the safety of other aircraft by detecting them and maneuvering to avoid them. UtopiaCompression (UC) innovative automatic cloud detection and avoidance system provides due regard for UAS using the existing EO/IR sensors. The system automatically detects cloud regions against sky and ground in live EO/IR video scenes, computes the range from UAS to clouds, estimate the size of clouds, and performs path planning for UAS to avoid clouds, all in real-time. Based on the Phase I successful feasibility study, Phase II will continue to finalize the cloud detection/tracking and ranging algorithms, optimize the codes to achieve real-time performance, and build a complete software prototype. UC will collaborate with Northrop Grumman Corporation (NGC) to integrate the cloud detection algorithms along with existing path planning technology into the NGC existing SAA suite. BENEFIT: Unmanned Ariel System (UAS) have become ubiquitous across the Department of Defense. Major programs such as Global Hawk, Reaper, Sky Warrior and Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) have formal requirements for UAS to operate routinely in civil airspace. Accordingly, the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) established a Joint Integrated Product Team (JIPT) for UAS Airspace Integration. This JIPT is charged with developing the technological and regulatory infrastructure needed to secure routine airspace for UAS. Sense and Avoid (SAA) technology is a critical component of this infrastructure and the JIPT has worked diligently with the services to establish a development and certification roadmap for SAA. The intelligent cloud detection and avoidance algorithms provide a key capability component for EO/IR due regard technology for Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), including the Global Hawk weapon system. UC maintains that the cloud detection and avoidance system solution is a quantum leap advance in state-of-the-art of autonomous navigation with “due regard” for the safety of other airspace users. Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) flight crews often deviate from their filed IFR (instrument flight rules) flight plans during the course of their missions. Regulations permit this, provided the pilots operate with “due regard” for the safety of other airspace users. Human ISR pilots provide “due regard…” by remaining in VMC (visual meteorological conditions) and conducting routine VFR (visual flight rules) operations; in other words, they perform the SAA function. The technology developed will be integrated and transitioned through the Advanced Technology Demonstration (ATD) process to Global Hawk thereby providing full Due Regard operation using EO/IR sensors (cloud detection, ranging and avoidance) to keep the UAS in VMC so the existing SAA capability can function as designed. UC has teamed with the prime contractor, Northrop Grumman Corporation (NGC), to transition EO/IR Due Regard technology to the Global Hawk Program by inserting the technology into the existing SAA transition plan now being ably executed by NGC. The UC team will maximize the likelihood of successful transition by working closely with Government stakeholders throughout the Phase II process. The largest catalyst for growth in the UAS sector has been, and for the next few years will continue to be, the government’s trend toward information warfare and net-centric systems. UC team understands that the first application of the technology is for the Global Hawk and other military UAS. A senior analyst with the market research company, Teal Group, Steve Zaloga, identified unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) as a “key element in the intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) portion” of this trend, with expansions into other missions expected, as well, with the advent of hunter-killer UAVs. Worldwide UAV expenditures are expected to more than triple over the next decade from $2.7 billion annually to $8.3 billion. U.S. defense spending on UAVs is projected to increase more than two-fold in the next decade, from $2 billion annually to $4.5 billion. Analysts anticipate that a civil market for UAVs will emerge more slowly over the next decade, beginning with government organizations with missions and needs similar to military UAVs such as coast guards, border patrol organizations and similar national security organizations. Beyond military applications, the UC team believes that critical traction is being gained through the efforts of this SBIR program in a primary market with broad economic potential – the UAV market. The combination of UC’s passive ranging (without the need to maneuver) and the cloud detection and avoidance technologies will provide far superior SAA capabilities for UAVs than that which is currently available. This is an important enabling technology because despite a large degree of interest in UAVs for a multitude of governmental and commercial purposes, adoption has been slow due to a number of technological and regulatory barriers. One of the most important remaining regulatory and technological barrier to broader adoption of UAVs, both in government and commercial venues, is the certification of a system of technology, feedback, analysis and control which can reduce the risk of air to air collision down to that of a manned flight. The technology developed by UC for this SBIR program constitutes a critical enabling technology for removing this barrier. The UC team envisions adapting the resultant technology for ground applications in the future, including Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs) and OEM automotive electronics applications such as adaptive cruise control (ACC), collision warning and headway control - a lucrative market that reached a size of $810 million in 2007. UC team intend to sell the technology developed in Phases I, II and beyond in one or more of the following ways: (1) License to OEM/reseller (2) Form joint venture/partnership to sell solutions where these core technologies will need to be integrated into the solutions (3) Subcontract to other OEMs or system integrators offering consulting services to integrate technology into a specific system or platform. UC and DEC are collaborating to develop options (1), (2) and (3) and will partner with additional or other integrators to provide the right solution. UC team is determined to demonstrate success with the Air Force as an initial customer and expand to other service branches and agencies. During phase II development and beyond, the UC team will work closely with the Air Force Research Laboratory, Air Force Aeronautical Systems Center (ASC) and SAA prime contractor NGC to transition the technology.