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 Corporation (UC) proposes novel algorithms (through research, development and augmenting/refining existing in house algorithms) for providing due regard using existing EO/IR sensors based on the detection of cloud and sky regions. Specifically, UC will corroborate the feasibility of (i) Segmentation of images into homogenous regions and region merging (ii) novel algorithms for extracting and selecting visual features (iii) novel algorithms for the classification of pixels and segmented regions into three classes: sky, cloud and others, and tracking the cloud regions through time. These modules and their integration with existing SAA processing chain will be designed, developed and tested in consultation with the Air Force Program Manager and SAA prime contractor, Northrop Grumman Corporation (NGC).