Unmanned Aircraft System Ground Operations Management System

Today’s aircraft operations on the airport surface, including taxiing, airfield navigation, avoidance of runway incursions, and obstacle avoidance, all require significant human involvement and decision-making. For the operation of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UASs), such as the GlobalHawk, significant effort is required to survey each airfield at which the UAS will operate, and to specify detailed taxi path waypoints, which the UAS tracks using GPS guidance. This approach requires significant effort to survey airfields, and manual human oversight to monitor the operation of the UAS on the airfield and to avoid obstacles and other aircraft. The Mosaic ATM team will leverage significant research, development and deployment expertise in UAS operations and airport automation systems to develop a UAS Ground Operations Management System (UGOMS) for UAS airfield operations. The UGOMS will provide accurate, real-time position determination on the airfield through the fusion of multiple sensor inputs already available on the aircraft, without reliance on external navigation systems, and without detailed a-priori surveying of the airfield. Further, the UGOMS will support higher-level automated decision-making during airport surface operations, to identify airport markings and signs, detect obstacles and other aircraft, and to ensure the safe and efficient operation of the aircraft on the airfield.