Airspace Management and Deconfliction of Networked UAV

Ongoing advances in technology have increased mission capabilities of small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) while simultaneously reducing their size and cost. It is conceivable that a battalion-sized Unit of Action (UA) might operate a dozen or more small UAVs simultaneously in a small area of the battlespace with missions ranging from reconnaissance, to communications, to being elements of coordinated strike missions. The ISX/SRI/BRG team will develop a UAV Airspace Management System (UAMS) operating on a small UAV level to deconflict multiple small UAV path plans in real time using limited sensors, communications, and processing. At the end of the UAMS Phase II effort, we will exhibite a proof-of-concept demonstration of the military operational benefits of a UAMS system that defines a hybrid airspace management system capable of adapting to changes in the airspace by dynamically adjusting the balance of centralized and distributed control over the airspace. The benefits provided by UAMS to airspace management are continuous adaptability to variable airspace environments, support more airspace entity types, handling more mission types, and support higher UAV densities. UAMS has been designed with the flexibility to adapt to variable airspace environments and support the promising future of UAV applications.