NDLI: The NASA Langley Research Center's Unmanned Aerial System Surrogate research aircraft

Content Provider	IEEE Xplore Digital Library
Author	Howell, C.T. Jessup, A. Jones, F. Joyce, C. Sugden, P. Verstynen, H. Mielnik, J.
Copyright Year	2010
Description	Author affiliation: Lockheed Martin Corp., Hampton, VA (Mielnik, J.) \|\| ATK Space Systems In., Hampton, VA (Joyce, C.) \|\| Unisys Corp. Hampton, VA (Sugden, P.; Verstynen, H.) \|\| NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA (Howell, C.T.; Jones, F.) \|\| Science & Technology Corp., Hampton, VA (Jessup, A.)
Abstract	Research is needed to determine what procedures, aircraft sensors and other systems will be required to allow Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) to safely operate with manned aircraft in the National Airspace System (NAS). The NASA Langley Research Center has transformed a Cirrus Design SR22 general aviation (GA) aircraft into a UAS Surrogate research aircraft to serve as a platform for UAS systems research, development, flight testing and evaluation. The aircraft is manned with a Safety Pilot and systems operator that allows for flight operations almost anywhere in the NAS without the need for a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Certificate of Authorization (COA). The UAS Surrogate can be controlled from a modular, transportable ground station like a true UAS. The UAS Surrogate is able to file and fly in the NAS with normal traffic and is an ideal platform for real world UAS research and development compared to actual UAS flying in restricted ranges or other sterilized airspace. The Cirrus Design SR22 aircraft is a small, single-engine, four-place, composite-construction aircraft that NASA Langley acquired to support NASA flight-research programs like the Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS) Project. Systems were installed to support flight test research and data gathering. These systems include: separate research power; multi-function flat-panel displays; research computers; research air data and inertial state sensors; video recording; data acquisition; datalink; S-band video and data telemetry; Common Airborne Instrumentation System (CAIS); Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B); instrumented surfaces and controls; and a systems operator work station. The transformation of the SR22 to a UAS Surrogate was accomplished in phases. The first phase was to modify the existing autopilot to accept external commands from a research computer that was connected by redundant data-link radios to a ground control station. An electro-mechanical auto-throttle was added in the next phase to provide ground station control of airspeed. Additional phases are in progress to add waypoint navigation and long range satellite voice and data communications. Potential areas for UAS Surrogate research include the development, flight test and evaluation of sensors to aid in the process of air traffic “detect-sense-and-avoid”. These sensors could be evaluated in real-time and compared with onboard human evaluation pilots. This paper describes the systems and design considerations that were incorporated in the development of the UAS Surrogate along with details of development problems encountered and the corresponding solutions.
File Size	906208
File Format	PDF
ISBN	9781424466160
ISSN	21557209
e-ISBN	9781424466184
DOI	10.1109/DASC.2010.5655303
Language	English
Publisher	Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
Publisher Date	2010-10-03
Publisher Place	USA
Access Restriction	Subscribed
Rights Holder	Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
Subject Keyword	Aircraft Servomotors Computers Aerospace electronics Aircraft manufacture NASA Aircraft navigation
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article

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