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NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Real-Time Pilot Inputs for Aircraft Dynamic Modeling

Real-time dynamic modeling and pilot displays are used to enable pilots to intuitively discover effective multi-axis inputs for aircraft dynamic modeling during flight tests. An F-16 nonlinear simulation flown by a pilot using a joystick and a laptop computer with real-time displays of relevant information is used to demonstrate the approach. Results show that pilots can use the real-time display to discover and implement effective and efficient multi-axis inputs for accurate dynamic modeling in flight. The real-time dynamic modeling results driving the pilot display can be used to certify that the acquired flight data are adequate for accurate dynamic modeling, thus avoiding postflight data analysis and modeling by an analyst to make that determination. Implications for pilot training and efficient flight testing are discussed.

Pilot Inputs↗
NASA NTRS1977

Aerodynamic configuration development of the highly maneuverable aircraft technology remotely piloted research vehicle

The aerodynamic development of the highly maneuverable aircraft technology remotely piloted research vehicle (HiMAT/RPRV) from the conceptual design to the final configuration is presented. The design integrates several advanced concepts to achieve a high degree of transonic maneuverability, and was keyed to sustained maneuverability goals while other fighter typical performance characteristics were maintained. When tests of the baseline configuration indicated deficiencies in the technology integration and design techniques, the vehicle was reconfigured to satisfy the subcritical and supersonic requirements. Drag-due-to-lift levels only 5 percent higher than the optimum were obtained for the wind tunnel model at a lift coefficient of 1 for Mach numbers of up to 0.8. The transonic drag rise was progressively lowered with the application of nonlinear potential flow analyses coupled with experimental data.

Gingrich, P. B.↗
NASA NTRS2003

Airborne Turbulence Warning System Development

This viewgraph presentation provides information on the development of a system by which aircraft pilots will be warned of turbulence. This networked system of in situ sensors will be mounted on various aircraft all of which are linked through a ground based parabolic antenna. As its end result, this system will attempt to reduce the number of accidents arising from turbulence.

Bogue, Rod↗
NASA NTRS2019

UAS Concept of Operations and Vehicle Technologies Demonstration

In 2017 and 2018, under National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) sponsorship, the New York Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Test Site and Northeast UAS Airspace Integration Research (NUAIR) Alliance conducted a year-long research project that culminated in a UAS technology flight demonstration. The research project included the creation of a concept of operations, and development and demonstration of UAS technologies. The concept of operations was focused on an unmanned aircraft transiting from cruise through Class E airspace into a high-density urban terminal environment. The terminal environment in which the test was conducted was Griffiss International Airport, under Syracuse Air Traffic Control (ATC) approach control and Griffiss control tower. Employing an Aurora Centaur optionally piloted aircraft (OPA), this project explored six scenarios aimed at advancing UAS integration into the National Airspace System (NAS) under both nominal and off-nominal conditions. Off-nominal conditions were defined to include complete loss of the communications link between the remote pilot’s control station on the ground and the aircraft. The off-nominal scenarios that were investigated included lost-link conditions with and without link recovery, an automated ATC initiated go-around, autonomous rerouting around a dynamic airspace obstruction (in this case simulated weather), and autonomous taxi operations to clear the runway.

Swieringa, Kurt↗
NASA NTRS2016

C2-Related Incidents Reported by UAS Pilots

It has been estimated that aviation accidents are typically preceded by numerous minor incidents arising from the same causal factors that ultimately produced the accident. Accident databases provide in-depth information on a relatively small number of occurrences, however incident databases have the potential to provide insights into the human factors of Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) operations based on a larger volume of less-detailed reports. Currently, there is a lack of incident data dealing with the human factors of unmanned aircraft systems. An exploratory study is being conducted to examine the feasibility of collecting voluntary critical incident reports from RPAS pilots. Twenty-three experienced RPAS pilots volunteered to participate in focus groups in which they described critical incidents from their own experience. Participants were asked to recall (1) incidents that revealed a system flaw, or (2) highlighted a case where the human operator contributed to system resilience or mission success. Participants were asked to only report incidents that could be included in a public document. During each focus group session, a note taker produced a de-identified written record of the incident narratives. At the end of the session, participants reviewed each written incident report, and made edits and corrections as necessary. The incidents were later analyzed to identify contributing factors, with a focus on design issues that either hindered or assisted the pilot during the events. A total of 90 incidents were reported. This presentation focuses on incidents that involved the management of the command and control (C2) link. The identified issues include loss of link, interference from undesired transmissions, voice latency, accidental control transfer, and the use of the lost link timer, or lost link OK features.

unmanned aircraft systems↗
NASA NTRS1971

Pilot reports of disorientation across 14 years of flight.

The purpose of this study was to compare recent incidents involving disorientation in flight reported by 336 Air Force, Army, and Navy pilots with incidents reported by 137 pilots in 1956. The pilots reported their experiences using a check list and a written description of an experience with disorientation in the aircraft they were flying at the time. The latter included 40 incidents which occurred in support of operations in Vietnam. The reports of disorientation showed a striking similarity across types of aircraft flown over 14 years of flying, as well as with the incidents occurring in Vietnam. However, some variation in reports between aircraft types was noted. These reports of disorientation suggest that disorientation is currently experienced in a wide variety of flight operations and that it will continue to be experienced by aircraft pilots.

Clark, B.↗
NASA NTRS2005

Artificial Intelligence for Controlling Robotic Aircraft

A document consisting mostly of lecture slides presents overviews of artificial-intelligence-based control methods now under development for application to robotic aircraft [called Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in the paper] and spacecraft and to the next generation of flight controllers for piloted aircraft. Following brief introductory remarks, the paper presents background information on intelligent control, including basic characteristics defining intelligent systems and intelligent control and the concept of levels of intelligent control. Next, the paper addresses several concepts in intelligent flight control. The document ends with some concluding remarks, including statements to the effect that (1) intelligent control architectures can guarantee stability of inner control loops and (2) for UAVs, intelligent control provides a robust way to accommodate an outer-loop control architecture for planning and/or related purposes.

Krishnakumar, Kalmanje↗
NASA NTRS2012

NASA's UAS [Unmanned Aircraft Systems] Related Activities

NASA continues to operate all sizes of UAS in all classes of airspace both domestically and internationally. Missions range from highly complex operations in coordination with piloted aircraft, ground, and space systems in support of science objectives to single aircraft operations in support of aeronautics research. One such example is a scaled commercial transport aircraft being used to study recovery techniques due to large upsets. NASA's efforts to support routine UAS operations continued on several fronts last year. At the national level in the United States (U.S.), NASA continued its support of the UAS Executive Committee (ExCom) comprised of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Department of Defense (DoD), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and NASA. The committee was formed in recognition of the need of UAS operated by these agencies to access to the National Airspace System (NAS) to support operational, training, development and research requirements. Recommendations were received on how to operate both manned and unmanned aircraft in class D airspace and plans are being developed to validate and implement those recommendations. In addition the UAS ExCom has begun developing recommendations for how to achieve routine operations in remote areas as well as for small UAS operations in class G airspace. As well as supporting the UAS ExCom, NASA is a participant in the recently formed Aviation Rule Making Committee for UAS. This committee, established by the FAA, is intended to propose regulatory guidance which would enable routine civil UAS operations. As that effort matures NASA stands ready to supply the necessary technical expertise to help that committee achieve its objectives. By supporting both the UAS ExCom and UAS ARC, NASA is positioned to provide its technical expertise across the full spectrum of UAS airspace access related topic areas. The UAS NAS Access Project got underway this past year under the leadership of NASA s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate. This project is focused on advancing the state of the art and providing research and analysis results in the areas of Separation Assurance, Communications (non-governmental spectrum allocation for UAS), Certification, and Human System Integration (ground control station design/pilot interfaces). The project is working in close coordination with the FAA and industry standards organizations (e.g. RTCA SC 203). More details on this project are provided in a separate article in this year's yearbook

Bauer, Jeffrey↗
NASA NTRS2015

Certification Considerations for Adaptive Systems

Advanced capabilities planned for the next generation of aircraft, including those that will operate within the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen), will necessarily include complex new algorithms and non-traditional software elements. These aircraft will likely incorporate adaptive control algorithms that will provide enhanced safety, autonomy, and robustness during adverse conditions. Unmanned aircraft will operate alongside manned aircraft in the National Airspace (NAS), with intelligent software performing the high-level decision-making functions normally performed by human pilots. Even human-piloted aircraft will necessarily include more autonomy. However, there are serious barriers to the deployment of new capabilities, especially for those based upon software including adaptive control (AC) and artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms. Current civil aviation certification processes are based on the idea that the correct behavior of a system must be completely specified and verified prior to operation. This report by Rockwell Collins and SIFT documents our comprehensive study of the state of the art in intelligent and adaptive algorithms for the civil aviation domain, categorizing the approaches used and identifying gaps and challenges associated with certification of each approach.

Bhattacharyya, Siddhartha↗
NASA NTRS2020

Public Trust and Acceptance for Concepts of Remotely Operated Urban Air Mobility Transportation

There is building interest within industry and government to enable Urban Air Mobility (i.e., air-taxies). One concept envisions remotely piloted aircraft, yet it is unclear how this will impact public trust and acceptance. Method: Two hundred participants read vignettes describing remotely-piloted UAM operations and then responded to a series of questionnaires. The study employed a one-way between-subjects design manipulating five levels of Pilot-in-Command Distance: Onboard Pilot; Remote Control Pilot; Dedicated Remote Operator; Remote Operator; System Manager. Results: The Remote Control Pilot group indicated they would be less likely than the Onboard Pilot Group to use UAM, based on the mediating effect of trust in the automation. The Remote Control Pilot and Remote Operator groups indicated they would be less likely to use UAM than the Onboard Pilot group, based on the mediating effect of trust in the remote pilot/operator. Conclusion: Trust in UAM automation and remote pilots/operators will likely affect public acceptance of UAM.

MTurk↗
NASA NTRS2019

Advancing the Standards for Unmanned Air System Communications, Navigation and Surveillance

Under NASA program NNA16BD84C, new architectures were identified and developed for supporting reliable and secure Communications, Navigation and Surveillance (CNS) needs for Unmanned Air Systems (UAS) operating in both controlled and uncontrolled airspace. An analysis of architectures for the two categories of airspace and an implementation technology readiness analysis were performed. These studies produced NASA reports that have been made available in the public domain and have been briefed in previous conferences. We now consider how the products of the study are influencing emerging directions in the aviation standards communities. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Communications Panel (CP), Working Group I (WG-I) is currently developing a communications network architecture known as the Aeronautical Telecommunications Network with Internet Protocol Services (ATN/IPS). The target use case for this service is secure and reliable Air Traffic Management (ATM) for manned aircraft operating in controlled airspace. However, the work is more and more also considering the emerging class of airspace users known as Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS), which refers to certain UAS classes. In addition, two Special Committees (SCs) in the Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics (RTCA) are developing Minimum Aviation System Performance Standards (MASPS) and Minimum Operational Performance Standards (MOPS) for UAS. RTCA SC-223 is investigating an Internet Protocol Suite (IPS) and AeroMACS aviation data link for interoperable (INTEROP) UAS communications. Meanwhile, RTCA SC-228 is working to develop Detect And Avoid (DAA) equipment and a Command and Control (C2) Data Link MOPS establishing LBand and C-Band solutions. These RTCA Special Committees along with ICAO CP WG/I are therefore overlapping in terms of the Communication, Navigation and Surveillance (CNS) alternatives they are seeking to provide for an integrated manned- and unmanned air traffic management service as well as remote pilot command and control. This paper presents UAS CNS architecture concepts developed under the NASA program that apply to all three of the aforementioned committees. It discusses the similarities and differences in the problem spaces under consideration in each committee, and considers the application of a common set of CNS alternatives that can be widely applied. As the works of these committees progress, it is clear that the overlap will need to be addressed to ensure a consistent and safe framework for worldwide aviation. In this study, we discuss similarities and differences in the various operational models and show how the CNS architectures developed under the NASA program apply.

Ponchak, Denise S.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Aircraft Classification Using Radar from Small Unmanned Aerial Systems for Scalable Traffic Management Emergency Response Operations

This work investigates two machine learning techniques: Support Vector Machine (SVM) and Autoencoders (AE)with SVM layer for classification of radar trajectories as General Aviation (GA), fixed-wing small Unmanned Aerial System (sUAS), or not-an-aircraft using radar data recorded from sUAS. Onboard identification of intruder aircraft type is useful for planning avoidance maneuvers and is necessary to provide autonomous systems to meet or exceed the avoidance capability of a human pilot. Aircraft classification can identify intruder aircraft that are not part of the team and may be violating a Temporary Flight Restriction. Aircraft classification is needed in monitoring an airspace where multiple aircraft are teaming on a shared task. Scalable Traffic Management for Emergency Response Operations (STEReO) is a NASA project aimed at improving disaster response by enabling large scale aircraft operations through the teaming of manned aircraft with sUAS to maximize emergency response resources. To this end, this work uses trajectories and radar derived features to classify aircraft from a multirotor sUAS. The AE + SVM generated the strongest classification overall accuracy of 93.5% using the first 4 seconds of radar track data for tracks that activated the avoidance system. Subsampling the available track data increased the available training data with the maximum aircraft recall of 0.94 achieved using the SVM with 1 second track data.

Chester V. Dolph↗
NASA NTRS2017

Effects on Task Performance and Psychophysiological Measures of Performance During Normobaric Hypoxia Exposure

Human-autonomous systems have the potential to mitigate pilot cognitive impairment and improve aviation safety. A research team at NASA Langley conducted an experiment to study the impact of mild normobaric hypoxia induction on aircraft pilot performance and psychophysiological state. A within-subjects design involved non-hypoxic and hypoxic exposures while performing three 10-minute tasks. Results indicated the effect of 15,000 feet simulated altitude did not induce significant performance decrement but did produce increase in perceived workload. Analyses of psychophysiological responses evince the potential of biomarkers for hypoxia onset. This study represents on-going work at NASA intending to add to the current knowledge of psychophysiologically-based input to automation to increase aviation safety. Analyses involving coupling across physiological systems and wavelet transforms of cortical activity revealed patterns that can discern between the simulated altitude conditions. Specifically, multivariate entropy of ECG/Respiration components were found to be significant predictors (p< 0.02) of hypoxia. Furthermore, in EEG, there was a significant decrease in mid-level beta (15.19-18.37Hz) during the hypoxic condition in thirteen of sixteen sites across the scalp. Task performance was not appreciably impacted by the effect of 15,000 feet simulated altitude. Analyses of psychophysiological responses evince the potential of biomarkers for mild hypoxia onset.The potential for identifying shifts in underlying cortical and physiological systems could serve as a means to identify the onset of deteriorated cognitive state. Enabling such assessment in future flightdecks could permit increasingly autonomous systems-supported operations. Augmenting human operator through assessment of cognitive impairment has the potential to further improve operator performance and mitigate human error in safety critical contexts. This study represents ongoing work at NASA intending to add to the current knowledge of psychophysiologically-based input to automation to increase aviation safety.

Stephens, Chad↗
NASA NTRS1979

Hydrazine monopropellant reciprocating engine development

A hydrazine-fueled piston-type engine for providing 11.2 kW (15 hp) has been developed to satisfy the need for an efficient power supply in the range from 3.7 to 74.6 kW (5 to 100 hp) where existing nonair-breathing power supplies such as fuel cells or turbines are inappropriate. The engine was developed for an aircraft to fly to 21.3 km (70,000 ft) and above and cruise for extended periods. The NASA Hugh L. Dryden Flight Research Center developed a remotely piloted aircraft and the associated flight control techniques for this application. About 20 hr of run time have demonstrated good efficiency and adequate life. One flight test to 6.1 km (20,000 ft) has been made using the engine with a small fixed-pitch four-bladed propeller. The test was successful in demonstrating operational characteristics and future potential.

Akkerman, J. W.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Lift augmentation for highly swept wing aircraft

A pair of spaced slots, disposed on each side of an aircraft centerline and spaced well inboard of the wing leading edges, are provided in the wing upper surfaces and directed tangentially spanwise toward thin sharp leading wing edges of a highly swept, delta wing aircraft. The slots are individually connected through separate plenum chambers to separate compressed air tanks and serve, collectively, as a system for providing aircraft lift augmentation. A compressed air supply is tapped from the aircraft turbojet power plant. Suitable valves, under the control of the aircraft pilot, serve to selective provide jet blowing from the individual slots to provide spanwise sheets of jet air closely adjacent to the upper surfaces and across the aircraft wing span to thereby create artificial vortices whose suction generate additional lift on the aircraft. When desired, or found necessary, unequal or one-side wing blowing is employed to generate rolling moments for augmented lateral control. Trailing flaps are provided that may be deflected differentially, individually, or in unison, as needed for assistance in take-off or landing of the aircraft.

Rao, Dhanvada M.↗
NASA NTRS2015

Pilot Situation Awareness and Its Implications for Single Pilot Operations: Analysis of a Human-In-The-Loop Study

In 2012, NASA began exploring the feasibility of single pilot/reduced crew operations in the context of scheduled air carrier operations. The current study examined how important it was for ground-based personnel providing support to single piloted aircraft (ground operators) to have opportunities to acquire situation awareness (SA) prior to being called on to assist an aircraft. We looked at two distinct concepts of operation, which varied in how much information was available to ground operators prior to being called on to assist a critical event (no vs. some Situation Preview). Thirty-five commercial pilots participated in the current study. Results suggested that a ground operators’ lack of initial SA when called on for dedicated assistance is not an issue, at least when the ground operator station displays environmental and systems data which are important to gaining overall SA of the specified aircraft. With appropriate displays, ground operators were able to provide immediate assistance, even if they had minimal SA prior to getting a request.

Reduced crew operations↗