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NASA NTRSDate not supplied

DAA Use Case for Auto Cargo m:N Operations

A detect and avoid use-case was developed to highlight detect and avoid issues associated with m:N operations in the auto cargo domain. This work is being done in conjunction with industry partners and developed for the Operational Scenario and Environmental Description (OSED) for RTCA SC-228. The detect and avoid function is critical, required technology for unmanned aircraft to operation in the national airspace. RTCA SC-228 has published MOPS (phase 1 & 2) detailing the requirements and methods of compliance. This work will help address additional operational aspects of how/when DAA will be employed by unmanned systems. Specifically, this work focuses on “auto cargo” operations. Auto cargo, in this context, refers to regularly scheduled cargo-size aircraft that are flown remotely. The Remote Pilot In Command (RPIC), in this case, is responsible for multiple aircraft, flown simultaneously. The use-case details the use of DAA in this context, the potential issues and gaps that exist.

multi-vehicle control↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Advanced Capabilities for Emergency Response Operations (ACERO)

The Advanced Capabilities for Emergency Response Operations (ACERO) project is expected to develop, integrate, demonstrate, and transition to operations, evolving aviation technologies from NASA and industry to identify, monitor, and suppress wildland fires as a means to enhance safety, improve operational efficiency, and prevent economic loss. Some of the concepts ACERO explores are: wildfire airspace mangement to improve safety and resource utilization during a disaster, applying new aviation technologies to improve safety and demonstrate new mission-support capabilities, second-shift operations to enable progress towards 24/7 aerial response, and the integration of capabilities across NASA's Aeronautics Research, Science, and Space Technology mission directorates to enable expanded and scalable operations. Realizing this vision is expected to bring positive impact to such areas as: consistency of technology adoption through a unified concept of operations, airspace coordination and deconfliction that integrates portable solutions and enables diverse operations, remote sensing and data fusion for modeling and predictions that support in-time decision making, aircraft technologies for hazard avoidance and state management, and increased response capabilities through persistent communications and surveillance. ACERO continues the research begun under the Scalable Traffic Management for Emergency Response Operations (STEReO) activity, which brings together several technologies in Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Traffic Management (UTM), Autonomy, Communications, Human Factors, and Domain Expertise & Tools, aimed at providing scalability and flexibility, as well as operational resiliency to dynamic changes during a disaster event. Some of the concepts STEReO explores are: collaborative tools to ingest remote sensing information and distribute a common mission operating picture, apply ad-hoc communication networks to facilitate timely information sharing and communication of changes, vehicle-to-vehicle and onboard autonomy technologies ensure the safety and resiliency of operations, and apply NASA’s UAS traffic management system (UTM) as a public safety UAS Service Supplier (USS) to access and coordinate use of the airspace by both manned and unmanned operations. The potential benefits of STEReO include: standardized, cross-platform communication means increased interoperability and ease of cooperation/collaboration, increased situation awareness and common operating picture allow for earlier detection and decision making, and scalable to size and complexity of environment, operations, and mission objectives. This presentation gives an informational overview of the ACERO and STEReO projects to the Council of Western State Foresters (CWSF) Western State Fire Managers (WSFM) Committee.

emergency response operations↗

NASA NTRS1994

The Development of a Highly Reliable Power Management and Distribution System for Civil Transport Aircraft

NASA is pursuing a program in Advanced Subsonic Transport (AST) to develop the technology for a highly reliable Fly-By-Light/Power-By-WIre aircraft. One of the primary objectives of the program is to develop the technology base for confident application of integrated PBW components and systems to transport aircraft to improve operating reliability and efficiency. Technology will be developed so that the present hydraulic and pneumatic systems of the aircraft can be systematically eliminated and replaced by electrical systems. These motor driven actuators would move the aircraft wing surfaces as well as the rudder to provide steering controls for the pilot. Existing aircraft electrical systems are not flight critical and are prone to failure due to Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) (1), ground faults and component failures. In order to successfully implement electromechanical flight control actuation, a Power Management and Distribution (PMAD) System must be designed having a reliability of 1 failure in 10(exp +9) hours, EMI hardening and a fault tolerance architecture to ensure uninterrupted power to all aircraft flight critical systems. The focus of this paper is to analyze, define, and describe technically challenging areas associated with the development of a Power By Wire Aircraft and typical requirements to be established at the box level. The authors will attempt to propose areas of investigation, citing specific military standards and requirements that need to be revised to accommodate the 'More Electric Aircraft Systems'.

Coleman, Anthony S.↗

NASA NTRS2016

Unmanned Aircraft Systems in the National Airspace System: A Formal Methods Perspective

As the technological and operational capabilities of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) have grown, so too have international efforts to integrate UAS into civil airspace. However, one of the major concerns that must be addressed in realizing this integration is that of safety. For example, UAS lack an on-board pilot to comply with the legal requirement that pilots see and avoid other aircraft. This requirement has motivated the development of a detect and avoid (DAA) capability for UAS that provides situational awareness and maneuver guidance to UAS operators to aid them in avoiding and remaining well clear of other aircraft in the airspace. The NASA Langley Research Center Formal Methods group has played a fundamental role in the development of this capability. This article gives a selected survey of the formal methods work conducted in support of the development of a DAA concept for UAS. This work includes specification of low-level and high-level functional requirements, formal verification of algorithms, and rigorous validation of software implementations.

Munoz, Cesar A.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

From the Knowledge-based Digital Platform (KbDP) Concept for Advanced Air Mobility Research to a Preliminary Prototype

Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) encompasses a range of innovative operational and technological changes to aviation (electric aircraft, increasingly automated aircraft, increasingly automated airspace operations, etc.) that are transforming aviation’s role in everyday movement of people and goods. There are multiple associated concepts and use cases for AAM, all interrelated, including small Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Traffic Management (UTM), Upper-Class E Traffic Management (ETM), Extensible Traffic Management (xTM), Regional Air Mobility (RAM), and Urban Air Mobility (UAM). These AAM operations must integrate with traditional Air Traffic Management (ATM) operations, as well as non-aviation modes of transportation and logistics. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is spearheading an innovative digital engineering approach to integrate, communicate, and facilitate the research of multi-modal transportation systems. The Knowledge-based Digital Platform (KbDP) is a concept being developed that ties the workflows of Project Managers (PM), Principal Investigators (PI), and System Engineers together across organizational boundaries. It does so through the management of an information database defined by mathematical, data science, and system engineering principles. Machine Learning (ML) algorithms play a key role in this concept by extracting meaningful knowledge from the information database, which the human user leverages to greatly improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their research. Expected benefits of this concept include improved technology transfers from research to production, improved research portfolio investments, and research outcomes that are more integrated with all aspects of the multi-modal transportation problem. The preliminary KbDP prototype has been realized using UAM as a pathfinder use case and developed by a team of system engineer, software developer, data scientist, and interns.

Systems Engineering↗

NASA NTRS2004

Small Aircraft Transportation System Concept and Technologies

This paper summarizes both the vision and the early public-private collaborative research for the Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS). The paper outlines an operational definition of SATS, describes how SATS conceptually differs from current air transportation capabilities, introduces four SATS operating capabilities, and explains the relation between the SATS operating capabilities and the potential for expanded air mobility. The SATS technology roadmap encompasses on-demand, widely distributed, point-to-point air mobility, through hired-pilot modes in the nearer-term, and through self-operated user modes in the farther-term. The nearer-term concept is based on aircraft and airspace technologies being developed to make the use of smaller, more widely distributed community reliever and general aviation airports and their runways more useful in more weather conditions, in commercial hired-pilot service modes. The farther-term vision is based on technical concepts that could be developed to simplify or automate many of the operational functions in the aircraft and the airspace for meeting future public transportation needs, in personally operated modes. NASA technology strategies form a roadmap between the nearer-term concept and the farther-term vision. This paper outlines a roadmap for scalable, on-demand, distributed air mobility technologies for vehicle and airspace systems. The audiences for the paper include General Aviation manufacturers, small aircraft transportation service providers, the flight training industry, airport and transportation authorities at the Federal, state and local levels, and organizations involved in planning for future National Airspace System advancements.

Small aircraft transportation system↗

NASA NTRS2017

Autonomous System Technologies for Resilient Airspace Operations

Increasing autonomous systems within the aircraft cockpit begins with an effort to understand what autonomy is and developing the technology that encompasses it. Autonomy allows an agent, human or machine, to act independently within a circumscribed set of goals; delegating responsibility to the agent(s) to achieve overall system objective(s). Increasingly Autonomous Systems (IAS) are the highly sophisticated progression of current automated systems toward full autonomy. Working in concert with humans, these types of technologies are expected to improve the safety, reliability, costs, and operational efficiency of aviation. IAS implementation is imminent, which makes the development and the proper performance of such technologies, with respect to cockpit operation efficiency, the management of air traffic and data communication information, vital. A prototype IAS agent that attempts to optimize the identification and distribution of "relevant" air traffic data to be utilized by human crews during complex airspace operations has been developed.

Houston, Vincent E.↗

NASA NTRS2016

A Benefit Analysis of Infusing Wireless into Aircraft and Fleet Operations - Report to Seedling Project Efficient Reconfigurable Cockpit Design and Fleet Operations Using Software Intensive, Network Enabled, Wireless Architecture (ECON)

We report on an examination of potential benefits of infusing wireless technologies into various areas of aircraft and airspace operations. The analysis is done in support of a NASA seedling project Efficient Reconfigurable Cockpit Design and Fleet Operations Using Software Intensive, Network Enabled Wireless Architecture (ECON). The study has two objectives. First, we investigate one of the main benefit hypotheses of the ECON proposal: that the replacement of wired technologies with wireless would lead to significant weight reductions on an aircraft, among other benefits. Second, we advance a list of wireless technology applications and discuss their system benefits. With regard to the primary hypothesis, we conclude that the promise of weight reduction is premature. Specificity of the system domain and aircraft, criticality of components, reliability of wireless technologies, the weight of replacement or augmentation equipment, and the cost of infusion must all be taken into account among other considerations, to produce a reliable estimate of weight savings or increase.

Alexandrov, Natalia↗

NASA NTRS1973

Quiet turbofan STOL aircraft for short haul transportation, volume 1

The characteristics for a quiet turbofan short takeoff aircraft for short haul transportation applications are discussed. The following subjects are examined: (1) representative aircraft configurations, characteristics, and costs associated with the short haul aircraft development and operation, (2) critical technology and technology related problems to be resolved in successful introduction of representative short haul aircraft, (3) relationships between quiet short takeoff aircraft and the economic and social viability of short haul, and (4) identification of high payoff technology areas. In order to properly evaluate the candidate aircraft designs and to determine their economic viability and community acceptance, a real world scenario was developed and projected to 1990.

Renshaw, J. H.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

NASA Aeronautics Sustainable Aviation Overview

We live in challenging but exciting times for aviation as the sector continues to emerge from the unprecedented impact of a global pandemic while addressing its contribution to global warming. This perfect storm provides opportunity and the drivers that can lead to the most substantial changes the aviation sector has seen since the convergence of jet engines and swept wings over 60 years ago. The reality is we are entering the dawn of a new era of sustainable aviation full of opportunities and challenges that must economically address the health and transportation needs of society with unprecedentedly low impact on local, regional, and global environments. Today, commercial aviation physically connects countries across the globe and is an integral, critical part of today’s expanding global economy. Commercial aviation relies almost entirely on subsonic transport aircraft to constantly move people and goods from one place to another across the globe. While an effective means of transportation providing an unmatched combination of payload, speed, and range, future subsonic aircraft must continue to improve to meet efficiency, environmental, and economic goals established around the world to sustain the substantial growth projected in this well-established market. Commercial supersonic transports have come and gone in the global market, but they are on the verge of reemerging. Vertical lift vehicles leveraging breakthroughs in autonomous systems and electrified propulsion are positioned for massive growth in local and regional markets leading to daily flights within metropolitan areas that may exceed that across countries. To succeed, these new aircraft must be sustainable from day 1. NASA Aeronautics has a long history of contributions to aviation, and today it continues to address the challenge of sustainable growth of the traditional air transportation system through the research and development of systems and technologies for future aircraft and airspace operations. Research programs over the last decade have set the stage to demonstrate key technologies offering step-change performance and environmental impact. Through a Sustainable Flight National Partnership, NASA will partner with industry, academia, and other government agencies to demonstrate the most promising technologies during the 2020s to enable revolutionary systems in the early 2030s. In parallel, NASA will explore systems and technologies for further benefits approaching zero environmental impact beyond the 2030s. Similarly, NASA programs are addressing the challenges of emerging markets enabled by vertical take-off/landing and low-boom supersonic cruise. This oral-only presentation will focus on opportunities and challenges in the traditional subsonic transport while touching on emerging vertical lift and supersonic commercial aviation markets. NASA’s recent contributions, ongoing research, and plans for sustainable aviation will be discussed, including airframe, propulsion, and integrated vehicle systems and technologies.

James A. Kenyon↗

NASA NTRS1977

NASA's aviation safety research and technology program

Aviation safety is challenged by the practical necessity of compromising inherent factors of design, environment, and operation. If accidents are to be avoided these factors must be controlled to a degree not often required by other transport modes. The operational problems which challenge safety seem to occur most often in the interfaces within and between the design, the environment, and operations where mismatches occur due to ignorance or lack of sufficient understanding of these interactions. Under this report the following topics are summarized: (1) The nature of operating problems, (2) NASA aviation safety research, (3) clear air turbulence characterization and prediction, (4) CAT detection, (5) Measurement of Atmospheric Turbulence (MAT) Program, (6) Lightning, (7) Thunderstorm gust fronts, (8) Aircraft ground operating problems, (9) Aircraft fire technology, (10) Crashworthiness research, (11) Aircraft wake vortex hazard research, and (12) Aviation safety reporting system.

Fichtl, G. H.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Future regional transport aircraft market, constraints, and technology stimuli

This report provides updated information on the current market and operating environment and identifies interlinking technical possibilities for competitive future commuter-type transport aircraft. The conclusions on the market and operating environment indicate that the regional airlines are moving toward more modern and effective fleets with greater passenger capacity and comfort, reduced noise levels, increased speed, and longer range. This direction leads to a nearly 'seamless' service and continued code-sharing agreements with the major carriers. Whereas the benefits from individual technologies may be small, the overall integration in existing and new aircraft designs can produce improvements in direct operating cost and competitiveness. Production costs are identified as being equally important as pure technical advances.

Harvey, W. Don↗

NASA NTRS1989

A knowledge-based system design/information tool for aircraft flight control systems

Research aircraft have become increasingly dependent on advanced control systems to accomplish program goals. These aircraft are integrating multiple disciplines to improve performance and satisfy research objectives. This integration is being accomplished through electronic control systems. Because of the number of systems involved and the variety of engineering disciplines, systems design methods and information management have become essential to program success. The primary objective of the system design/information tool for aircraft flight control system is to help transfer flight control system design knowledge to the flight test community. By providing all of the design information and covering multiple disciplines in a structured, graphical manner, flight control systems can more easily be understood by the test engineers. This will provide the engineers with the information needed to thoroughly ground test the system and thereby reduce the likelihood of serious design errors surfacing in flight. The secondary objective is to apply structured design techniques to all of the design domains. By using the techniques in the top level system design down through the detailed hardware and software designs, it is hoped that fewer design anomalies will result. The flight test experiences of three highly complex, integrated aircraft programs are reviewed: the X-29 forward-swept wing, the advanced fighter technology integration (AFTI) F-16, and the highly maneuverable aircraft technology (HiMAT) program. Significant operating anomalies and the design errors which cause them, are examined to help identify what functions a system design/information tool should provide to assist designers in avoiding errors.

Mackall, Dale A.↗

NASA NTRS1991

NASA Ames aerospace systems directorate research

The Aerospace Systems Directorate is one of four research directorates at the NASA Ames Research Center. The Directorate conducts research and technology development for advanced aircraft and aircraft systems in intelligent computational systems and human-machine systems for aeronautics and space. The Directorate manages research and aircraft technology development projects, and operates and maintains major wind tunnels and flight simulation facilities. The Aerospace Systems Directorate's research and technology as it relates to NASA agency goals and specific strategic thrusts are discussed.

Albers, James A.↗

NASA NTRS1991

A knowledge-based system design/information tool for aircraft flight control systems

Research aircraft have become increasingly dependent on advanced electronic control systems to accomplish program goals. These aircraft are integrating multiple disciplines to improve performance and satisfy research objective. This integration is being accomplished through electronic control systems. Systems design methods and information management have become essential to program success. The primary objective of the system design/information tool for aircraft flight control is to help transfer flight control system design knowledge to the flight test community. By providing all of the design information and covering multiple disciplines in a structured, graphical manner, flight control systems can more easily be understood by the test engineers. This will provide the engineers with the information needed to thoroughly ground test the system and thereby reduce the likelihood of serious design errors surfacing in flight. The secondary object is to apply structured design techniques to all of the design domains. By using the techniques in the top level system design down through the detailed hardware and software designs, it is hoped that fewer design anomalies will result. The flight test experiences are reviewed of three highly complex, integrated aircraft programs: the X-29 forward swept wing; the advanced fighter technology integration (AFTI) F-16; and the highly maneuverable aircraft technology (HiMAT) program. Significant operating technologies, and the design errors which cause them, is examined to help identify what functions a system design/informatin tool should provide to assist designers in avoiding errors.

Mackall, Dale A.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Wake Disturbance-Based Separation Criteria Study for Urban Air Mobility Aircraft

This study continues previous research evaluating the aircraft flight dynamics in the presence of wake disturbances. A model for fixed-wing-generated wake effects is input to the closed-loop system of a Revolutionary Vertical Lift Technology (RVLT) Lift+Cruise aircraft operating in the fixed-wing Cruise configuration. The wake effects are implemented as a time-varying nonlinear aerodynamic model that affect the stability, dynamic, and control derivatives of the aircraft at every time step. The final product of this study is a reduced separation minimum based on further simulation testing with the nonlinear RVLT Lift+Cruise aircraft model, as well as additional wake inputs from rotorcraft and static urban canyons.

Urban Air Mobility↗

NASA NTRS2009

Technology Advancements Enhance Aircraft Support of Experiment Campaigns

For over 30 years, the NASA Airborne Science Program has provided airborne platforms for space bound instrument development, for calibrating new and existing satellite systems, and for making in situ and remote sensing measurements that can only be made from aircraft. New technologies have expanded the capabilities of aircraft that are operated for these missions. Over the last several years a new technology investment portfolio has yielded improvements that produce better measurements for the airborne science communities. These new technologies include unmanned vehicles, precision trajectory control and advanced telecommunications capabilities. We will discuss some of the benefits of these new technologies and systems which aim to provide users with more precision, lower operational costs, quicker access to data, and better management of multi aircraft and multi sensor campaigns.

Vachon, Jacques J.↗

NASA NTRS1976

Study of the application of advanced technologies to laminar flow control systems for subsonic transports. Volume 1: Summary

A study was conducted to evaluate the technical and economic feasibility of applying laminar flow control to the wings and empennage of long-range subsonic transport aircraft compatible with initial operation in 1985. For a design mission range of 10,186 km (5500 n mi), advanced technology laminar-flow-control (LFC) and turbulent-flow (TF) aircraft were developed for both 200 and 400-passenger payloads, and compared on the basis of production costs, direct operating costs, and fuel efficiency. Parametric analyses were conducted to establish the optimum geometry for LFC and TF aircraft, advanced LFC system concepts and arrangements were evaluated, and configuration variations maximizing the effectiveness of LFC were developed. For the final LFC aircraft, analyses were conducted to define maintenance costs and procedures, manufacturing costs and procedures, and operational considerations peculiar to LFC aircraft. Compared to the corresponding advanced technology TF transports, the 200- and 400-passenger LFC aircraft realized reductions in fuel consumption up to 28.2%, reductions in direct operating costs up to 8.4%, and improvements in fuel efficiency, in ssm/lb of fuel, up to 39.4%. Compared to current commercial transports at the design range, the LFC study aircraft demonstrate improvements in fuel efficiency up to 131%. Research and technology requirements requisite to the development of LFC transport aircraft were identified.

Sturgeon, R. F.↗