U.S. Air Force researchers are surveying industry for companies able to develop sensor-fusion technology that enables unmanned aircraft to sense and avoid other aircraft while flying in controlled U.S. airspace.
The Air Force Aeronautical Systems Center (ASC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, has released a sources-sought notice in anticipation of releasing a request for proposals (RFP) for the Airborne Sense and Avoid (ABSAA) programme.
ABASSA seeks to develop a sensor- and platform-agnostic sensor-fusion product for a wide variety of UAS that will enable these unmanned aircraft to operate safely alongside other manned and unmanned aircraft by sensing and avoiding other aircraft to prevent mid-air collisions. The ABASSA product will have software and hardware interfaces necessary to be sensor and platform agnostic.
Sensors will connect to the sensor-fusion product, then to the UAS flight controls and operator interface. The initial phase of the ABASSA programme will use traffic alert and collision avoidance system (TCAS), automatic dependent surveillance – broadcast (ADS-B), radar, and electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) input while allowing easy integration of other sensor types in the future.
The first UAS to receive ABASSA technology will be the RQ-4 Global Hawk, yet the system will be scalable to accommodate all kinds of UAS in the future. ABSAA will provide follow-on capabilities for sense and avoid as demonstrated earlier by the Multiple Intruder Avoidance Algorithm (MIAA) programme, conducted by the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL), Air Force officials say.
The full text of the solicitation can be downloaded here.
Source: Avionics Intelligence