Project contracted by the European Defence Agency
Nowadays most of the higher functions for manned and unmanned aircraft are based on automation, i.e. rule and event based handling of certain, pre-defined situations. The capability of these systems is limited by complexity, for instance if a situation is not known to the system or in uncertain and dynamically changing environments.
While flying an aircraft is for sure very complex and demanding, the usage of higher autonomy levels is of utmost importance for unmanned aircraft systems to enable novel future military capabilities, reduce crew workload and still assure safe integration with respect to contingencies and emergencies. The transition from rule-based automation to autonomous decision making is
a challenging task, not only technical but also with respect to certification and proof of safety. It is expected that future Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) operational require reduced Remote Pilot (RP) engagement (limited to exceptional cases) and therefore an increase in UAS autonomy
The main objectives of the project are:
- A workload reduction of the remote pilot so he should only need to intervene with the UAS operation in exceptional conditions
- Autonomous management of contingency and emergency conditions as well as autonomous clearance handling in the airspace operations
- Enabling novel operational concepts requiring autonomous UAS collaboration and manned/unmanned teaming. The design will not preclude the remote pilot to take over control of the UAS should he consider this necessary.
- Utilization of the contemporary and future technologies (e.g. artificial intelligence) in the above areas
The international consortium contains partners from Germany, Norway, Poland, Portugal and Spain.
Implementation time-frame: 25.10.2024 - 24.10.2027
Enhanced RPAS Automation (phase 2) ERA2.1 (7.58 KB, ppsx)
