FAA Funded Research to Conclude in 2023

Comprising 25 of the world’s leading research institutions and more than one-hundred industry and government partners, the FAA’s Alliance for System Safety of UAS through Research Excellence (ASSURE) program sets out—in the words of its own mission statement—to: “… provide high-quality research and support to autonomy stakeholders both within the US and beyond to safely and efficiently integrate autonomous systems into the national and international infrastructure, thereby increasing commerce and overall public safety and benefit.”

Expressed succinctly, the FAA is handing out cash to hasten the advancement of Advanced Air Mobility (AAM).

To that unambiguous end, the agency has provided additional ASSURE funding to the University of North Dakota’s John D. Odergard School of Aerospace Sciences (UND). The monies will facilitate the school’s ongoing research into right-of-way rules using technologies associated with autonomous flight.

As the business of developing Unmanned Air Vehicle (UAV) right-of-way rules is apparently a complex one, UND is working collectively with the University of Kansas and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University using Iris Automation and Sagetech Avionics’ detect-and-avoid solutions for cooperative and noncooperative traffic. Salient to the research is Applied Aeronautics’s Albatross UAV platform, a long-range, fixed-wing drone optimized for Beyond Visual Line Of Sight (BVLOS) operations.

Three separate U.S. locations have been selected in which to test the Albatross and other UAVs in flight scenarios entailing traffic conflicts with manned and unmanned, cooperative and noncooperative aircraft. Flight-testing and conflict simulations will span 18-months, with a finalized report pursuant such to be delivered to the FAA in 2023.

Ultimately, the research seeks to develop the right-of-way rules by which autonomous BVLOS UAV traffic operating below 400-feet AGL within the U.S. National Airspace System (NAS) will abide—thereby precluding the degeneration of AAM into a perpetual downpour of shattered drone components and battered Amazon packages.

UND UAS (Unmanned Aircraft System) program director Paul Snyder states: “It is exhilarating to see—and an honor to be a part of—ASSURE universities and the UAS industry, collaborating together to find solutions to integrate UAS into the national airspace system.”

By eliminating ambiguity and providing UAV pilots a regulatory framework within which to resolve in-flight conflicts with both cooperative and noncooperative aircraft, researchers—in addition to preserving public-safety—will ensure the viability, practical sustainability, and profitability of the AAM sector and the commerce it facilitates.  

FMI: www.assureuas.org