NASA Logo

NTRS

NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server

Collections About News Help Login
Back to Results
Safeguard: Progress and Test Results for a Reliable Independent On-Board Safety Net for UASAs demands increase to use unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) for a broad spectrum of commercial applications, regulatory authorities are examining how to safely integrate them without compromising safety or disrupting traditional airspace operations. For small UAS, several operational rules have been established; e.g., do not operate beyond visual line-of-sight, do not fly within five miles of a commercial airport, do not fly above 400 feet above ground level. Enforcing these rules is challenging for UAS, as evidenced by the number of incident reports received by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). This paper reviews the development of an onboard system - Safeguard - designed to monitor and enforce conformance to a set of operational rules defined prior to flight (e.g., geospatial stay-out or stay-in regions, speed limits, and altitude constraints). Unlike typical geofencing or geo-limitation functions, Safeguard operates independently of the off-the-shelf UAS autopilot and is designed in a way that can be realized by a small set of verifiable functions to simplify compliance with existing standards for safety-critical systems (e.g. for spacecraft and manned commercial transportation aircraft systems). A framework is described that decouples the system from any other devices on the UAS as well as introduces complementary positioning source(s) for applications that require integrity and availability beyond what can be provided by the Global Positioning System (GPS). This paper summarizes the progress and test results for Safeguard research and development since presentation of the design concept at the 35th Digital Avionics Systems Conference (DASC '16). Significant accomplishments include completion of software verification and validation in accordance with NASA standards for spacecraft systems (to Class B), development of improved hardware prototypes, development of a simulation platform that allows for hardware-in-the-loop testing and fast-time Monte Carlo evaluations, and flight testing on multiple air vehicles. Integration testing with NASA's UAS Traffic Management (UTM) service-oriented architecture was also demonstrated.
Document ID
20170009617
Acquisition Source
Langley Research Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Young, Steven D. (NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA, United States)
Dill, Evan T. (NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA, United States)
Hayhurst, Kelly J. (NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA, United States)
Gilabert, Russell V. (NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA, United States)
Date Acquired
October 6, 2017
Publication Date
September 17, 2017
Subject Category
Air Transportation And Safety
Report/Patent Number
NF1676L-26898
Meeting Information
Meeting: Annual IEEE/AIAA Digital Avionics Systems Conference (DASC ''17)
Location: St. Petersburg, FL
Country: United States
Start Date: September 17, 2017
End Date: September 21, 2017
Sponsors: American Inst. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Funding Number(s)
WBS: WBS 154692.02.70.01.01
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

Related Records

There are no records associated with this record.
No Preview Available