WINDSUN: Weather INformation Display Systems for UAS in the NAS, Phase I

WINDSUN, a decision support display system for providing relevant weather information to human UAS operators and ground control crew members, addresses a relevant, high-priority issue: safe and efficient civil UAS operations in the NAS. New and improved interface displays and interaction methods will be required to support decision making and situational awareness during both mission planning and en-route operations. Initially, Aptima intends to infuse the WINDSUN research effort into the UAS Integration in the NAS Project of the Integrated Systems Research Program (ISRP) in order to address performance and safety challenges associated with an integrated airspace. Research and development conducted on this SBIR will contribute to this project in many ways, namely by developing novel weather information displays for GCSs that present the most relevant information, use intelligent cueing to direct the operator's attention, and allow the operator to manipulate the weather information. WINDSUN will appeal to groups external to NASA involved in researching the safety and efficiency of civil UAS operations as well as operating UAS for such purposes as border patrol and agriculture. More specifically, our proposed solution will be an appealing decision support display for commercial markets that require novel information displays that allow users to choose which information to display, add layers of information, and manipulate the display so that it improves situation awareness for safely navigating in the NAS. Across non-government organizations, there is a large market for avionics and related technologies, such as navigation and information systems. As new display technologies are developed, WINDSUN could be acquired by either the manufacturers themselves (e.g., Boeing, Honeywell, Lockheed Martin) or sold as a stand-alone product to those purchasing GCS information displays and technology. More »