FACET as a Collaborative, Open Source UAS Research Platform, Phase I

- Integrated Systems Research Program (ISRP) – ISRP needs to quickly explore as many alternatives for controlling UASs in the NAS as possible. This includes modeling and simulation of new missions and trajectories of UASs in the NAS, Separation Assurance (SA) strategies, understanding Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA), estimating/quantifying NAS-wide system properties (safety, efficiency, environmental impact, etc), and understanding the impacts of various procedures and policies associated with UASs operating in the NAS. The approach we advocate is to perform such ISRP R&D on an open-source, collaborative NAS simulation platform, so that a large quantity of R&D efforts may proceed in parallel and leverage each other to explore the largest trade space possible. - Airspace Systems Program (ASP) – For ASP, our proposed system allows for concept exploration of how UAS introduction in the NAS will affect traffic flow management efficiency and safety and capacity in NextGen. - Aviation Safety Program (AvSP) - For AvSP our proposed SBIR product helps researchers study safety-related issues associated with the introduction of UASs in the NAS. The proposed software has application to FAA and military systems as well. Because NextGen encompasses all government agencies through the Joint Planning and Development Office (JPDO), many forms of government, e.g., Army, Air Force, FAA, NASA and Homeland Security must work together in JPDO NextGen investigations, and our open source platform suits such a collaboration. FAA, JPDO, and military have all expressed a high level of interest in the introduction of UASs into the NAS. Each organization will want to use our system to understand their own metrics, impacts, and safety issues associated with this problem. More »