ARCA will be well-positioned to integrate with NASA's SMART-NAS Testbed to provide a demonstration system in support of NASA's Real-time System-wide Safety Assurance Strategic Thrust. ARCA technology can serve a centerpiece of future automated ATC research and development. ARCA technology can also be embedded into vehicle control platforms, starting with manned flight decks (as decision support) and large UAS (working toward autonomous decision-making).
For air carriers ARCA can provide a post-flight approach analysis tool. This tool will allow air carriers to continually analyze the safety of the approaches flown and identify and analyze points during the approach where the risk level was high or unacceptable. ARCA would be complementary to and a cheaper alternative to Flight Operational Quality Assurance (FOQA). For the FAA the near-term potential of ARCA is as post operations safety analysis tool similar to the tool that would be sold to the air carriers. The primary difference in capability is that the FAA would not necessarily have access to crew experience unless it was provided through an existing safety program. In addition to a standalone safety analysis tool, ARCA could be a future add-on to the FAA's DVARS program.
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