Pathfinding for Airspace With Autonomous Vehicles

Remotely piloted aircraft could transform the way we transport people and goods and provide our communities with better access to vital services, like medical supply deliveries and efficient transportation. 

NASA’s Pathfinding for Airspace with Autonomous Vehicles (PAAV) subproject is working with partners to safely integrate remote air cargo and air taxi aircraft into our national airspace alongside traditional crewed aircraft.

These new types of vehicles could make air cargo deliveries and air travel more affordable and accessible to communities across the country.  

The United States large air cargo fleet is expected to grow significantly through 2044 to meet cargo demand, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

However, pilot shortages exacerbated by early retirements and crew reductions implemented during the coronavirus outbreak continue to present a challenge to the air cargo industry.  

In the future, one pilot could potentially manage multiple aircraft remotely. This could help meet the rising demand for air cargo operations, mitigate pilot shortages and costs, and increase the number of daily air cargo deliveries.

Additionally, remotely piloted air taxis could reduce travel time for passengers and alleviate traffic congestion because they could avoid crowded roads and highways.  

Commercial companies are investing in autonomous technologies to enable remote air cargo deliveries and air taxi operations.

NASA is working with the industry along the way to identify the unique technical challenges that must be overcome to safely put these new types of aircraft into routine operation.  

The agency has identified several challenges that need to be addressed for safe and scalable remote operations. Among these challenges are airspace integration, avoiding airborne and ground-based hazards, and resilient communication technologies. 

The main difference between conventional crewed aircraft and remotely piloted aircraft is the location of the pilot. Remote pilots operate aircraft from a control station on the ground instead of the cockpit.

This means remote pilots will need new automation and decision support systems for operating the aircraft since they can’t rely on their eyes and view from the cockpit. Since remote pilots are on the ground, they need a reliable communications link that allows remote pilots to interact with the aircraft and maintain command and control.

If the command-and-control capabilities are lost, an autonomous system would need to take over to make sure the uncrewed aircraft can fly and land safely, according to NASA researchers. Adequate software and procedures must be in place to safely manage off-nominal losses of the command-and-control capabilities.

Air Traffic Control may help keep the uncrewed aircraft’s path clear from some traffic during takeoff and landing, while onboard automation technologies would need to avoid all other traffic, fly the aircraft along a known path, and check to ensure the runway is clear to land.  

A significant related challenge is that pilots are typically responsible for looking out the window for nearby aircraft and remaining well clear of them. Since the remote pilot is not in the aircraft, they will need an electronic detect and avoid system. 

Detect and avoid systems rely on information, sensors, and algorithms to help the remotely piloted aircraft remain clear of other aircraft. Some detect and avoid configurations are expected to use ground surveillance systems for detecting nearby air traffic at lower altitudes.

These systems could improve overall situational awareness of traffic near the airport by providing a more comprehensive picture of live traffic. 

Additionally, automation and decision support tools could help remote pilots with other responsibilities that typically require pilot decisions from the cockpit, like integrating with traffic at non-towered airports.  

To address these challenges and others, NASA researchers are working with industry partners to research and test technologies, concepts, and airspace procedures that will enable remotely piloted operations.  

For example, industry is developing automated taxi, takeoff, and landing capabilities to help integrate remotely piloted aircraft operating at busy airports.

These technologies could enable aircraft to navigate and integrate with other airport traffic autonomously, following standard routes and air traffic control commands for safe sequencing and spacing between other aircraft. 

Automated hazard detection would enable the aircraft to identify potential conflicts or hazards and take corrective actions without input from a remote pilot. This would ensure the aircraft safely navigates the airport environment even if the remote pilot is supervising multiple aircraft or their response is delayed. 

NASA researchers are beginning to test emerging technologies for remotely piloted aircraft operations with commercial partners. The goal is to help mature technical standards and assist in the development of certification requirements anrtd procedures required to integrate remotely piloted operations into the airspace.  

NASA aims to bridge technical and regulatory gaps through these industry partnerships involving research, testing, and development. Ultimately, NASA hopes to enable pilots to remotely fly multiple large aircraft to airports across the country at once, more efficiently transporting people and goods.

This could enable carriers to meet rising air travel and transport demands in a safe, affordable, scalable way and expand access to new communities. 

PAAV is a subproject under NASA’s Air Traffic Management Exploration project within the agency’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate.