Posted on 06/24/2010 6:25:59 PM PDT by ErnstStavroBlofeld
U.S. Air Force researchers are asking industry to develop autonomous control technologies that will enable unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to operate together with piloted aircraft in congested airport terminal areas, and to achieve what the Air Force calls "same base, same time, same tempo" operations.
Scientists at the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, released a broad agency announcement (BAA-10-05-PKV) this week for the Autonomous Control of UAS Ground Operations in the Terminal Area program to enable UAVs to operate with manned aircraft by equipping unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) to act autonomously and react like a manned aircraft so they can navigate the terminal area alongside manned commercial and general-aviation aircraft. The emphasis of this program is on ground operations, Air Force officials say.
The Air Force primarily is interested in five technology challenges for this program: communication-based response; navigation and collision avoidance; intent of other aircraft; integrity management; and sensors.
Air Force researchers chose Barron Associates Inc. in Charlottesville, Va., last April to develop autonomous sense-and-avoid (SAA) collision-avoidance technology for UAS to prevent them from hitting or interfering with other manned and unmanned aircraft as part of the Multi-Vehicle Unmanned Aircraft Systems Sense And Avoid (MUSAA) program. Barron Associates specialists in intelligent and adaptive technologies now are finding ways to enable UAVs to perform the same essential functions as a human aircraft pilot -- see and avoid other aircraft.
(Excerpt) Read more at militaryaerospace.com ...
Ping
From my perspective, this was a given and a trend that has been evolving for nearly a decade.
Why not just build what Dale Brown wrote?
This was in a movie.
“Stealth” with Jessica Biel
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