http://hdl.handle.net/2117/1277 Sat, 18 May 2013 18:44:05 GMT 2013-05-18T18:44:05Z webmaster.bupc@upc.edu Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. Servei de Biblioteques i Documentació no http://hdl.handle.net/2117/19343 Title: On the design of a UAS flight plan monitoring and edition system Authors: Pastor Llorens, Enric; Santamaria Barnadas, Eduard; Royo Chic, Pablo; López Rubio, Juan; Barrado Muxí, Cristina Abstract: This paper addresses various aspects of the design and development of the pilot interface for the exploitation of highly advanced flight plan capabilities specifically designed for Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS). This flight plan capabilities are built on top a flexible and reusable hardware/software architecture designed to facilitate the development of UAS-based applications. This flexibility is organized into an user-parameterizable UAS Service Abstraction Layer (USAL). The USAL defines a collection of standard services are their interrelations as a basic starting point for further development by UAS users. Previous research presented the advanced flying capabilities of a UAS as an extension of the Flight Control System (FCS) functionalities. Assuming a UAS with a FCS that ensures safe and stable maneuvers, we complement it with a highly capable flight plan management system. USAL flight plan is characterized by offering semantically much richer constructs than those present in most current UAS autopilots, which rely on simple lists of waypoints. This list of waypoints approach has several important limitations: it is difficult to specify complex trajectories and it does not support constructs such as conditional forks or iterations, small changes may imply having to deal with a considerable amount of waypoints and it provides no mechanism for adapting to mission time circumstances. To address these issues a new flight plan specification mechanism is proposed, that incorporates a leg concept extended to accommodate higher level constructs for specifying iterations and forks. Additional leg types, referred to as parametric leg, are also introduced. The trajectory defined by a parametric leg is automatically generated as a function of mission variables, enabling dynamic behavior and providing a very valuable means for adapting the flight to the mission evolution. Another level of adaption is provided by the conditions governing the decision-making in intersection le- - gs and the finalization of iterative legs. In this work we will focus on the development of the pilot interface for the exploitation of the introduced flight plan capabilities. The interface design requirements address an increase level of automated operation and support to react to unexpected requirements due to mission changes. Therefore, this interaction includes the available mechanisms to update the flight-plan according to UAS mission requirements, skip parts of it, react to operational contingencies, etc. Fri, 17 May 2013 14:02:55 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2117/19343 2013-05-17T14:02:55Z Pastor Llorens, Enric; Santamaria Barnadas, Eduard; Royo Chic, Pablo; López Rubio, Juan; Barrado Muxí, Cristina no This paper addresses various aspects of the design and development of the pilot interface for the exploitation of highly advanced flight plan capabilities specifically designed for Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS). This flight plan capabilities are built on top a flexible and reusable hardware/software architecture designed to facilitate the development of UAS-based applications. This flexibility is organized into an user-parameterizable UAS Service Abstraction Layer (USAL). The USAL defines a collection of standard services are their interrelations as a basic starting point for further development by UAS users. Previous research presented the advanced flying capabilities of a UAS as an extension of the Flight Control System (FCS) functionalities. Assuming a UAS with a FCS that ensures safe and stable maneuvers, we complement it with a highly capable flight plan management system. USAL flight plan is characterized by offering semantically much richer constructs than those present in most current UAS autopilots, which rely on simple lists of waypoints. This list of waypoints approach has several important limitations: it is difficult to specify complex trajectories and it does not support constructs such as conditional forks or iterations, small changes may imply having to deal with a considerable amount of waypoints and it provides no mechanism for adapting to mission time circumstances. To address these issues a new flight plan specification mechanism is proposed, that incorporates a leg concept extended to accommodate higher level constructs for specifying iterations and forks. Additional leg types, referred to as parametric leg, are also introduced. The trajectory defined by a parametric leg is automatically generated as a function of mission variables, enabling dynamic behavior and providing a very valuable means for adapting the flight to the mission evolution. Another level of adaption is provided by the conditions governing the decision-making in intersection le- - gs and the finalization of iterative legs. In this work we will focus on the development of the pilot interface for the exploitation of the introduced flight plan capabilities. The interface design requirements address an increase level of automated operation and support to react to unexpected requirements due to mission changes. Therefore, this interaction includes the available mechanisms to update the flight-plan according to UAS mission requirements, skip parts of it, react to operational contingencies, etc. http://hdl.handle.net/2117/18494 Title: Simplified Femto-satellite Operations for Disaster Management Missions Authors: Tristancho Martínez, Joshua; Gutierrez Cabello, Jorge Luis Abstract: The reduction in size of satellites is reaching at the range of femto-satellites, i.e. satellites less than 100 grams in mass. One of the key points to achieve such a reduc tion is to simplify the design of the satellite, bu t also to simplify their mission operation. In the present work, a sim plified method for responsive femto-satellite opera tions is presented which is able to deal with the main types of disaster management tasks. Then, a mission is e asy to program using a few default functionalities in everyone of a cooperative satellite swarm giving a list of coor dinates. The protocol is able to update the list for adaptive mi ssions which are based on coordinates. This feature would allow an easy control for the first responders when they are in the field in the beginning of an emergency. The se satellites could send real-time pictures to the first responde rs agents, without the need of a complex ground sta tion infrastructure, until the help arrives Fri, 22 Mar 2013 12:53:17 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2117/18494 2013-03-22T12:53:17Z Tristancho Martínez, Joshua; Gutierrez Cabello, Jorge Luis no The reduction in size of satellites is reaching at the range of femto-satellites, i.e. satellites less than 100 grams in mass. One of the key points to achieve such a reduc tion is to simplify the design of the satellite, bu t also to simplify their mission operation. In the present work, a sim plified method for responsive femto-satellite opera tions is presented which is able to deal with the main types of disaster management tasks. Then, a mission is e asy to program using a few default functionalities in everyone of a cooperative satellite swarm giving a list of coor dinates. The protocol is able to update the list for adaptive mi ssions which are based on coordinates. This feature would allow an easy control for the first responders when they are in the field in the beginning of an emergency. The se satellites could send real-time pictures to the first responde rs agents, without the need of a complex ground sta tion infrastructure, until the help arrives http://hdl.handle.net/2117/18419 Title: On the design of UAS horizontal separation maneuvers Authors: Pastor Llorens, Enric; Pérez Batlle, Marcos; Royo Chic, Pablo; Cuadrado Santolaria, Raúl; Barrado Muxí, Cristina; Prats Menéndez, Xavier Abstract: This paper studies the separation maneuvers that an Unmanned Air System (UAS) may execute to avoid breaching the separation safety margins imposed in each type of airspace, namely 3 NM, 5 NM, and 10 NM. The UAS was assumed under the control of its Pilot in Command, with available information about its surrounding traffic through ADS-B or ADS-C, and most likely under the supervision of an ATCo. A number of UAS separation maneuvers have been identified that may guarantee the desired levels of separation if executed with the right parameters and enough anticipation. This paper focuses on identification of the most suitable maneuver for any separation conflict geometry and performance envelop. The conflict geometry is modeled to take into account the speed of both vehicles (the UAS and the intruder), the conflict angle, the turning limitations of the UAS, the reaction time of the pilot, and the communication latency. Tue, 19 Mar 2013 16:55:26 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2117/18419 2013-03-19T16:55:26Z Pastor Llorens, Enric; Pérez Batlle, Marcos; Royo Chic, Pablo; Cuadrado Santolaria, Raúl; Barrado Muxí, Cristina; Prats Menéndez, Xavier no This paper studies the separation maneuvers that an Unmanned Air System (UAS) may execute to avoid breaching the separation safety margins imposed in each type of airspace, namely 3 NM, 5 NM, and 10 NM. The UAS was assumed under the control of its Pilot in Command, with available information about its surrounding traffic through ADS-B or ADS-C, and most likely under the supervision of an ATCo. A number of UAS separation maneuvers have been identified that may guarantee the desired levels of separation if executed with the right parameters and enough anticipation. This paper focuses on identification of the most suitable maneuver for any separation conflict geometry and performance envelop. The conflict geometry is modeled to take into account the speed of both vehicles (the UAS and the intruder), the conflict angle, the turning limitations of the UAS, the reaction time of the pilot, and the communication latency. http://hdl.handle.net/2117/18418 Title: A taxonomy of UAS separation maneuvers and their automated execution Authors: Pérez Batlle, Marcos; Pastor Llorens, Enric; Royo Chic, Pablo; Prats Menéndez, Xavier; Barrado Muxí, Cristina Abstract: This paper proposes to create a taxonomy of separation conflicts between Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) and intruding aircrafts to facilitate its insertion in non-segregated airspace. The classification is created according to the relative speeds, angular geometry, initial intent, etc. A catalog of separation maneuvers that best fit each scenario is introduced and evaluated through a real-time simulation environment. This advisory mechanism will benefit both the UAS pilot and the ATCo in order to negotiate the best suited separation maneuver. Eventually, the same strategy can be employed as an autonomous separation system on-board a UAS that suffers a lost-link contingency, alleviating its negative impact in the airspace. Tue, 19 Mar 2013 16:41:40 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2117/18418 2013-03-19T16:41:40Z Pérez Batlle, Marcos; Pastor Llorens, Enric; Royo Chic, Pablo; Prats Menéndez, Xavier; Barrado Muxí, Cristina no UAS automation, Airspace integration, Separation conflicts This paper proposes to create a taxonomy of separation conflicts between Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) and intruding aircrafts to facilitate its insertion in non-segregated airspace. The classification is created according to the relative speeds, angular geometry, initial intent, etc. A catalog of separation maneuvers that best fit each scenario is introduced and evaluated through a real-time simulation environment. This advisory mechanism will benefit both the UAS pilot and the ATCo in order to negotiate the best suited separation maneuver. Eventually, the same strategy can be employed as an autonomous separation system on-board a UAS that suffers a lost-link contingency, alleviating its negative impact in the airspace. http://hdl.handle.net/2117/18403 Title: Spherical Rover for lunar and planetary exploration Authors: Gutierrez Cabello, Jorge Luis; Tristancho Martínez, Joshua Abstract: Historically, planetary and lunar rovers have been wheeled-driven. While this is usually seen as an advantage –due to the flight experience– in some cases, the unavoidable presence of gears and mobile parts can be a significant hazard to the mission. The abrasive lunar regolith has been the origin of substantial problems with the Apollo rovers. Here we propose a completely different scheme: a spherical rover in which all the moving parts are protected from the environment by an external spherical shell Tue, 19 Mar 2013 13:28:17 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2117/18403 2013-03-19T13:28:17Z Gutierrez Cabello, Jorge Luis; Tristancho Martínez, Joshua no Historically, planetary and lunar rovers have been wheeled-driven. While this is usually seen as an advantage –due to the flight experience– in some cases, the unavoidable presence of gears and mobile parts can be a significant hazard to the mission. The abrasive lunar regolith has been the origin of substantial problems with the Apollo rovers. Here we propose a completely different scheme: a spherical rover in which all the moving parts are protected from the environment by an external spherical shell http://hdl.handle.net/2117/18013 Title: Helicopter-based wildfire monitoring system software architecture Authors: Pastor Llorens, Enric; Solé Simó, Marc; López, Juan; Royo Chic, Pablo; Barrado Muxí, Cristina Abstract: This work introduces a flexible and reusable architecture designed to facilitate the development of remote sensing applications. Based on it, we are developing a helicopter system, called Red-Eye, devoted to the detection, control and analysis of wild land forest fires in the Mediterranean area. The design of the proposed system is composed of five main components. Each component will work collaboratively to constitute a platform of high added value. The general architecture designed for wildfire monitoring is being tailored for two relevant objectives within the particular Mediterranean scenario: tactical day/night fire front evolution, and post-fire hot-spot detection. The generalized integration of monitoring vehicles with the operation of other aerial resources (attack helicopter and airplanes) is an unsolved problem, both technically and methodologically. However, the operation of a monitoring helicopter during certain very well identified phases of the extinction process in highly plausible. High-level strategic monitoring is possible because no-conflicts will appear due to different flight levels; however, low-level tactical monitoring is a source of potentially dangerous in-flight traffic conflicts. In addition to monitoring the fire front evolution, detection of remaining post-fire hot-spots located at the perimeter of fire is the main application that has been foreseen. Just after a fire front is contained or even during the days following the fire extinction, the monitoring tasks have to be maintained because of the danger of fire reactivation. The cost of monitoring with ground teams or aerial means it is very expensive and consumes resources needed in other fronts or possibly concurrent fires. However, a helicopter equipped with thermal cameras, can flight over the area and generate a map of hot spots with higher precision at a smaller cost. It is crucial in this application that the hot spots are reported immediately to avoid having ground brigades wai- - ting for data for too long. Also, it is important to feedback the information in such a way it can be effectively consumed, not forcing ground brigades to walk around the forest without a clear operational scheme. Based on a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) a heliborne hot-spot detection system is being developed. This paper describes the global architecture of the system, including the air segment, the ground control segment, and the interface with the squads operating on the fire area, etc. We also demonstrate how the available pre-defined modules in the SOA architecture have been reused to design this particular application, the additional subsystems required to implement specific hot-spot mission requirements, and the overall system / end-user interface. Description: Software architecture Wed, 27 Feb 2013 18:59:37 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2117/18013 2013-02-27T18:59:37Z Pastor Llorens, Enric; Solé Simó, Marc; López, Juan; Royo Chic, Pablo; Barrado Muxí, Cristina no Helicopters, Remote sensing, Software architecture This work introduces a flexible and reusable architecture designed to facilitate the development of remote sensing applications. Based on it, we are developing a helicopter system, called Red-Eye, devoted to the detection, control and analysis of wild land forest fires in the Mediterranean area. The design of the proposed system is composed of five main components. Each component will work collaboratively to constitute a platform of high added value. The general architecture designed for wildfire monitoring is being tailored for two relevant objectives within the particular Mediterranean scenario: tactical day/night fire front evolution, and post-fire hot-spot detection. The generalized integration of monitoring vehicles with the operation of other aerial resources (attack helicopter and airplanes) is an unsolved problem, both technically and methodologically. However, the operation of a monitoring helicopter during certain very well identified phases of the extinction process in highly plausible. High-level strategic monitoring is possible because no-conflicts will appear due to different flight levels; however, low-level tactical monitoring is a source of potentially dangerous in-flight traffic conflicts. In addition to monitoring the fire front evolution, detection of remaining post-fire hot-spots located at the perimeter of fire is the main application that has been foreseen. Just after a fire front is contained or even during the days following the fire extinction, the monitoring tasks have to be maintained because of the danger of fire reactivation. The cost of monitoring with ground teams or aerial means it is very expensive and consumes resources needed in other fronts or possibly concurrent fires. However, a helicopter equipped with thermal cameras, can flight over the area and generate a map of hot spots with higher precision at a smaller cost. It is crucial in this application that the hot spots are reported immediately to avoid having ground brigades wai- - ting for data for too long. Also, it is important to feedback the information in such a way it can be effectively consumed, not forcing ground brigades to walk around the forest without a clear operational scheme. Based on a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) a heliborne hot-spot detection system is being developed. This paper describes the global architecture of the system, including the air segment, the ground control segment, and the interface with the squads operating on the fire area, etc. We also demonstrate how the available pre-defined modules in the SOA architecture have been reused to design this particular application, the additional subsystems required to implement specific hot-spot mission requirements, and the overall system / end-user interface. http://hdl.handle.net/2117/16549 Title: UAS architecture for forest fire remote sensing Authors: Royo Chic, Pablo; Pastor Llorens, Enric; Solé, M.; Lema Rosas, Juan Manuel; López Rubio, Juan; Barrado Muxí, Cristina Abstract: This paper presents the hardware/software architecture of the Sky-Eye UAS prototype. In particular it details the hardware of the prototype, its operational concept and the software avionics architecture. The software architecture is named UAS Service Abstraction Layer (USAL) and consists on the set of standard services required for most UAS missions. The USAL is a distributed architecture which follows the publish / subscribe communication paradigm, allowing fast development of new functionalities. We describe the USAL services required to properly manage the remote sensing mission of hot spot detection. This includes the sensor management, data storage, communications, image processing, flight plan management and mission management. Thu, 20 Sep 2012 18:19:19 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2117/16549 2012-09-20T18:19:19Z Royo Chic, Pablo; Pastor Llorens, Enric; Solé, M.; Lema Rosas, Juan Manuel; López Rubio, Juan; Barrado Muxí, Cristina no Robotics, Forest Fire, Service Oriented Architecture, UAS, Distributed Architecture This paper presents the hardware/software architecture of the Sky-Eye UAS prototype. In particular it details the hardware of the prototype, its operational concept and the software avionics architecture. The software architecture is named UAS Service Abstraction Layer (USAL) and consists on the set of standard services required for most UAS missions. The USAL is a distributed architecture which follows the publish / subscribe communication paradigm, allowing fast development of new functionalities. We describe the USAL services required to properly manage the remote sensing mission of hot spot detection. This includes the sensor management, data storage, communications, image processing, flight plan management and mission management. http://hdl.handle.net/2117/16460 Title: ATFM airborne delays without extra fuel consumption in wind conditions Authors: Delgado Muñoz, Luis; Prats Menéndez, Xavier Abstract: Air Traffic Flow Management (ATFM) regulations, such as ground holdings, are often canceled before their initially planned ending time. The ground delays impact on the cost of recovering part of the delay if the regulation is canceled, as aircraft are still at the origin airport. In previous publications, the authors have suggested a speed reduction strategy to split the assigned ATFM delay between ground delay and airborne delay. By flying at the the minimum speed that gives the same fuel consumption as initially planned, the airline can maximize the airborne delay without any extra fuel consumption. In this paper, the effect of wind on the amount of airborne delay is assessed and a case study of Chicago O’hare airport is presented. Results show that wind has a great effect on the airborne delay that can be achieved and that, in some cases, even tail winds might lead to an increase of airborne delay Mon, 10 Sep 2012 11:29:44 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2117/16460 2012-09-10T11:29:44Z Delgado Muñoz, Luis; Prats Menéndez, Xavier no Air Traffic Flow Management (ATFM) regulations, such as ground holdings, are often canceled before their initially planned ending time. The ground delays impact on the cost of recovering part of the delay if the regulation is canceled, as aircraft are still at the origin airport. In previous publications, the authors have suggested a speed reduction strategy to split the assigned ATFM delay between ground delay and airborne delay. By flying at the the minimum speed that gives the same fuel consumption as initially planned, the airline can maximize the airborne delay without any extra fuel consumption. In this paper, the effect of wind on the amount of airborne delay is assessed and a case study of Chicago O’hare airport is presented. Results show that wind has a great effect on the airborne delay that can be achieved and that, in some cases, even tail winds might lead to an increase of airborne delay http://hdl.handle.net/2117/15975 Title: Evaluation of separation strategies for unmanned aerial sytems Authors: Pérez Batlle, Marcos; Pastor Llorens, Enric; Prats Menéndez, Xavier Abstract: This paper analyzes loss of separation scenarios when an Unmanned Aircraft (UA) enters in conflict with a much faster airplane flying at the same altitude. Separation distances are analyzed in terms of minimum heading changes and reaction times. Results show that maneuvers need to be performed well in advance if the (low-speed) UA is the aircraft that changes its heading. In some cases the time in which the UA and the intruder are in conflict could be too long, and may even involve multiple airliners flying over the same airway. Given that standard separation strategies may have a negative impact on the UA mission, in this paper a set of pre-planned separation maneuvers are proposed. These maneuvers aim to improve the situational awareness of both air traffic controller and UA pilotin- command, but also to disrupt as less as possible the mission performed by the UA and to minimize the uncertainty in the reactions the UA may adopt autonomously if the link with the ground station is lost. Some preliminary real-time simulations are shown, using a UA ground station simulator linked to a air traffic control simulator. Thu, 07 Jun 2012 10:12:58 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2117/15975 2012-06-07T10:12:58Z Pérez Batlle, Marcos; Pastor Llorens, Enric; Prats Menéndez, Xavier no This paper analyzes loss of separation scenarios when an Unmanned Aircraft (UA) enters in conflict with a much faster airplane flying at the same altitude. Separation distances are analyzed in terms of minimum heading changes and reaction times. Results show that maneuvers need to be performed well in advance if the (low-speed) UA is the aircraft that changes its heading. In some cases the time in which the UA and the intruder are in conflict could be too long, and may even involve multiple airliners flying over the same airway. Given that standard separation strategies may have a negative impact on the UA mission, in this paper a set of pre-planned separation maneuvers are proposed. These maneuvers aim to improve the situational awareness of both air traffic controller and UA pilotin- command, but also to disrupt as less as possible the mission performed by the UA and to minimize the uncertainty in the reactions the UA may adopt autonomously if the link with the ground station is lost. Some preliminary real-time simulations are shown, using a UA ground station simulator linked to a air traffic control simulator. http://hdl.handle.net/2117/13757 Title: Green delay programes, absorbing ATFM delay by flying at minimum fuel speed Authors: Prats Menéndez, Xavier; Hansen, Mark Abstract: Delaying aircraft on ground is one of the most used strategies when an imbalance between planned demand and actual capacity arises, either at an airport or in an airspace sector. This paper focuses on a new strategy consisting in delaying aircraft from their nominal cruise speed to the minimum fuel consumption speed. Therefore, trip times are increased and air traffic management delay can be partially performed in the air. For these flights, fuel consumption is reduced and consequently, their environmental impact. Based on data from ground delay programs at San Francisco International airport during 2006, this paper quantifies the impact that such a strategy would have had if applied to all delayed flights. Results show that for the majority of flights, the 5% to 15% of the initially assigned delay could have been absorbed in the air, leading to fuel savings in the order of 4% to 7% for each individual flight, if compared with the nominal situation Mon, 07 Nov 2011 15:24:03 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2117/13757 2011-11-07T15:24:03Z Prats Menéndez, Xavier; Hansen, Mark no Airborne delay, Delay management, Fuel management, Speed reduction, Air traffic flow management (ATFM), Ground delay program, Environmental impact Delaying aircraft on ground is one of the most used strategies when an imbalance between planned demand and actual capacity arises, either at an airport or in an airspace sector. This paper focuses on a new strategy consisting in delaying aircraft from their nominal cruise speed to the minimum fuel consumption speed. Therefore, trip times are increased and air traffic management delay can be partially performed in the air. For these flights, fuel consumption is reduced and consequently, their environmental impact. Based on data from ground delay programs at San Francisco International airport during 2006, this paper quantifies the impact that such a strategy would have had if applied to all delayed flights. Results show that for the majority of flights, the 5% to 15% of the initially assigned delay could have been absorbed in the air, leading to fuel savings in the order of 4% to 7% for each individual flight, if compared with the nominal situation http://hdl.handle.net/2117/12947 Title: Transformation of systolic algorithms for interleaving partitions Authors: Fernández Jiménez, Agustín; Llaberia Griñó, José M.; Navarro Guerrero, Juan José; Valero García, Miguel Abstract: A systematic method to map systolizable problems onto multicomputers is presented in this paper. A systolizable problem is a problem for which it is possible to design a Systolic Algorithm. This method selects and transforms the Systolic Algorithm into a parallel algorithm with high granularity. The communications requirements are reduced and thus the performance can be increased. The proposed scheme requires a classification of dependences, and it is based in the interleaved execution of several partitions of the Systolic Algorithm. The code to be executed in a processing element of the multicomputer system is obtained through application of the proposed systematic transformations to the original sequential code. By applying this method to the APP we illustrate their main features, and several performance measures for a torus of transputers system are presented, considering the various algorithms which are unified by the APP. Wed, 13 Jul 2011 08:57:17 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2117/12947 2011-07-13T08:57:17Z Fernández Jiménez, Agustín; Llaberia Griñó, José M.; Navarro Guerrero, Juan José; Valero García, Miguel no Performance evaluation, Systolic arrays A systematic method to map systolizable problems onto multicomputers is presented in this paper. A systolizable problem is a problem for which it is possible to design a Systolic Algorithm. This method selects and transforms the Systolic Algorithm into a parallel algorithm with high granularity. The communications requirements are reduced and thus the performance can be increased. The proposed scheme requires a classification of dependences, and it is based in the interleaved execution of several partitions of the Systolic Algorithm. The code to be executed in a processing element of the multicomputer system is obtained through application of the proposed systematic transformations to the original sequential code. By applying this method to the APP we illustrate their main features, and several performance measures for a torus of transputers system are presented, considering the various algorithms which are unified by the APP. http://hdl.handle.net/2117/12641 Title: A lunar explorer self-contained PicoRover Authors: Barrucco, Michael; Tristancho Martínez, Joshua; Weed, Ryan; Masten, David; Casey, Sean Tue, 24 May 2011 16:30:59 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2117/12641 2011-05-24T16:30:59Z Barrucco, Michael; Tristancho Martínez, Joshua; Weed, Ryan; Masten, David; Casey, Sean no http://hdl.handle.net/2117/11876 Title: UAS pilot support for departure, approach and airfield operations Authors: Pastor Llorens, Enric; Prats Menéndez, Xavier; Royo Chic, Pablo; Delgado Muñoz, Luis; Santamaria Barnadas, Eduard Abstract: Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) have great potential to be used in a wide variety of civil applications such as environmental applications, emergency situations, surveillance tasks and more. The development of Flight Control Systems (FCS) coupled with the availability of other Commercial Off-The Shelf (COTS) components is enabling the introduction of UAS into the civil market. The sophistication of existing FCS is also making these systems accessible to end users with little aeronautics expertise. However, much work remains to be done to deliver systems that can be properly integrated in standard aeronautical procedures used by manned aviation. In previous research advances have been proposed in the flight plan capabilities by offering semantically much richer constructs than those present in most current UAS autopilots. The introduced flight plan is organized as a set of stages, each one corresponding to a different flight phase. Each stage contains a structured collection of legs inspired by current practices in Area Navigation (RNAV). However, the most critical parts of any flight, the depart and approach operations in a integrated airspace remain mostly unexplored. This paper introduces an assessment of both operations for UAS operating in VFR and IFR modes. Problems and potential solutions are proposed, as well as an automating strategy that should greatly reduce pilot workload. Although the final objective is a full autonomous operation, the pilot is always kept in the control loop and therefore HMI aspects are also considered. Wed, 16 Mar 2011 12:03:22 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2117/11876 2011-03-16T12:03:22Z Pastor Llorens, Enric; Prats Menéndez, Xavier; Royo Chic, Pablo; Delgado Muñoz, Luis; Santamaria Barnadas, Eduard no Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) have great potential to be used in a wide variety of civil applications such as environmental applications, emergency situations, surveillance tasks and more. The development of Flight Control Systems (FCS) coupled with the availability of other Commercial Off-The Shelf (COTS) components is enabling the introduction of UAS into the civil market. The sophistication of existing FCS is also making these systems accessible to end users with little aeronautics expertise. However, much work remains to be done to deliver systems that can be properly integrated in standard aeronautical procedures used by manned aviation. In previous research advances have been proposed in the flight plan capabilities by offering semantically much richer constructs than those present in most current UAS autopilots. The introduced flight plan is organized as a set of stages, each one corresponding to a different flight phase. Each stage contains a structured collection of legs inspired by current practices in Area Navigation (RNAV). However, the most critical parts of any flight, the depart and approach operations in a integrated airspace remain mostly unexplored. This paper introduces an assessment of both operations for UAS operating in VFR and IFR modes. Problems and potential solutions are proposed, as well as an automating strategy that should greatly reduce pilot workload. Although the final objective is a full autonomous operation, the pilot is always kept in the control loop and therefore HMI aspects are also considered. http://hdl.handle.net/2117/11874 Title: An Assessment for UAS Traffic Awareness Operations Authors: Pastor Llorens, Enric; Prats Menéndez, Xavier; Delgado Muñoz, Luis Abstract: Technology evolution in the field of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) will affect the Air Traffic Management (ATM) performance regarding to new military and civil applications. UAS, as new airspace users, will represent new challenges and opportunities to design the ATM system of the future. The goal of this future ATM network is to keep intact (or improve) the network in terms of security, safety, capacity and efficiency level. On the other hand, most UAS are, at present, designed for military purposes and very few civil applications have been developed mainly because the lack of a regulation basis concerning their certification, airworthiness and operations. Therefore, UAS operations have always been solutions highly dependent on the mission to be accomplished and on the scenario of flight. The generalized development of UAS applications is still limited by the absence of systems that support the development of the actual operations. Moreover, the systematic development of UAS missions leads to many other operational risks that need to be addressed. All this elements may delay, increase the risk and cost in the implementation of a new UAS application. Wed, 16 Mar 2011 11:49:42 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2117/11874 2011-03-16T11:49:42Z Pastor Llorens, Enric; Prats Menéndez, Xavier; Delgado Muñoz, Luis no Technology evolution in the field of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) will affect the Air Traffic Management (ATM) performance regarding to new military and civil applications. UAS, as new airspace users, will represent new challenges and opportunities to design the ATM system of the future. The goal of this future ATM network is to keep intact (or improve) the network in terms of security, safety, capacity and efficiency level. On the other hand, most UAS are, at present, designed for military purposes and very few civil applications have been developed mainly because the lack of a regulation basis concerning their certification, airworthiness and operations. Therefore, UAS operations have always been solutions highly dependent on the mission to be accomplished and on the scenario of flight. The generalized development of UAS applications is still limited by the absence of systems that support the development of the actual operations. Moreover, the systematic development of UAS missions leads to many other operational risks that need to be addressed. All this elements may delay, increase the risk and cost in the implementation of a new UAS application. http://hdl.handle.net/2117/11166 Title: Optimisation of site-specific noise abatement departure procedures Authors: Prats Menéndez, Xavier; Puig Cayuela, Vicenç; Quevedo Casín, Joseba Jokin Abstract: The optimisation of aircraft noise abatement procedures involves several conflicting factors, including several noise sensitive locations and aircraft operating costs. This paper presents some strategies that aim at better assessing these compromises when optimising site-specific noise abatement departure procedures that take into account the actual populated areas, their type and distribution, the hour of the day where the trajectory is supposed to be flown and the aircraft type. A special emphasis is given to the fairness of the trajectory with regards to the populated areas exposed to noise. In this context, a noise annoyance deviation index is proposed as optimisation objective. Moreover a multi-objective optimisation strategy, employing goal, lexicographic-egalitarian and hierarchical optimisation techniques is presented. An illustrative example is given with the design of the East departures at Girona airport, Catalonia (Spain). Results point out how the noise annoyance impact of current operational procedures can be significantly reduced by the optimised trajectories and show, as well, an important dependency on the type of aircraft and the hour of the day. Mon, 24 Jan 2011 11:22:12 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2117/11166 2011-01-24T11:22:12Z Prats Menéndez, Xavier; Puig Cayuela, Vicenç; Quevedo Casín, Joseba Jokin no The optimisation of aircraft noise abatement procedures involves several conflicting factors, including several noise sensitive locations and aircraft operating costs. This paper presents some strategies that aim at better assessing these compromises when optimising site-specific noise abatement departure procedures that take into account the actual populated areas, their type and distribution, the hour of the day where the trajectory is supposed to be flown and the aircraft type. A special emphasis is given to the fairness of the trajectory with regards to the populated areas exposed to noise. In this context, a noise annoyance deviation index is proposed as optimisation objective. Moreover a multi-objective optimisation strategy, employing goal, lexicographic-egalitarian and hierarchical optimisation techniques is presented. An illustrative example is given with the design of the East departures at Girona airport, Catalonia (Spain). Results point out how the noise annoyance impact of current operational procedures can be significantly reduced by the optimised trajectories and show, as well, an important dependency on the type of aircraft and the hour of the day.