Showing papers by "Niklas Peinecke published in 2023"

Air Traffic Management as a Vital Part of Urban Air Mobility—A Review of DLR’s Research Work from 1995 to 2022

Abstract: Urban air mobility is a rapidly growing field of research. While drones or unmanned aerial vehicles have been operated mainly in the private and military sector in the past, an increasing range of opportunities is opening up for commercial applications. A new multitude of passenger-carrying drone or air taxi concepts promises to fulfill the dream of flying above congested urban areas. While early research has been focusing on vehicle development, solutions for urban air traffic management are lagging behind. This paper collects and reviews the main findings of past urban-air-mobility-related research projects at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) to serve as a basis for ongoing research from an air traffic management perspective.

Definition of a Remain Well Clear Volume for IFR-RPAS integration in Airspace classes D-G in Europe

Abstract: The integration of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems into civil European airspace is progressing, and many projects, standards and regulations supporting studies are mature enough to envisage integration in aerospace classes A-C. A main technological need, still to be achieved at least in Europe for the seamless insertion of RPAS in the whole commercial airspace, is the development of a Detect and Avoid system that supports their integration in airspace classes D to G. While a Detect And Avoid system last resort is represented by the Collision Avoidance component, the Remain-Well-Clear component acts as a Decision Support System to assist the Remote Pilot in preventing collision hazards. A specific and relevant question is how to fix the Remain-Well-Clear system parameters, such as the well-clear volume and the time-to-alert, in a way that is beneficial and acceptable to both remote pilots and to air traffic controllers. This paper discusses the methodology, its application and the results achieved in a fast-time simulations campaign performed to derive such critical parameters for a prototype Remain-Well-Clear system integrated in a European airspace classes D to G.

Performance Based Determination of Detect-and-Avoid Ranges in a Constrained Airspace

Abstract: Urban air mobility concepts and unmanned aircraft have the potential to increase the number of unmanned aircraft sharing the same airspace. An effective method, among others, to reduce the probability of conflicts or even collisions is to constrain the velocity and direction of vehicles in close proximity. Effectively, reducing the relative velocities of nearby vehicles makes conflicts more unlikely and easier to solve. This approach is well known from automobile highways, and it forms the basis of concepts like air corridors, air tubes, and, in general, Geovectoring. By constraining and synchronizing velocity and direction the likelihood of a collision is reduced even at higher absolute velocities. Nevertheless, Geovectoring may still require a detect-and-avoid (DAA) solution to become aware of potential conflicts by monitoring the distances and velocities of surrounding traffic.In a previous publication a method for calculating the minimal required detection ranges for several constrained airspaces have already been developed. The method is based on parallel simulations considering the individual performance parameters of involved vehicles. It was shown that constraining the direction of movement in an air corridor for drones is most effective in terms of reducing the required minimal range of a DAA solution. Constraining the magnitude of velocity reduces the required range further, depending on the chosen method of avoid.In this paper the calculations are extended to a number of drone types that can be expected to be found in a future urban delivery network. Three different types of avoid solutions are compared, namely horizontal avoid, vertical avoid and speed change. It is shown that although drone performances may differ the resulting DAA ranges share similar characteristics allowing for a common DAA solution for all types. The results of these calculations have been used in the European project USEPE to strategically determine the capacity of given airspace sectors as well as implement a simulated tactical DAA solution. Further, examples of the resulting tables are presented that can be used to implement a state-based DAA solution as well as to determine requirements for strategical and tactical separation services.

Differences between URClearED Remain Well Clear and DO-365

Abstract: In 2017, RTCA published the first release of the Minimum Operational Performance Standards for UAS Detect and Avoid systems, DO-365. In 2019, EUROCAE published the Operational Services and Environment Definition for Detect and Avoid in airspace classes D-G in Europe, and in 2020 RTCA published the first update to DO-365. In 2021 the URClearED project was started to develop the requirements and capabilities for the Remain Well Clear function to be integrated in RPAS flying under instrument flight rules in airspace classes D-G. This paper discusses differences between the URClearED and DO-365A Remain Well Clear quantification and associated alerting and guidance function requirements. Fast-Time and Real-Time Simulation campaigns have been carried out to motivate and assess the introduced differences.