Parimal Kopardekar

Bio: Parimal Kopardekar is an academic researcher from Ames Research Center. The author has contributed to research in topics: Air traffic control & Free flight. The author has an hindex of 18, co-authored 65 publications receiving 1296 citations.

Urban Air Mobility Airspace Integration Concepts and Considerations

Abstract: Urban Air Mobility (UAM) - defined as safe and efficient air traffic operations in a metropolitan area for manned aircraft and unmanned aircraft systems - is being researched and developed by industry, academia, and government. Significant resources have been invested toward cultivating an ecosystem for Urban Air Mobility that includes manufacturers of electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, builders of takeoff and landing areas, and researchers of the airspace integration concepts, technologies, and procedures needed to conduct Urban Air Mobility operations safely and efficiently alongside other airspace users. This paper provides high-level descriptions of both emergent and early expanded operational concepts for Urban Air Mobility that NASA is developing. The scope of this work is defined in terms of missions, aircraft, airspace, and hazards. Past and current Urban Air Mobility operations are also reviewed, and the considerations for the data exchange architecture and communication, navigation, and surveillance requirements are also discussed. This paper will serve as a starting point to develop a framework for NASA's Urban Air Mobility airspace integration research and development efforts with partners and stakeholders that could include fast-time simulations, human-in-the-loop (HITL) simulations, and flight demonstrations.

Unmanned Aircraft System Traffic Management (UTM) Concept of Operations

Abstract: Many applications of small Unmanned Aircraft System (sUAS) have been envisioned. These include surveillance of key assets such as pipelines, rail, or electric wires, deliveries, search and rescue, traffic monitoring, videography, and precision agriculture. These operations are likely to occur in the same airspace in presence of many static and dynamic constraints such as airports, and high wind areas. Therefore, small UAS, typically 55 pounds and below, operations need to be managed to ensure safety and efficiency of operations is maintained. This paper will describe the Concept of Operations (ConOps) for NASA's UAS Traffic Management (UTM) research initiative. The UTM ConOps is focused on safely enabling large-scale small UAS (sUAS) operations in low altitude airspace. The UTM construct supports large-scale visual line of sight and beyond visual line of sight operations. It is based on two primary mantras: (1) flexibility where possible and structure where necessary (2) a risk-based approach where geographical needs and use case indicate the airspace performance requirements. Preliminary stakeholder feedback and initial UTM tests conducted by NASA show promise of UTM to enable large-scale low altitude UAS operations safely.

Airspace Complexity Measurement: An Air Traffic Control Simulation Analysis

Abstract: This paper describes results of a dynamic density (DD) human-in-the-loop simulation and DD model development activity that was designed to examine the complexity measures. DD measures that were presented at the US/Europe ATM 2003 Seminar were used in the analysis. This study differed from the previous one in three aspects: first, the simulation included Reduced Vertical Separation Minima procedures, second, the study focused on the Cleveland Air Route Traffic Control Center’s airspace where previous study results showed the weakest correlation, and third, the traffic was actively controlled during the simulation, whereas in the previous study, audio/video replays were shown. The results indicated that the DD metric performed better than aircraft count, which is the basis of the presently used complexity gauge, and that the new DD model performed better than the previous model for Cleveland Center.

Initial Concepts for Dynamic Airspace Configuration

Abstract: Future airspace needs to be flexible, dynamic and adaptable based on traffic demand, equipage, and weather. Initial concepts focus on three core areas: 1) restructuring airspace, 2) adaptable airspace, and 3) generic airspace. The paper presents mid-term and long-term airspace configuration concepts. These concepts were developed based on literature reviews, workshops, subject matter expert discussions, and field trips. The mid-term airspace configuration concept includes high altitude airspace where user-preferred routes will be predominant and low altitude airspace divided into regions for super density and metroplex areas and remaining portion. Subsequently, the long-term airspace configuration may include four primary regions: 1) airspace for automated separation assurance, 2) high altitude airspace, 3) super density and metroplex operations airspace, and 4) structured classic airspace.

Safeware: System Safety and Computers

Abstract: Will Tracz, our esteemed editor and Used-Program salesman, has written an entertaining, non-technical book dealing with the practice (and lack of) of software reuse. Its a collection of essays, mostly rehashed (reused?) and updated from various columns and papers published over the years.. Its a short (a bit over 200 pages) easy reading and enjoyable book (I read most of it in one sitting). Some of the essays discuss what was printed in the past and a discussion of the current status of the points.

美聯邦航空廳(Federal Aviation Administration)의 航空機 製作檢査 制度의 現況

Abstract: The U.S. commercial space launch industry has changed considerably since the enactment of the Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act of 2004. FAA is required to license or permit commercial space launches, but to allow the space tourism industry to develop, the act prohibited FAA from regulating crew and spaceflight participant safety before 2012—a moratorium that was later extended but will now expire on September 30, 2015. Since October 2014, there have been three mishaps involving FAA licensed or permitted launches.

Remote sensing platforms and sensors: A survey

Abstract: The objective of this article is to review the state-of-the-art remote sensing technologies, including platforms and sensors, the topics representing the primary research interest in the ISPRS Technical Commission I activities. Due to ever advancing technologies, the remote sensing field is experiencing unprecedented developments recently, fueled by sensor advancements and continuously increasing information infrastructure. The scope and performance potential of sensors in terms of spatial, spectral and temporal sensing abilities have expanded far beyond the traditional boundaries of remote sensing, resulting in significantly better observation capabilities. First, platform developments are reviewed with the main focus on emerging new remote sensing satellite constellations and UAS (Unmanned Aerial System) platforms. Next, sensor georeferencing and supporting navigation infrastructure, an enabling technology for remote sensing, are discussed. Finally, we group sensors based on their spatial, spectral and temporal characteristics, and classify them by their platform deployment competencies. In addition, we identify current trends, including the convergence between the remote sensing and navigation field, and the emergence of cooperative sensing, and the potential of crowdsensing.

Hamilton-Jacobi reachability: A brief overview and recent advances

Abstract: Hamilton-Jacobi (HJ) reachability analysis is an important formal verification method for guaranteeing performance and safety properties of dynamical systems; it has been applied to many small-scale systems in the past decade. Its advantages include compatibility with general nonlinear system dynamics, formal treatment of bounded disturbances, and the availability of well-developed numerical tools. The main challenge is addressing its exponential computational complexity with respect to the number of state variables. In this tutorial, we present an overview of basic HJ reachability theory and provide instructions for using the most recent numerical tools, including an efficient GPU-parallelized implementation of a Level Set Toolbox for computing reachable sets. In addition, we review some of the current work in high-dimensional HJ reachability to show how the dimensionality challenge can be alleviated via various general theoretical and application-specific insights.