Passive Ranging for UAVs Using Electro Optic Sensors

摘要

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) continue to benefit from improvements in capabilities andperformance, and applications for both military and commercial purposes increase yearly.However, their authorization to participate and operate freely within organized airspace systemsamong civil or military air traffic remains virtually nil. Procedures and systems allowing forremote, even transcontinental, control of UAVs and communication with air traffic controllers arein place and continually demonstrate robustness. However, a major technological andconfidence barrier is the lack of an onboard sense and avoid (SAA) system capable of providingan “equivalent level of safety” (ELOS) to manned aircraft regarding the ability to avoid collisionswith other aircraft. The OSD UAV Roadmap distinguishes SAA capability between fourcategories characterized by active/passive and cooperativeon-cooperative systems.1 The mostdemanding SAA scenario is for UAVs using passive (non-emanating) means to detect and avoidnon-cooperative traffic. Non-cooperative in this sense means no data about the conflicting trafficis available to the UAV other than that observed by its own sensors. Thus, to perform SAA theUAV must first derive information about the velocity, range, and relative position of conflictingtraffic in sufficient time to maneuver and thereby avoid a possible collision. This paper describesthe ongoing technical efforts to develop and demonstrate SAA systems that satisfy size, weight,and power as well as operation requirements for current and future UAV systems.