Automated contingency management in unmanned aircraft systems

• Autores: Hèctor Usach
• Directores de la Tesis: Juan Antonio Vila Carbó (dir. tes.)
• Lectura: En la Universitat Politècnica de València ( España ) en 2019
• Idioma: español
• Tribunal Calificador de la Tesis: Rosa María Arnaldo Valdés (presid.), Juan Vicente Balbastre Tejedor (secret.), Xavier Prats Menéndez (voc.)
• Programa de doctorado: Programa de Doctorado en Automática, Robótica e Informática Industrial por la Universitat Politècnica de València
• Materias:
  • Ciencias tecnológicas
    • Ingeniería y tecnología aeronáuticas
      • Estabilidad y control
• Enlaces
  • Tesis en acceso abierto en: RiuNet
• Resumen

  • Technological development and scientific research are steadily enabling higher levels of automation in the global industry. In the aerospace sector, the operation of Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) is a clear example. Given the huge potential of the UAS market, Civil Aviation Authorities are elaborating a new regulatory framework for the safe integration of UAS into the civil airspace. The general goal is ensuring that the operation of UAS has an Equivalent Level of Safety (ELOS) to that of manned aviation.

    To meet the previous goal, this thesis advocates for increasing the level of automation of UAS operations by providing the automatic system on-board the aircraft with Automated Contingency Management (ACM) functions. ACM functions are designed to assist the pilot-in-command in case a contingency, and ultimately to fully replace the pilot if this is required by the situation (e.g. due to a Command and Control (C2) link loss) or if the pilot decides so. However, in order for automation to be safe, automated functions must be developed following safe design methodologies based on aerospace standards.

    The thesis develops a technological solution that is based on three pillars: a) a software architecture for the automatic system on-board the aircraft that tries to autonomously adapt to contingencies while still achieving mission objectives; b) a novel Mission Plan specification than increases predictability in the event of a contingency; and c) a probabilistic risk model that ensures that the flight trajectory is optimal from the point of view of the risk exposure.

    The different proposals are prototyped and validated using a simulation environment. The results obtained support the idea that an increase in the automation level of the aircraft can be an effective means towards the safe integration of UAS into the civil airspace. The proposed ACM functions are proved to reduce the operational risk in the event of a contingency, while ensure that the aircraft remains predictable, even without pilot intervention.