Small UAS Rapid Prototyping and Evaluation Testbed: FY17 Homeland Protection and Air Traffic Control and HADR Technical Investment Program
Abstract
As small UAS (sUAS) technology improves and evolves, the number of related laboratory eorts continues to increase. As such it has been recognized that a wide variety of Lincoln Laboratory programs could benefit from the ongoing technological evolution. During FY16, development began on a sUAS testbed begain, with an initial focus on demonstrating and evaluating collision avoidance capabilities for sUAS. Initial testbed development aimed to both demonstrate a sUAS collision avoidance capability and to show that the sUAS could be used as surrogates for larger aircraft for a variety of potential applications. Using the sUAS as surrogates enables proof of concept flight testing of airborne systems for which conventional flight testing can be expensive, dangerous, require long lead times and may not be able to test everything of interest. Building on the capabilities established during initial the testbed development, FY17 development efforts have continued to pursue broader applicability to include additional laboratory mission areas which can similarly benefit from a low-cost COTS rapid prototyping capability for sUAS. In addition to demonstrating the utility of the testbed by exploring a broad set of sUAS applications, deeper evaluation and development of sUAS collision avoidance capabilities have been pursued. This document aims to demonstrate both the breadth and depth of testbed applicability in these areas. To achieve that aim, the document is organized as follows: Section 2 describes the testbed architecture, key testbed elements, and capabilities, with a focus on those which are new in FY17; Section 3 describes testbed applications for which initial testing and evaluation has been performed in addition to some potential applications which are relevant to Lincoln Laboratory; Section 4 describes the sUAS collision avoidance capability and evaluations which have been pursued using the sUAS testbed; Section 5 then summarizes and concludes.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 12, 2018
- Accession Number
- AD1099295
Entities
People
- C. D. Mclain
- J. K. Mackay
- M. P. Owen
- R. A. Klaus
Organizations
- MIT Lincoln Laboratory