Air Traffic Conflict Resolution and Recovery
Abstract
An essential element in the Free Flight concept is the detection and avoidance of air traffic conflicts. A conflict occurs when the required separation between two aircraft, namely the ownership and the intruder, is lost. Conflict detection and resolution systems predict loss of separation and output conflict avoidance maneuvers that divert the ownership from its original trajectory. In this paper, we address the problem of redirecting the ownership to its original path, in a geometric optimal way, without introducing new conflicts. We call this concept Resolution and Recovery. Given the current 3-dimensional position and velocity vectors of two aircraft in predicted conflict and the ownership's required time of arrival at the target point, the resolution and recovery algorithm outputs a choice of maneuvers. Each maneuver comprises an escape course and a recovery course to be followed by the ownership. The escape course brings the ownership off the predicted conflict and the recovery course returns it to the original target point. We provide a rigorous mathematical description of the problem and show that the algorithm is correct, i.e., no matter which of the proposed maneuvers the ownership picks, it will arrive at the target point at the scheduled time while maintaining the minimum required separation to the intruder at all times.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 01, 2002
- Accession Number
- ADA402748
Entities
People
- Alfons Geser
- Cesar Munoz
- Florent Kirchner
- Gilles Dowek