Designing a Flight Test of a Flight Path Management System for Advanced Air Mobility Research

Abstract

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has completed a flight test to evaluate the performance of an onboard prototype automation system operating in future high density urban airspace. The test was part of a research investigation of the Urban Air Mobility (UAM) concept, with a focus on a future environment having hundreds of simultaneous operations over a metropolitan area. The complexity of this future UAM airspace may require automation capable of replanning an aircraft’s path in the presence of traffic and other changing constraints. A live-virtual-constructive (LVC) approach was used to conduct the test. Prototype automation technology was integrated into one of the two live aircraft, which were combined with virtual traffic to create a mixed reality environment at the target airspace density. In-flight evaluation enabled verification of the automation’s functions and discovery of any unexpected behaviors resulting from its operation in an actual flight environment. The in-flight evaluation also provided data for validation of air traffic simulations. This paper discusses the design, methodology, and challenges overcome to conduct a successful flight test. Remaining challenges, future work, and recommendations to improve the flight test capability are also discussed.

Authors

• Stewart L. Nelson Langley Research Center
• Mark G. Ballin Langley Research Center
• Bryan A. Barrows Langley Research Center
• Matthew C. Underwood Langley Research Center
• David J. Wing Langley Research Center
• James L. Sturdy Analytical Mechanics Associates (United States)
• Ethan R. Williams American Systems (United States)

Keywords

• Advanced Air Mobility
• Automated Flight and Contingency Management
• Flight Path Management
• Dynamic Path Planning
• Autonomous Operations Planner
• Live-Virtual-Constructive
• Urban Air Mobility
• UML-4