Abstract: NASA has developed an advanced arrival management capability for terminal controllers, known as Terminal Sequencing and Spacing (TSAS). TSAS increases use of performance-based navigation (PBN) arri...

Abstract: With the development of aircraft equipment, conventional navigation is the shift from performance based navigation (PBN). As is known, conventional navigation is based on ground-based navigation aids; however, PBN is based on aircraft avionics and performance. In this paper, a new method called Point Merge System (PMS) considered as one of PBN procedures will be introduced. PMS has many benefits related to fuel savings and emission reductions by implementing Continuous Descent Approaches (CDAs). A new PMS standard arrival route (STAR) model will be designed in radar simulation and it will be suggested.

Abstract: GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite Systems)-based navigation is not sufficient to support air navigation in specific applications; so it is necessary to introduce Augmentation Systems. Since 1993, the civil aviation community through RTCA (Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics) and the ICAO (International Civil Air Navigation Organization) have been working on the definition of GNSS augmentation systems that will provide improved levels of accuracy and integrity. These augmentation systems have been classified into three distinct groups: Aircraft Based Augmentation Systems (ABAS), Space Based Augmentation Systems (SBAS) and Ground Based Augmentation Systems (GBAS). The first category is based on integration of airplane sensors. The purpose of this work is to investigate the performance of an ABAS based on the integration of GPS and Barometer sensor in terms of position accuracy and system integrity, key Required Navigation Parameters (RNP) of an air navigation system.

Abstract: With the broad implementation of Performance Based Navigation (PBN), GNSS (satellite navigation, e.g. Global Navigation Satellite System) is becoming an essential infrastructure. Consequently, the role of terrestrial aids is evolving from supporting conventional procedures on a primary and exclusive basis to one that has a complementary function in the context of PBN. Current work in various SESAR (Single European Sky ATM Research) projects revolves around the use of DME/DME (Distance Measuring Equipment) as the main reversionary capability to maintain safety and continuity of operation during a GNSS outage in the short and medium term. In the long term, GNSS reversion is addressed in a wider context, considering various solutions supported by advanced terrestrial systems/technologies, referred to as Alternate Positioning, Navigation and Timing (A-PNT). While there are several new technologies proposed to support a future A-PNT solution, DME/DME navigation is still a potential long term candidate to support the positioning and navigation functions due to its large equipage base on the ground and in the aircraft fleet, as well as its two-way ranging principle reducing the required number of ground facilities (a fix is possible with two stations only). However, current DME standards are at the limit of what would be operationally required to support DME/DME based PBN in the coming years. The paper is mainly dedicated to the analysis of the DME range accuracy data and the comparison with the requirements of current aviation standards. This analysis is based on data collected in extensive static (on-ground) and in-flight data recording campaigns organized with the contribution of the AVINOR (Norwegian Air Navigation Services Provider), the flight inspection unit of DSNA (Direction Generale de l'Aviation Civile of France), Rhode&Schwarz and EUROCONTROL. An overview is also be given on the potential use of DME to support some aspects of the future Alternate Positioning, Navigation and Timing concept.

Abstract: The paper introduces a computational model of airspace conflict risk in the hierarchy of performance-based navigation (PBN) airspace operation and combines it with air traffic controller (ATC) workload to propose a method for safety assessment of PBN airspace operational planning Capacity probability distribution is employed to depict airspace capacity in uncertain weather, errors of deviating from nominal PBN track are taken into consideration, and the stochastic process based on Gaussian distribution is used to depict random aircraft motion according to airspace PBN specification, so as to build an airspace conflict risk computational model in corresponding capacity scenario Guangzhou No 15 sector is chosen for simulation validation The analysis results suggest that 60% of ATC workload is corresponding to sector traffic flow of 31 aircraft/h and airspace risk of 0018 conflict/h, while 70% of ATC workload is corresponding to sector traffic flow of 35 aircraft/h and airspace risk of 003 conflict/h As air traffic flow increases, both airspace conflict risk value and ATC workload will increase, resulting in reduction of airspace safety, though their increasing magnitudes differ with different capacity scenarios The safety assessment method enables effective quantization of safety with regard to airspace operational planning strategy, and benefits the development of optimal operational scheme that balances risk with capacity demand

Abstract: Beyond the interest of robotics laboratories for the development of dedicated strategies for single vehicle navigation, several laboratories around the world are more and more involved in the general challenging field of cooperative multi-robot navigation. In this context, this work deals with the navigation in formation of a group of Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs) dedicated to structured environments. The complexity of this Multi-Robot System (MRS) does not permit the direct use of neither classical perception nor control techniques. To overcome this problem, this work proposes to break up the overall control dedicated to the achievement of the complex task into a group of accurate and reliable elementary behaviors/controllers (e.g., obstacles avoidance, trajectory tracking, target reaching, navigation in formation, formation reconfiguration, etc.). These behaviors are linked to different information given by the sensors to the actions of vehicles. To guarantee the performances criteria (e.g., stability, convergence, state errors) aimed by the control architecture, the potentialities of hybrid controllers (which controlling continuous systems in the presence of discrete events) are considered. This control architecture is validated for a single vehicle to perform safe and flexible autonomous navigation using an appropriate strategy of navigation through suitable set of waypoints. This flexible navigation allows different vehicle maneuvers between waypoints (e.g., target reaching or obstacle avoidance) without using any trajectory planning nor replanning. The designed control law based on Lyapunov synthesis guarantees the convergence to assigned waypoint while performing safe trajectories. Furthermore, an algorithm to select suitable waypoints’ positions, named Optimal Multi-criteria Waypoint Selection (OMWS), in structured environments while taking into account the safe and reliable vehicle movements, and vehicle constraints and uncertainties is proposed. Subsequently, the control architecture is extended to Multi-Robot Formation (MRF) using a combination of Leader-Follower and behavior-based approaches. An important cooperative MRS issues in this thesis is the dynamic reconfiguration of the formation according to the context of navigation (e.g., to pass from a triangle configuration towards a line if the width of the navigation way is not sufficient). The proposed Strategy for Formation Reconfiguration (SFR) guarantees the stability and the safety of the MRS at the time of the transitions between configuration (e.g., line towards square, triangle towards line, etc.). Therefore, a safe, reactive and dynamic MRF is obtained. Moreover, the degrees of multi-robot safety, stability and reliability of the system are quantified via suitable metrics. Simulations and experiments using urban vehicles (VIPALABs) of the Institut Pascal laboratory allow to perform exhaustive experiments of the proposed control architecture for the navigation in formation of a group of UGVs.

Abstract: The lack of aircraft state awareness has been one of the leading causal and contributing factors in aviation accidents. Many of these accidents were due to flight crew's inability to understand the automation modes and properly monitor the aircraft energy and attitude state. The capability of providing flight crew with improved aircraft state awareness is essential in ensuring aviation safety. The aircraft state described in this paper includes energy state, attitude state, and system mode state. Most of the elements in these states can be measured by onboard navigation systems such as Global Navigation Satellites Systems (GNSS), Inertial, and Air Data. This paper describes a predictive alerting method that uses Multiple Hypothesis Prediction (MHP) based on available aircraft avionics outputs. A speed reversion scenario is used to demonstrate the functionality of the MHP method in reducing the occurrence of the vertical navigation (VNAV) function mode confusion.

Abstract: The scheme of integration of inertial and satellite navigation systems with corrective circuits for low-cost unmanned aerial vehicles is proposed. Based on derived mathematical model describing the errors of navigation parameters evaluation in the integrated inertial-satellite navigation system the study of system accuracy in static and dynamic operation mode has been done.

Abstract: The future revolution of the air traffic system imposes the development of a new class of Flight Management Systems (FMS), capable of providing the aircraft with real-time reference flight parameters, necessary to fly the aircraft through a predefined sequence of waypoints, while minimizing fuel consumption, noise and pollution emissions. The main goal is to guarantee safety operations while reducing the aircraft environmental impact, according to the main international research programs. This policy is expected to affect also the Unmanned Aerial Systems (UASs), as soon as they will be allowed to fly beyond the restricted portions of the aerospace where they are currently confined. In the future, in fact, UASs are expected to fly within the whole civilian airspace, under the same requirements deriving from the adoption of the Performance Based Navigation (PBN). For UASs, the most attractive strategy to reach this goal consists in adopting the mature technology developed for the civil aviation both in terms of operative functions and performance. The current literature lacks of examples dedicated to the control algorithms, which should operate the onboard autopilots and guide the aircraft through the reference calculated trajectory. This paper presents the implementation of a new generation FMS, composed by a trajectory optimization tool and a guidance and control algorithm, interfaced with a suite of proprietary Automatic Flight Control Systems (AFCSs). Different guidance and control algorithms for the FMS are presented and tested on a 6DOF nonlinear mathematical model of a civil aircraft (MASLab), developed within the Clean Sky research program

Abstract: As the United States (U.S.) moves toward the various phases of Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen), there will be more emphasis on control of aircraft using time as well as the traditional speed control. With this in mind, Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics (RTCA) was directed by Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in 2012 to revisit the Minimum Aviation System Performance Standards (MASPS): Required Navigation Performance (RNP) for Area Navigation (RNAV), DO-236B [1], to update the requirements for RNP RNAV systems based on lessons learned from implementing Performance Based Navigation (PBN). The committee was also asked to consider a forward look/refinement of the time-based requirements for systems. The RNP RNAV system performance standard DO-236C [2] Change 1 [3] amended existing standards from DO-236B by expanding the minimum requirement for system computed Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA) in a Flight Management System (FMS). The new minimum functional requirement is that the ETA must be available for each fix in a flight plan; the previous minimum only required ETA at the “go to” fix. In an important addition, DO-236C Change 1 sets a minimum performance requirement on ETAs at all planned (future) fixes in the onboard flight profile. Thus the standard has been expanded both in the functional and the performance requirements for ETA in an RNP RNAV system.

Abstract: The goal of the paper is to present a new method developed to provide a surveillance of the air space. It detects and finally determines location of air vehicles which are currently using RNAV DME-DME method to measure their own positions. By processing signals between an air vehicle and ground based DME beacon the observer is able to determine current distance between an aircraft and the beacon. This effectively changes the role of the DME from a navigation aid (an aircraft determining its own position) to a surveillance aid (an observer determining the position of a DME-equipped aircraft). There is no need for other systems or signals, and the detection and localization of the target can be done from a single point (the observer).

Abstract: The introduction of Performance-Based Navigation (PBN) procedures represents the search for optimization and better utilization of airspace, and its deployment is crucial for modernization programs of air navigation in progress in several countries, including Brazil. The implementation of this new type of procedure introduced changes in aircraft operation, the insertion of new procedures for air traffic controllers and pilots and the introduction of automation systems to support air operations. The aim of this paper is to analyze the benefits of performing PBN procedures and use of Continuous Descent Approaches (CDA) on the route Galeao-Guarulhos. The study applied fast-time simulation with the Total Airspace and Air-port Modeler (TAAM) and considered nine different aircraft models. Fuel consumed is used as a performance parameter. Study results showed the benefits of applying these techniques vary according aircraft models..

Abstract: Considering the operation characteristics of the high-speed PBN airway, we propose an aircraft agent structural model and a basic algorithm flow of decision-making by Multi-agent technique. According to the constraint of safe separation and speed with the aircrafts, making use of the car-following theory, the deceleration constraint model is built for a flight management system. When the front aircraft decelerates, the model can offer a speed adjustment proposal for the following aircraft. The model is built based on the minimal safe separation and speed interval constraint; each variable, influencing the deceleration of the following aircraft can be analyzed. Simulation analysis is carried out for different combinations of aircraft types, initial speed, safe separation and deceleration. The follow aircraft deceleration was calculated under different conditions and the results coincided with reality. It is proved that the model can provide safe separation between the two aircrafts.

Abstract: Way of structuring the mobile hardware multiposition radio rangefinder navigation and landing systems for land-based aircrafts local airlines and general aviation are represented. Composition of the equipment for such a navigation and landing system is showed.

Abstract: The navigation of power patrol unmanned aerial vehicles( UAV) under GPS failure is considered. As the navigation accuracy of single inertial navigation system is not high and the height channel is divergent,an integrated navigation system based on monocular vision system composed by a CCD high-definition camera which must be equipped in power patrol UAV and barometric altimeter aided SINS systems is constructed. Navigation parameters of the navigation system are corrected by predetermined anchor point's information. An overall system design scheme is given and a combined nabigation system model,including element error model,is established. A numerical simulation between the integrated navigation and SINS navigation is done. Simulation experiment results show that the proposed UAV integrated navigation system can improve the navigation accuracy due to the introduction of a variety of external reference information.

Abstract: After 15 years without flights, the Kosovo upper airspace was reopened on the 3rd April 2014. Due to diplomatic reasons and a technically well founded project proposal, Hungary and its air navigation service provider, HungaroControl Hungarian Air Navigation Services, was selected to act as the technical enabler of the renewed activities in the airspace and provide the air navigation services. Besides successful diplomatic negotiations, this necessitated a proper technological background, including the availability of radar and radio coverage, air traffic management and voice communication systems, just as well as the adequate training of the air traffic controllers. After one year of operations, the paper presents the characteristics of this reopened airspace, along with a detailed statistical analysis of the traffic volume encountered in this period.

Abstract: Satellite Based Augmentation Systems (SBAS) for Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) currently enable precise vertical and lateral guidance for aircraft during the final approach. The newly established advanced-Required Navigation Performance (RNP) concept allows all aircraft to follow repeata- ble ground tracks even during curved segments in the approach. This was previously only possible with special aircraft and air- crew authorization. Terminal Area Paths (TAPs) allow the path definition and vertical guidance during the arrival and initial through intermediate approach segment. Here, we report on the design and flight test results of advanced procedures that employ combinations of the three aforementioned possibilities. We in- clude TAPs, originally a concept from the Ground Based Aug- mentation System (GBAS), into the onboard Flight Management System (FMS) database in order to use them with an SBAS based navigation solution. The TAPs transition to a localizer perfor- mance with vertical guidance final approach segment, thus ena- bling vertically guided continuous descent approaches from cruise level at selectable descent angles down to 200ft. During the flight trials, an A320 research aircraft was able to follow the desired trajectory with vertical and lateral total system accuracy of less than 20 meters. Secondly, we show that combinations of advanced RNP with SBAS final approach segments can effective- ly decouple runways in dense traffic environments where these runways previously were procedurally dependent. Sufficient obstacle clearance can also be achieved despite power lines with a height of ~300ft passing just south of the airport. While perform- ing the flight trials, we recorded a lateral precision better than 44.5 m during a curved missed approach using automatic flight control in a Hawker 750XP business aircraft.

Abstract: Air navigation advances have always been connected with the aviation improvements. Aviation has become popular as a mode of transport and the increase of air demand, it is necessary to think of new ways to better use of airspace. The introduction of Performance Based Procedures was one of the solutions found to solve the problem, requiring new ways of thinking and planning airspace. The aim of this paper is to analyze the fundamental aspects of the concept of airspace based on performance, exploring its benefits and characteristics, focusing mainly on the airspace. To achieve this goal, it carries out an investigative study. The survey results show that the incorporation of new types of specifications will serve as the new parameters for air planners.

Abstract: The global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) benefit aviation by enabling aircraft to fly direct from departure to destination using the most fuel-efficient routes and to navigate complicated terrain at low altitude. Satellite navigation provides the flexibility to design new procedures that enable aircraft to fly closer together to increase the arrival and departure rates and fly continuous climb and descent operations to minimize fuel consumption, noise, and carbon emissions. Using the language of the aviation community, GNSS enables performance-based navigation, which consists of area navigation (RNAV) and required navigation performance (RNP). Both RNAV and RNP enable unrestricted point-to-point flight paths. RNP differs from RNAV, because it also provides a monitoring and alerting function to warn the pilot when a correction is required, enabling aircraft to fly tighter flight paths. GNSS is the only navigation source approved for RNP operations. This article introduces these new capabilit...