Report
Teaser, summary, work performed and final results
Periodic Reporting for period 2 - PJ11 CAPITO (Enhanced Air and Ground Safety Nets)
Teaser
The project is concerned with Enhanced Air and Ground Safety Nets. Airborne Collision Avoidance Systems (ACAS) are operational globally and need to be optimised for all airspace and to be compatible with existing systems. The scope of work is extended from that performed...
Summary
The project is concerned with Enhanced Air and Ground Safety Nets. Airborne Collision Avoidance Systems (ACAS) are operational globally and need to be optimised for all airspace and to be compatible with existing systems. The scope of work is extended from that performed within SESAR1 to include Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS), General Aviation (GA), rotorcrafts (R) and military operations. Safety nets are not widely advertised as saving lives, however the social benefit to assure safety cannot be measured as they are in relation to events that do not happen, or very rarely. Preventing collision between aircraft is the main purpose of Air Traffic Control and any failures resulting in accidents will have social impact on travelling public and, consequently, economic impact on the industry. The Risk Ratio (i.e. Measure of mid-air incidents with and without safety nets) is a measure of this, although not in absolute financial terms. In addition, accommodating RPAS integration safely is a prerequisite for the development of the RPAS business.
The main objectives of the project are those defined by the Solutions:
PJ11-G1: Improve the Short Term Conflict Alert (STCA) via system support to the Non Transgression Zone (NTZ) safety NET including the use of downlinked aircraft parameters (DAPs); Develop a minimum STCA and NTZ Operational, Safety and Performance Requirements.
PJ11-A1: Validate the introduction of ACAS Xa in Europe. Check that flight crew confidence in the collision avoidance system (and thus a good manual response to the alerts) is maintained; analyse the interaction of ACAS Xa with specific European aircraft features developed in SESAR 1.
PJ11-A2: Contribute to development and evaluate the performance & benefits of ACAS Xu within European operations/airspace; ensure that the ACAS Xu system is compatible with the European definition of Detect And Avoid system/capability.
PJ11-A3: identify the main use cases for ACAS Xo capability within current and future European operations; evaluate the benefits/suitability of the basic ACAS Xo implementation developed by FAA for these European scenarios; evaluate the opportunity in terms of achievable benefits for a tailored ACAS Xo implementation addressing selected use cases and define the relevant technical and operational requirements.
PJ11-A4: evaluate the operational benefits achievable by TSAA+ during mixed equipage encounters; analyse reusability of specific elements introduced in ACAS Xu solution for GA/R/military users;
Work performed
PJ11-G1, the re-scoping of the solution occurred compared with the description in the last Grant Amendment. The solution passed a maturity self-assessment for Light Maturity Gate V1. G1 progressed on the preparation of the V2 gate in 2019 by working on: the CBA, the OSED, the TS and the VALP and the preparation of the validation platform.
PJ11-A1 has delivered: An initial validation plan covering the V3 exercises ; Simulations of two stages of the Run 15 version of the ACAS Xa threat resolution module; Simulations of the Run 15 version of the ACAS Xa surveillance and tracking module; A software prototype of one stage of the Run 15 version of ACAS Xa (both surveillance and resolution modules) was developed for use in the upcoming real-time simulations assessing flight crew response / feedback to ACAS Xa. The results for the validation of ACAS Xa Run 15 were provided to the FAA development team and discussed at joint RTCA / EUROCAE meetings. Finally, an initial CBA was developed focusing on identification of relevant stakeholders and benefits mechanisms;
A1 progressed on the Validation Plan, the Validation Reports, the CBA and the preparation of validation Exercises. EXE-05 exercise was adapted to meet the EASA requirements for European verification utilising the European Acceptability criteria defined in SESAR 1. This exercise is supported by the new CAFÉ Encounter Model developed by EUROCONTROL as part of PJ11.
PJ11-A2 prepared the V1 gate in 2018 by developing the relevant documents and the validation platform for validation exercise evaluating Run 3 of ACAS Xu; the initial CBA activities focusing on identification of relevant stakeholders and benefits mechanisms were already addressed.
Then A2 concluded the V1 Maturity Phase through the finalization of V1 Data Pack, and preparation/passing of the V1 maturity gate; as well as on preparation and execution of three V2 validation exercises, two of them being supported by a new encounter model developed in the CAFÉ program.
PJ11-A3 implemented an ACAS (Xa)/Xo SW prototype Run15.2 to support PJ.11-A3 evaluation, Initial OSED has been developed, the validation activities under preparation will apply US scenarios together with possible future European scenarios; Detailed validation planning has been kicked-off, and partner’s contribution has been agreed.
A3 focused also on the validation planning, preparation and execution. Several meetings took place to discuss topics specific to ACAS Xo prototype delivery, integration and testing.
PJ11-A4 solution achievements were the delivery of initial OSED for TSAA+; VALP describing three different exercises relevant for V1 phase of TSAA+, Safety VALP that captures safety aspects/criterions to be addressed in future validation activities; Representative set of mixed-equipage encounters prepared (and used in V1 validation) from current European environment, involving GA/R/MIL and TCAS-equipped aircraft; Successful preparation of V1 validation, its on-time execution and results analysis; solid progress on GA encounter model to be used for future validations.
Subsequently, A4 activities focused primarily on finalization of V1 Data Pack, V1 maturity gate preparation and V1 maturity gate itself. Second half of 2018 was dedicated to extensive validation preparation consisting of five exercises. PJ.11-A4 successfully passed V1 gate. Based on gate decision, CR_0421 was submitted addressing change of solution name, OI and EN including descriptions in order to address primarily TSAA+ instead of ACAS Xp. The change request was completed in November.
Exploitation and dissemination continue as planned. Presentations of PJ11 made in the RTCA-SC-147/EUROCAE WG-75 forums are uploaded to a communications folder in the PJ11 area of Stellar.
Final results
The project will have made innovative contributions to the state of the art in modelling and metrics for the operational and safety evaluation of RPAS in the Air Traffic Management environment. This works is performed in conjunction with Universities and Research Centres both in Europe and the USA.
The early research activities into the collision avoidance variant for General Aviation will address techniques and systems as a first mover in the global collision avoidance community.