Australian tests aim to integrate UAVs into busy airspace

By Emma Kelly

Boeing Research and Technology Australia (formerly Phantom Works Australia) and the Australian Research Centre for Aerospace Automation (ARCAA) are undertaking a series of tests over the next month aimed at helping integrate unmanned air vehicles into busy airspace.

Working under Australia's A$10 million ($6.9 million), three-year Smart Skies research project, Boeing and ARCAA are investigating technologies including computer vision that could allow UAVs to see and avoid obstacles, including other aircraft.

So far, a small, unmanned helicopter developed and operated by ARCAA was placed in a conflict scenario with a virtual aircraft over Kingaroy, Queensland, which has airspace set aside for UAV testing. The test used an automatic separation system developed by the Smart Skies partners to avert a collision. The system detected a potential collision and automatically issued new flight trajectories to the aircraft.

In the next stage, a modified Cessna 172R, developed by ARCAA, will be automatically separated from the unmanned helicopter. The partners are also developing unmanned aircraft that can see and perceive airspace in a similar way to human pilots and a low-cost portable air traffic control radar system.

© Cessna