Improvements to Sense and Avoid (SAA) Systems for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS)

Current sense and avoid systems (S&A) using visible/infrared/RF sensor technology require SWAP (space, weight, and power) that far exceeds that available in mini-UAS. An aircraft of this size still represents a significant mid-air collision hazard to other aircraft operating in the same airspace. These types of UAS are frequently operated in close proximity to the ground and cultural features (buildings, towers, etc.). While the performance levels needed for these lower, slower UAS are relaxed relative to that needed for a large UAS such as a Global Hawk, the severe SWAP limitation presents a technical challenge to creating an S&A capability for this class of aircraft. Oceanit has developed a unique approach based on technology developed for the Department of Defense that will enable a reliable, low SWAP system, for S&A on mini-UAS. This effort will show the feasibility of multi-sensor discrimination hardware and techniques toward meeting the S&A requirements of a mini-UAS under 45 lbs