GDTI: A ground station display of traffic information for use in sense and avoid operations

Abstract

This paper describes novel Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) displays designed to alleviate conflicts between UAS and aircraft operating in the National Airspace System (NAS). Further, we present results from evaluating these display concepts via a low-fidelity, distributed evaluation environment focused on Ground-based Sense and Avoid humandisplay interactions. When pilots used the new situation awareness capabilities, they had consistently fewer events where an intruder breached the well-clear buffer (Beyond Well-Clear Buffer, or BWCB) (our definition of well-clear is defined later in this document), often with shorter duration. In contrast to a formal research laboratory environment, the distributed nature of our evaluation environment allowed rapid prototyping, quantitative analysis, and subjective feedback without the UAS pilots having to travel any farther than their nearest internet connection.