Provably Safe Coordinated Strategy for Distributed Conflict Resolution

Abstract

This paper proposes a pair-wise distributed conflict resolution strategy that resolves aircraft encounters in a provably safe coordinated way. In this approach, each aircraft independently computes a list of resolution advisories based only on its state information and the state information of the trac aircraft. Eective coordination between the two aircraft is achieved without communicating their intentions or negotiating a solution. The strategy is safe in the sense that the aircraft will not maneuver into each other while follow- ing their respective resolution advisories. Furthermore, the strategy will keep the aircraft separated even if only one aircraft maneuvers. This feature provides an additional layer of safety that mitigates potential conflicts when one aircraft does not maneuver due to equip- ment failure or other factors. The algorithm that implements the resolution strategy is not computationally intensive and is ideally suitable for distributed airborne deployment. The mathematical development has been formalized and mechanically verified in the Program Verification System (PVS). Low fidelity simulations have shown that the proposed approach is eective even in cases of multiple aircraft conflicts in a heavily crowded airspace.