Maritime Drones Upgraded With Anti-Collision Software
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The U.S. Navy announced that Northrop Grumman will install next generation aircraft avoidance systems, and anti-collision software, on its new high-tech maritime surveillance drone.
The company received a $9.6 contract for the ןinstallation of the Automatic Response Module of the Airborne Collision Avoidance System X (ACAS X) and will also test and support the software and ensure proper functioning of the unmanned aircraft.
Navy spokeswoman Jamie B. Cosgrove told Defense Systems: ”This technology will help keep the Triton drone safely separated from civil and military aircraft and mitigate risks for in-flight collisions”.
According to the MIT Lincoln Laboratory, the advanced tracking algorithms employ “probabilistic models to represent various sources of uncertainty (e.g., pilot nonresponse, surveillance errors, etc.) and computer optimization to consider safety and operational objectives as defined by system experts and operational users.”
ACAS X detects and tracks aircraft by receiving sensor measurements from onboard surveillance systems and estimates the relative position and velocity of nearby aircraft using advanced tracking algorithms. To compensate for imperfect sensors, a surveillance and tracking module explicitly takes uncertainty into account by representing relative positions and velocities as a probabilistic state distribution.
To assess potential collision risks, ACAS X uses computer-optimized logic lookup tables that capture each possible state in the probabilistic state distribution. The tables provide a cost for each action—no alert, a traffic advisory alerting pilots about nearby aircraft, or a resolution advisory directing pilots to increase or maintain their existing separation from threat aircraft. This cost is combined with the weighted states to provide a single, optimal action. If a collision avoidance alert is necessary, this information is sent to the flight deck displays and aural annunciators to provide pilots with the guidance corresponding to the optimal action, according to MIT publication.
Equipped with signals intelligence, C4ISR, and maritime strike capabilities, the Triton drone represents the Navy’s future in unmanned aircraft technology. It will also complement the P-8 Poseidon. Together, the two aircraft replace the aging P-3C Orion.
The aircraft will be a member of Unmanned Patrol Squadron 19, the Navy’s first fully-unmanned squadron. Navy pilots will train on the drones for two years with a tentative deployment date of 2018.
Work will be performed in Rancho Bernardo, California, and should be completed by December 2017.