Lucio Flavio Vismari

Guidelines for the Integration of Autonomous UAS into the Global ATM

The growing social and economic interest in new unmanned aircraft systems (UASs) applications demands that UASs operate beyond the segregated airspace they are currently able to fly. However, UAS operations in non-segregated airspace should be regulated by aeronautical authorities before UASs can share airspace with manned aircraft. It has been a challenge for regulatory authorities to define these regulations because they do not understand the topic well. In addition, there is no consensus in the academic community regarding UAS concepts, such as taxonomy and features. This study proposes guidelines that could support UAS regulations for the future integration of autonomous UASs into the Global Air Traffic Management System (GATM). These guidelines are based on three viewpoints: the aircraft, the piloting autonomous system (PAS) and the integration of autonomous UASs into non-segregated airspace. We recommend that the UAS concept should be based on genuine aeronautical precepts, which would be directly applied, without terminology or conceptual adaptations, for the integration of these aircraft into airspace according to the GATM paradigm.

Guidelines for integration of autonomous UAS in Global ATM

In recent years there is a crescent interest for operating Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) in new areas beyond the current reserved airspace. Such fact has forced regulatory organisations such as the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation) to evaluate unmanned aircraft and to propose regulations for the expanded use of such aircraft. The definition of these regulations is a challenge for the ICAO and the academic community. This paper proposes guidelines seeking the integration of autonomous UAS into the Global ATM proposals from the aircraft viewpoint, the autonomous pilot and the aircraft interaction in Global ATM. The possibility of integrating UAS into airspace depends on regulations that are yet to be defined and proper data with which to assure the flight safety standards of this new aircraft type.

An Approach to Assess the Safety of ADS-B-based Unmanned Aerial Systems: Data Integrity as a Safety Issue

The increasing demand for the use of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) in various social and economic applications has pressed aviation authorities to draw up rules and regulations in order to allow such aircraft to fly in non-segregated airspace. However, issues related to the safety of air traffic operations arise when considering the possibility of both manned and unmanned aircraft coexisting. Thus, surveillance plays a key role in monitoring and controlling air traffic in new scenarios. The positional information provided by the Automatic Dependent Surveillance - Broadcast (ADS-B), originally designed to improve situational awareness for pilots and support controllers in air traffic management, interacts with the Sense and Avoid Systems (S&AS) of the UAS in order to avoid exposure to events of loss of minima separation distances and collisions. As positional information is essential to UASs control systems operation, parameters such as accuracy and integrity reflect the correctness and trustworthiness of this information. This paper presents a qualitative approach to assess safety when using ADS-B systems integrated with UASs in aeronautical operations considering the influence of data integrity as a safety-related parameter. In addition, the possibility of using a methodology previously applied on manned systems for assessing safety on UASs is discussed. A new testing platform (PIpE-SEC) is presented as a possible approach for this safety evaluation.

Using Data Integrity as an Improvement Characteristic to Assess the Safety of ADS-B-based Systems

The increasing demand for the densification of the national airspace in various social and economic applications have pressed aviation authorities to reduce aircraft separation, allowing more efficient operations in Air Traffic Management (ATM) in a given airspace. However, issues related to the safety of air traffic operations arise when considering the possibility of reducing aircraft separation. Surveillance plays a key role in monitoring and controlling air traffic in new scenarios in which a better flight performance is required. Accuracy of positional information provided by the Automatic Dependent Surveillance - Broadcast (ADS-B), originally designed to improve situational awareness for pilots and support controllers in air traffic management, is essential in order to avoid exposure to incidents and accidents such as events of loss of separation (AIRPROX) and collisions for new Global ATM paradigm. This paper presents a qualitative approach to assess safety when using ADS-B systems considering its data integrity as a relevant factor in aeronautical systems and operations for different scenarios. A testing platform -- the Integrated Platform for Testing Critical Embedded Systems (PIpE-SEC) -- is also presented as a possible solution for this safety evaluation.

An approach to assess the safety of ADS-B based unmanned aerial systems

The increasing demand for the use of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) in various social and economic applications have pressed aviation authorities to draw up rules and regulations that permit the release of such aircraft in non-segregated airspace. However, issues related to the safety of air traffic operations arise when considering the possibility of coexistence of manned and unmanned aircraft simultaneously. Thus, surveillance plays a key role in monitoring and controlling air traffic in new scenarios. The positional information provided by the Automatic Dependent Surveillance - Broadcast (ADS-B), originally designed to improve situational awareness for pilots and support controllers in air traffic management, interacts with the Sense and Avoid Systems (S&AS) of the UAS in order to avoid exposure to events of loss of separation (AIRPROX) and collisions. This paper presents a qualitative approach to assess safety when using ADS-B systems integrated with UASs in aeronautical operations. In addition, the possibility of using a methodology previously applied on manned systems for assessing safety on UASs is discussed. A new testing platform (PIpE-SEC) is presented as a possible solution for this safety evaluation.

Concerns on the Differences Between AI and System Safety Mindsets Impacting Autonomous Vehicles Safety

The inflection point in the development of some core technologies enabled the Autonomous Vehicles (AV). The unprecedented growth rate in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) capabilities, focusing only on AVs, is expected to shift the transportation paradigm and bring relevant benefits to the society, such as accidents reduction. However, recent AVs accidents resulted in life losses. This paper presents a viewpoint discussion based on findings from a preliminary exploratory literature review. It was identified an important misalignment between AI and Safety research communities regarding the impact of AI on the safety risks in AV. This paper promotes this discussion, raises concerns on the potential consequences and suggests research topics to reduce the differences between AI and system safety mindsets.

A Practical Analytical Approach to Increase Confidence in PLD-Based Systems Safety Analysis

The use of programmable logic devices (PLDs) in safety-critical systems has meaningfully increased over the past years, driven by advantages such as reduced development costs and time-to-market. Despite such increasing use, current standards that support the development of safety-critical systems have still not appropriately addressed how to certificate PLD-based systems. Recent bibliography on the use of PLDs in safety-critical systems has not filled this gap as well, reinforcing the need for a safety analysis methodology for PLD-based safety-critical systems. This paper proposes an extension of the practical analytical approach presented in 2015 by Vismari et al., inserting the safety analysis of PLDs into a broader system safety analysis process. The PLD safety analysis is based on the code inspection of the hardware description source code. It checks for inappropriate coding practices and aids in minimizing the exposure of the system to an unsafe state due to an inadequate PLD design. A case study based on the authors’ experience by applying the proposed approach in real independent safety analysis projects of safety-critical systems, together with its results, is then presented. Based on such results, the proposed approach is deemed appropriate for the safety analysis of PLD-based safety critical systems, supporting its use in a system certification context.

A Practical Analytical Approach to Increase Confidence in Software Safety Arguments

Complex interdependencies among a large and growing number of elements in computer-based critical systems have made the safety analysis process more burdensome in terms of costs and tend to limit the capabilities of current safety analysis approaches to address system hazards. Therefore, the critical systems lifecycle—primarily software-intensive systems—demands new approaches for conducting the safety analysis process while staying within reasonable cost limits and maintaining the quality of the results. This paper proposes a practical analytical approach for increasing the confidence in software safety arguments in safety cases through the elaboration and assessment of counterevidence that emerges from software failure modes due to robustness issues. A case study is presented in which the proposed approach is applied to a computer-based distributed critical system. Additionally, practical results from the application of this approach to real safety-critical systems are also presented. The proposed approach proved to be useful during safety analysis processes, mainly in independent safety analysis projects, as it improves assessment coverage with low impact on workload and costs.

Elicitation of Operational Requirements in ATC Activities Automation Process: The TWR Case

Several countries have been investing in upgrading their air traffic management systems as a way to cope with the growing demand for this mode of transport. Among the major modernization projects are the NextGen (USA) and SESAR(Europe), which one of the main objectives is to increase the efficiency of the services provided by air traffic controllers(ATCo) by automating part of their tasks. However, one must ensure that automated tasks do not impact negatively on the air traffic performance and safety. Thus, this paper presents a study of ATCo operational requirements elicitation to be considered in the process of automation. Due to aerodrome regions present the greatest historical number of accidents compared to other flight regions, the aerodrome control service (TWR) was adopted as acase study. The Enhanced Function Flow Block Diagram was the method adopted for the functional analysis of this study.