Automated Air Traffic Control for Non-Towered Airports

166 Pages·2016·8.63 MB·English

SISL
Stanford Intelligent
Systems Laboratory
Automated Air Traffic Control
for Non-Towered Airports
Zouhair Mahboubi
AeronauticsandAstronautics
StanfordUniversity
November 2016
ZouhairM. (Stanford) AutomatedATC 11/2016 1/48
Midair Collisions
ZouhairM. (Stanford) AutomatedATC 11/2016 2/48
The Big Sky Theory
Since 2000, ALL midair collisions in U.S. were between GA aircraft
Most happen in vicinity of airports
High risk at non-towered airports
R.C.Matthews,“CharacteristicsofUSmidairs”, FAAAviationNews,2001
F.Kunzietal.,“Mid-aircollisionriskandareasofhighbenefitfortrafficalerting”, inATIO,2011
CanadianTransportationSafetyBoard,2014
If the see-and-avoid principle is relied upon as
the sole means of collision avoidance when
operating in visual flight rules conditions, then
there is a continued risk of collision
ZouhairM. (Stanford) AutomatedATC 11/2016 3/48
The [not-so] Big Sky Theory
Since 2000, ALL midair collisions in U.S. were between GA aircraft
Most happen in vicinity of airports
High risk at non-towered airports
R.C.Matthews,“CharacteristicsofUSmidairs”, FAAAviationNews,2001
F.Kunzietal.,“Mid-aircollisionriskandareasofhighbenefitfortrafficalerting”, inATIO,2011
CanadianTransportationSafetyBoard,2014
If the see-and-avoid principle is relied upon as
the sole means of collision avoidance when
operating in visual flight rules conditions, then
there is a continued risk of collision
ZouhairM. (Stanford) AutomatedATC 11/2016 3/48
The [not-so] Big Sky Theory
Since 2000, ALL midair collisions in U.S. were between GA aircraft
Most happen in vicinity of airports
High risk at non-towered airports
R.C.Matthews,“CharacteristicsofUSmidairs”, FAAAviationNews,2001
F.Kunzietal.,“Mid-aircollisionriskandareasofhighbenefitfortrafficalerting”, inATIO,2011
CanadianTransportationSafetyBoard,2014
If the see-and-avoid principle is relied upon as
the sole means of collision avoidance when
operating in visual flight rules conditions, then
there is a continued risk of collision
ZouhairM. (Stanford) AutomatedATC 11/2016 3/48
Outline
1 Introduction
Motivation
Previous Work
Problem Formulation and Contributions
2 Modeling
Stochastic Optimal Control
Traffic Pattern as a POMDP
Model Learning
3 Decision Making
Factored CTMDPs
Online Methods
Partial Observability
4 Conclusion
ZouhairM. (Stanford) AutomatedATC 11/2016 3/48
Automating ATC: a Decades-Long Endeavor
AERA(AutomatedEn-RouteATC) TCAS(TrafficalertandCollisionAvoidanceSystem)
TAAC(TerminalAdvancedAirspaceConcept) SATS(SmallAircraftTransportationSystem)
ZouhairM. (Stanford) AutomatedATC 11/2016 4/48
Automating ATC: a Decades-Long Endeavor
AERA(AutomatedEn-RouteATC) TCAS(TrafficalertandCollisionAvoidanceSystem)
TAAC(TerminalAdvancedAirspaceConcept) SATS(SmallAircraftTransportationSystem)
ZouhairM. (Stanford) AutomatedATC 11/2016 4/48
(AutomatedEn-RouteATC)
Automating ATC: a Decades-Long Endeavor
AERA TCAS(TrafficalertandCollisionAvoidanceSystem)
Efforts date back to 1980s
Partly implemented in En Route
Automation Modernization (2015)
D.Spencer,“Applyingartificialintelligencetechniquestoair
trafficcontrolautomation”, TheLincolnLaboratoryJournal,
1989
TAAC(TerminalAdvancedAirspaceConcept) SATS(SmallAircraftTransportationSystem)
ZouhairM. (Stanford) AutomatedATC 11/2016 4/48
(AutomatedEn-RouteATC)
Automating ATC: a Decades-Long Endeavor
AERA TCAS(TrafficalertandCollisionAvoidanceSystem)
TAAC(TerminalAdvancedAirspaceConcept) SATS(SmallAircraftTransportationSystem)
ZouhairM. (Stanford) AutomatedATC 11/2016 4/48