NEWS RELEASE

Communications and Marketing Office
600 S. Clyde Morris Blvd.
Daytona Beach, FL 32114-3900

For more information, contact:
Phone: 386-226-6157
Fax: 386-226-6158
Contact: Mary Van Buren
Phone: 386-226-6525

Embry-Riddle Researchers Develop Unique Blend of Simulations for Unmanned Aerial Systems with Real-Time Air Traffic

Daytona Beach, Fla., Sept. 1, 2009 -- Looking into the skies over Daytona Beach, you’ll notice plenty of aircraft. Home to one of Embry-Riddle’s residential campuses, Daytona Beach boasts the second-busiest general-aviation airport in the nation. One kind of aircraft you won’t see anywhere near Daytona Beach International Airport, however, is an Unmanned Aerial System (UAS).

Although UASs like Predator-B, Shadow, and Global Hawk are being relied on more and more by the U.S. military in places like Iraq and Afghanistan, the use of unpiloted aircraft is limited in the U.S. National Airspace System (NAS) because the current air traffic system can’t ensure the separation of manned and unmanned aircraft. As the situation now stands, obtaining permission from the FAA to operate commercial UASs is a lengthy and difficult process that restricts UASs solely to designated military areas.

Nonetheless, the demand to expand NAS access for UASs is increasing because they can perform certain tasks for longer durations, for less money, and in a safer manner than piloted aircraft, tasks such as collecting weather information inside hurricanes, tracking wildfires, securing our country’s borders, and monitoring highway congestion.

In response to this situation, researchers at Embry-Riddle have developed a unique solution that will train future UAS operators while also testing concepts that may ultimately lead to integrating UASs into the National Airspace System.

“By using commercially available flight simulators, our researchers have fused live real-world air traffic with that of simulated UAS operations,” said Ted Beneigh, Embry-Riddle aeronautical science professor. “With this new combination, we can transfer the training and testing of UASs from the sky to the simulator while maintaining a level of realism to prepare UAS operators of the future.”

Playing a crucial role in this research are Embry-Riddle aircraft equipped with Automatic Dependent Surveillance – Broadcast (ADS-B), a system that allows aircraft, surface vehicles, and fixed ground locations to share information. Embry-Riddle’s aircraft are actively tracked on a graphical overlay of the airport and airspace that’s updated every second. By providing the UAS pilot with live aircraft traffic and weather information, the operator can see a three-dimensional graphical adaptation of the aircraft, the airport, and the surrounding area.

Researchers hope to use this system as a training aid that will give flight students and researchers a level of aircraft operation experience that is not available anywhere else today.

“This new research product will allow us to train our students in UAS flight operations without actually having an unmanned aircraft,” Beneigh said. “The lack of a ‘flying’ unpiloted aircraft will be transparent to the student, who will achieve the same skills as if flying an actual unpiloted aircraft, for a fraction of the cost.”

This concept will also be used to study the challenge of how to ensure the separation of piloted and unpiloted aircraft in the busy NAS.

Embry-Riddle researchers envision human in-the-loop simulations that will test new air traffic control technologies and procedures in a collaborative environment where real-world events can be interacted with as they occur. This type of research benefits the whole flying community by increasing safety through realism and reducing the costly development process by fielding thoroughly vetted tools and procedures.

Although you don’t see UASs in the skies over Daytona Beach quite yet, Embry-Riddle is creating a virtual reality that is giving pilots and controllers valuable experience while enhancing safety for those of us on the ground.

For more information, contact Dr. Bert Boquet, director of the Embry-Riddle Next Generation Advanced Research (NEAR) Lab, at albert.boquet@erau.edu or (386) 226-7035.

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, the world's largest, fully accredited university specializing in aviation and aerospace, offers more than 30 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in its colleges of Arts and Sciences, Aviation, Business, and Engineering. Embry-Riddle educates students at residential campuses in Prescott, Ariz., and Daytona Beach, Fla., through the Worldwide Campus at more than 130 campus centers in the United States, Europe, Canada, and the Middle East, and through online learning. For more information, visit www.embryriddle.edu.