Engineering Commons^™

Optimal Collision Avoidance Trajectories For Unmanned/Remotely Piloted Aircraft, Nathan E. Smith

Theses and Dissertations

The post-911 environment has punctuated the force-multiplying capabilities that Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) provides combatant commanders at all echelons on the battlefield. Not only have unmanned aircraft systems made near-revolutionary impacts on the battlefield, their utility and proliferation in law enforcement, homeland security, humanitarian operations, and commercial applications have likewise increased at a rapid rate. As such, under the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, the United States Congress tasked the FAA to provide for the safe integration of civil unmanned aircraft systems into the national airspace system (NAS) as soon as practicable, but not later …

The Critical Role Of Cubesat Spacecraft In A Multi-Tier Mission For Mars Exploration, Jeremy Straub

Jeremy Straub

A multi-tier architecture is under development (with similar craft heterogeneity to Fink's work on ‘tier scalable’ missions) which will facilitate autonomous local control of multiple heterogeneous craft. This mission architecture has been developed with a Mars mission in mind and has included CubeSats in a variety of critical mission roles.

Two concepts will be presented: the addition of CubeSats to a larger-scale multi-tier mission, where the CubeSats serve a supporting role and a mission driven by CubeSat orbital capabilities. In the first, CubeSats are utilized to augment the area of spatial coverage that can be obtained and the temporal coverage …

Faa Letter In Response To White House Letter Regarding Faa Changes To Air Traffic Control Specialist Hiring Process, Tim Brady, Gregory Mcguirk

Publications

On July 18, 2014, you submitted a letter to President Obama regarding the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) recent changes to the Air Traffic Control Specialist (ATCS) hiring process. You expressed concern with the FAA's decision to implement a single all sources hiring strategy and, as a result, you feel that it has disadvantaged graduates who successfully completed the Air Traffic Collegiate Training Initiative (AT-CTI) program, such as xxx. You also expressed concern with the implementation of the Biographical Assessment. Your letter was forwarded by the White House to our agency to address your concerns.

Fault Tree Analysis For Safety/Security Verification In Aviation Software, Andrew J. Kornecki, Mingye Liu

Andrew J. Kornecki

The Next Generation Air Traffic Management system (NextGen) is a blueprint of the future National Airspace System. Supporting NextGen is a nation-wide Aviation Simulation Network (ASN), which allows integration of a variety of real-time simulations to facilitate development and validation of the NextGen software by simulating a wide range of operational scenarios. The ASN system is an environment, including both simulated and human-in-the-loop real-life components (pilots and air traffic controllers).Real Time Distributed Simulation (RTDS) developed at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, a suite of applications providing low and medium fidelity en-route simulation capabilities, is one of the simulations contributing to the ASN. …

Development Of A Master Of Software Assurance Reference Curriculum, Andrew J. Kornecki, James Mcdonald, Julia H. Allen, Mark Ardis, Nancy Mead, Richard Linger, Thomas B. Hilburn

Andrew J. Kornecki

The Next Generation Air Traffic Management system (NextGen) is a blueprint of the future National Airspace System. Supporting NextGen is a nation-wide Aviation Simulation Network (ASN), which allows integration of a variety of real-time simulations to facilitate development and validation of the NextGen software by simulating a wide range of operational scenarios. The ASN system is an environment, including both simulated and human-in-the-loop real-life components (pilots and air traffic controllers).Real Time Distributed Simulation (RTDS) developed at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, a suite of applications providing low and medium fidelity en-route simulation capabilities, is one of the simulations contributing to the ASN. …

Ecological Interface Design: Control Space Robustness In Future Trajectory-Based Air Traffic Control Decision Support, Rolf Klomp, Clark Borst, Max Mulder, Gesa Praetorius

Gesa Praetorius

The current evolution of the Air Traffic Management system towards trajectory-based operations is foreseen to bring large changes to the work domain of the Air Traffic Controller. Although this new form of Air Traffic Control leans heavily on the introduction of advanced automation, the general consensus is that the human must remain actively involved in the decision-making loop, and retain the ultimate responsibility for the safety of operations. These responsibilities, together with the complexities of the new task, require the development of innovative decision support tools. In previous research, and following the principles of Ecological Interface Design, a constraint-based decision …

Optimal Control Of Fully Routed Air Traffic In The Presence Of Uncertainty And Kinodynamic Constraints, Christopher D. Arendt

Theses and Dissertations

A method is presented to extend current graph-based Air Traffic Management optimization frameworks. In general, Air Traffic Management is the process of guiding a finite set of aircraft, each along its pre-determined path within some local airspace, subject to various physical, policy, procedural and operational restrictions. This research addresses several limitations of current graph-based Air Traffic Management optimization methods by incorporating techniques to account for stochastic effects, physical inertia and variable arrival sequencing. In addition, this research provides insight into the performance of multiple methods for approximating non-differentiable air traffic constraints, and incorporates these methods into a generalized weighted-sum representation …

Cti White Paper, Tim Brady, Gregory Mcguirk

Publications

The FAA Air Traffic Collegiate Training Initiative (AT-CTI) Program has 36 partner institutions across the United States which offer a variety of accredited academic degrees and actively promote a multicultural and diverse collegiate environment.

White Paper On Tuition Based Ab Initio Training Programs For Air Traffic Controllers, Tim Brady, Gregory Mcguirk

Publications

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University is proposing an evaluation to transform the legacy method for hiring and training air traffic controllers. This evaluation will examine a transition to a prospective employee-funded, tuition-based model, while reinvesting savings to create a state-of-the-art air traffic training center at the FAA Academy in Oklahoma City.

The Impact Of Training And Technology On The Future Of Aviation, Jennifer Oberg

Graduate Student Works

The comprehensive exam proposal is intended to address the core competency requirements for the degree of Master of Aeronautical Science. In addition, the proposal will address the competency requirements for the Aviation Education Specialization. In partial fulfillment of these requirements, the proposal will examine human factors as they pertain specifically to the arena of unmanned flight, the impact computer based training and web based training advances have and will continue to have on the aviation community, the technological, social, environmental, and political aspects of the air cargo industry as they pertain to the industry’s survival, the ability of Next Generation …

Keeping The Skies Safe, Massood Towhidnejad, Andrew J. Kornecki

Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science - Daytona Beach

Professors Massood Towhidnejad and Andrew Kornecki shine a light on how their lab is helping government and the aviation industry to enhance the safety and security of software-intensive systems.

A Decision Making Framework With Modflow-Fmp2 Via Optimization: Determining Trade-Offs In Crop Selection, K R. Fowler, E W. Jenkins, C Ostrove, J C. Chispell, M W. Farthing, M Parno

US Army Corps of Engineers

Farmers in regions experiencing water stress or drought conditions can struggle to balance their crop portfolios. Periods of low precipitation often lead to increased, unsustainable reliance on groundwatersupplied irrigation. As a result, regional water management agencies place limits on the amount of water which can be obtained from groundwater, requiring farmers to reduce acreage for more water-intensive crops or remove them from the portfolio entirely. Real-time decisions must be made by the farmer to ensure viability of their farming operation and reduce the impacts associated with limited water resources. Evolutionary algorithms, coupled with accurate, flexible, realistic simulation tools, are ideal …