Flight test of a radar-based tracking system for UAS sense and avoid

Presented here is an analysis of an extensive flight campaign aimed at characterizing peculiarities, advantages, and limitations of an obstacle detection and tracking system based on a pulse radar. The hardware and software prototypical sensing system was installed onboard an optionally piloted flying laboratory from the very light aircraft (VLA) category. Test flights with a single intruder aircraft of the same class were carried out to demonstrate autonomous noncooperative unmanned aerial system (UAS) collision avoidance capability and to evaluate the level of achievable situational awareness. First, the adopted architecture and the developed tracking algorithm are presented. Subsequently, flight data gathered in various relative flight geometries, covering chasing flights and quasi-frontal encounters, are analyzed in terms of radar performance, including detection range and range and angle measurement accuracies. The analysis describes the impact of ground echoes and navigation uncertainties, system tracking reliability, and achievable accuracy in estimation of relative position and velocity. On the basis of Global Positioning System (GPS) data gathered simultaneously with obstacle detection flight experiments, a detailed error analysis is conducted. Special emphasis is given to the validation of proposed methodology to separate between intruder and ground echoes, which is a critical aspect for light aircraft due to their limited radar cross sections (RCS) and flight altitudes. In conclusion the radar demonstrates its potential to attain adequate situational awareness, however the limits of single sensor tracking are also pointed out. Above all the negative impact of poor angular accuracy on missed detection and false alarm rates is pointed out.