Development of numerical sensor models for cooperative and non-cooperative collision avoidance

One of the most hazardous consequences of the growth of air traffic volume foreseen in the next decade is undoubtedly the threat of Mid Air Collision in proximity of major airports. Besides this consideration, another great-involved factor has to be addressed to the integration of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in the National Airspace. Thus, in order to reduce the probability of collision risk, both manned and unmanned aircraft should be equipped with Detect, Sense and Avoid (DS&A) systems able to ensure enhanced situational awareness capabilities. Modern aircraft can use several types of collision avoidance systems to prevent unintentional contact with other aircraft, obstacles, or the ground. These systems include cooperative and non-cooperative sensors in standalone or multi-architectural configuration, such as: radars, electro-optical, Automatic Dependence Surveillance Broadcast (ADS-B) and Traffic Alert Collision Avoidance (TCAS) systems. In this framework, the European MIDCAS project aims at demonstrating solutions for Mid Air Collision Avoidance functions. Within this framework, numerical models of cooperative and non-cooperative systems have been realized by University of Naples “Federico II” in collaboration with the Italian Aerospace Research Center (CIRA). This paper focuses on the analysis and description of these models in SimulinkTM environment. In the last part of the paper, some simulation results are presented and analyzed.