RESEARCH RESULTS AND PERSPECTIVES ON NON-COOPERATIVE SENSING FOR SAFE UAM OPERATIONS

In a world where UAVs are gaining an ever-increasing relevance in many aspects of the modern life, the safety of their operation is a key factor to be considered to achieve their full integration in the airspace. This is evermore relevant given the emerging ecosystems of Advanced and Urban Air Mobility which are pushing towards highly autonomous flight operations. The design of non-cooperative sensing strategies to detect and track small UAVs in low altitude scenarios is thus a topic of paramount relevance addressed by many entities at both industrial and academic level. This paper describes the recent results and the direction of the activities carried out in this frame at the University of Naples “Federico II”. In particular, the focus is set on architectures and algorithms for detection and tracking based on RADARs and optical sensors. Results achieved using a ground-based RADAR and an airborne camera are discussed, paving the way for novel sensing solutions which include the fusion of ground and air sensors. This latter aspect is among the near-term research perspectives whose general overview is introduced in the paper.