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NASA's UAS Integration into the NAS: A Report on the Human Systems Integration Phase 1 Simulation ActivitiesIn 2011 the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) began a five-year Project to address the technical barriers related to routine access of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) in the National Airspace System (NAS). Planned in two phases, the goal of the first phase was to lay the foundations for the Project by identifying those barriers and key issues to be addressed to achieve integration. Phase 1 activities were completed two years into the five-year Project. The purpose of this paper is to review activities within the Human Systems Integration (HSI) subproject in Phase 1 toward its two objectives: 1) develop GCS guidelines for routine UAS access to the NAS, and 2) develop a prototype display suite within an existing Ground Control Station (GCS). The first objective directly addresses a critical barrier for UAS integration into the NAS - a lack of GCS design standards or requirements. First, the paper describes the initial development of a prototype GCS display suite and supporting simulation software capabilities. Then, three simulation experiments utilizing this simulation architecture are summarized. The first experiment sought to determine a baseline performance of UAS pilots operating in civil airspace under current instrument flight rules for manned aircraft. The second experiment examined the effect of currently employed UAS contingency procedures on Air Traffic Control (ATC) participants. The third experiment compared three GCS command and control interfaces on UAS pilot response times in compliance with ATC clearances. The authors discuss how the results of these and future simulation and flight-testing activities contribute to the development of GCS guidelines to support the safe integration of UAS into the NAS. Finally, the planned activities for Phase 2, including an integrated human-in-the-loop simulation and two flight tests are briefly described.


Document ID
20150000114
Acquisition Source
Ames Research Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Fern, Lisa
(San Jose State Univ. San Jose, CA, United States)
Rorie, R. Conrad
(San Jose State Univ. San Jose, CA, United States)
Shively, R. Jay
(NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Date Acquired
January 5, 2015
Publication Date
October 27, 2014
Subject Category
Air Transportation And Safety
Report/Patent Number
ARC-E-DAA-TN17128
Meeting Information
Meeting: Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting 2014
Location: Chicago, IL
Country: United States
Start Date: October 27, 2014
End Date: October 31, 2014
Sponsors: Human Factors and Ergonomics Society
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNX12AB08A
WBS: WBS 425425.04.02.01.01
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.
Keywords
National Airspace System
unmanned aerial systems
human-systems integration
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