NASA, Partners Push Forward with Remotely Piloted Airspace Integration
NASA and its partners have recently tested a tool for remote controlled operations that could allow operators to transport people and goods more efficiently in urban areas.
The objective of the team is to ensure that when these aircraft piloted remotely – including vertical takeoff and electrical landing vehicles (EVTOLS) – take the sky, air traffic controllers will not be overloaded by the increase in flight operations and security is maintained in the national airspace.
On August 21, the NASA air traffic management exploration project (ATM-X) helped Wisk Aero when they stole a Bell 206 helicopter in Hollister, California. The purpose of the flight test was to assess and refine a ground radar developed by Collins Aerospace. The radar, which provides aircraft location data, could be used during future remote operations to detect and avoid other nearby planes. NASA, WISK and Collins researchers also used theft to test data exchange capacities through different geographic locations between groups, a critical capacity for future operators controlled remotely in a shared aerial space. This work is based on a flight test in November 2024 NASA with reliable robotics and Aerospace Collins.
Initial analysis of the August tests of the radar on the ground of Collins actively and with precision the airspace during the flight test of the aircraft. The Radar Collins system has also successfully transmitted this data to the Laboratory of the NASA Visualization Research Center at the NASA Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley in California. NASA, WISK and Collins will analyze the flight data later to better understand the performance and data exchange capacities for radar for future flight tests controlled remotely. These tests are part of the ATM-X-controlled test campaign, designed to identify the infrastructure and technologies necessary for the Federal Aviation Administration to integrate drones and air taxis in air space, having the movement of people and goods withdrawn, and in the sky.
EVTOL aircraft controlled at a distance could fill the gap of urban communities by offering a more affordable and accessible transport and delivery method in congestioned and highly populated areas.
NASA and WISK will continue to collaborate on Emerging EVTOL technologies to securely integrate advanced planes into the national airspace. Together, the teams will collect data on the performance and characteristics of the EVTOL during a flight test of a helicopter, which will act as a “substitution” simulating an EVTOL flight. This work will mark another critical step towards better connection communities around the world.
