UAS Detect and Avoid

All aircraft flying in the NAS must comply with the operating rules of 14 CFR, specifically, §§ 91.3, 91.111, 91.113, 91.123 and 91.181(b), which address see and avoid, collision avoidance, right-of-way rules, and remaining well clear.

A Detect and Avoid (DAA) system is required to assist the remote pilot with operating an aircraft safely in the NAS.

DAA equipment may also be used to comply with the duties in International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Annex 2 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation, specifically Chapter 2, Paragraph 2.3.1. These operating regulations assumed that a pilot would be onboard the aircraft and would be able to fully comply with these rules.

In May 2017 RTCA published DO-365, the Minimum Operational Performance Standards (MOPS) for UAS Detect and Avoid Systems. Four months later the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) published Technical Standard Order (TSO) C-211 for Detect and Avoid (DAA) Systems referencing DO-365 for the required minimum performance standards.

More info:

RTCA SC-228

DATC Year in Review 2016

First test of Sense and Avoid (SAA) architecture and Self Separation functionality (2013)

2014 ACAS-Xu and Self Separation Flight Test

ACAS-Xu and First Self Separation Flight Tests report

NASA FT3 Test Environment Report

FT3: NASA, Industry Complete Third Phase of UAS Flight Testing

FT4: Two Month UAS Flight Test Series Concludes

NASA FT4 report

In 2016 the Integrated Test and Evaluation Team received the 2016 Associate Administrator Award in the Technology and Innovation category

NASA No-Chase COA flight 2018 video