FAA, NASA to Partner With 3 Companies for UAS Detect-and-Avoid Tech Demo

The Federal Aviation Administration and NASA will collaborate with three companies to demonstrate a technology intended to prevent unmanned drones from colliding with other planes in airspace, Aviation International News reported Friday.

Bill Carey writes that the FAA and NASA plan to conduct flight tests of a commercial drone equipped with a detect-and-avoid system at Edwards Air Force Base in California later this year.

The agencies want to demonstrate a General Atomics Predator UAS that will feature a BAE Systems-made friend or foe identification radar and a Honeywell-built traffic collision avoidance system, according to AIN.

The DAS platform will aim to avoid collisions by sending track data to the aircraft’s flight computer as well as to the ground control station.

AIN reports that FAA also partnered with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Lincoln Laboratory to research and develop an airborne collision prevention algorithm for drones.

The Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics has formed a special committee to establish DAA performance standards with the goal of issuing guidance by July 2016.