Using Reinforcement Learning in a Layered Airspace to Improve Layer Change Decision

Current predictions for future operations with drones estimate traffic densities orders of magnitude higher than any observed in manned aviation. Such densities call for further research and innovation, in particular, into conflict detection and resolution without the need for human intervention. The layered airspace concept, where aircraft...

Improving Safety of Vertical Manoeuvres in a Layered Airspace with Deep Reinforcement Learning

Current estimates show that the presence of unmanned aviation is likely to grow exponentially over the course of the next decades. Even with the more conservative estimates, these expected high traffic densities require a re-evaluation of the airspace structure to ensure safe and efficient operations. One structure that scored high on both the...

Metropolis II: Investigating the Future Shape of Air Traffic Control in Highly Dense Urban Airspace

Metropolis II aims to provide insights in what is needed to enable high-density urban air operations. It does this by investigating the foundation for U-space U3/U4 services. The final goal is to provide a unified approach for strategic deconfliction, tactical deconfliction, and dynamic capacity management. Highly-dense operations in...

Velocity Obstacle Based Conflict Avoidance in Urban Environment with Variable Speed Limit

Current investigations into urban aerial mobility, as well as the continuing growth of global air transportation, have renewed interest in conflict detection and resolution (CD&R) methods. The use of drones for applications such as package delivery, would result in traffic densities that are orders of magnitude higher than those currently...

Limitations of Conflict Prevention and Resolution in Constrained Very Low-Level Urban Airspace

Road traffic delay and urban overcrowding are increasing rapidly all over the world. As a result, several companies have proposed the use of small unmanned aerial vehicles (sUAVs) as an alternative to road-based transportation. These small autonomous drones are expected to operate within a thin airspace band (Very Low Level) in high traffic...

Safety Optimization of a Layered Airspace Structure with Supervised Learning

The capacity of the current system of air traffic is rapidly reaching a limit with the increasing demand for air transportation. Expected future traffic densities not only make automated conflict detection and resolution a necessity, but also force a re-evaluation of coordination elements to decrease conflict rate and severity. It has been...