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Analysis of the impact of traffic density on training of reinforcement learning based conflict resolution methods for drones

Groot, D.J. (author), Ellerbroek, Joost (author), Hoekstra, J.M. (author)

Conventional Air Traffic Control is still predominantly being done by human Air Traffic Controllers, however, as the traffic density increases, the workload of the controllers increases as well. Especially for the area of unmanned aviation, driven by the rise in drones, having human controllers might become unfeasible. One of the methods that...

journal article 2024

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Unifying Tactical Conflict Prevention, Detection, and Resolution Methods in Non-Orthogonal Constrained Urban Airspace

Badea, C. (author), Morfin Veytia, A. (author), Patrinopoulou, Niki (author), Daramouskas, Ioannis (author), Ellerbroek, Joost (author), Lappas, Vaios (author), Kostopoulos, Vassilios (author), Hoekstra, J.M. (author)

The use of small aircraft for a wide range of missions in urban airspace is expected to increase in the future. In Europe, efforts have been invested into developing a unified system, called U-space, to manage aircraft in dense very-low-level urban airspace. The Metropolis II project aimed to research what degree of centralisation an air traffic...

journal article 2023

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Dynamic Capacity Management for Air Traffic Operations in High Density Constrained Urban Airspace

Patrinopoulou, Niki (author), Daramouskas, Ioannis (author), Badea, Calin Andrei (author), Morfin Veytia, A. (author), Lappas, Vaios (author), Ellerbroek, Joost (author), Hoekstra, J.M. (author), Kostopoulos, Vassilios (author)

Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Traffic Management (UTM) is an active research subject as its proposed applications are increasing. UTM aims to enable a variety of UAS operations, including package delivery, infrastructure inspection, and emergency missions. That creates the need for extensive research on how to incorporate such traffic, as...

journal article 2023

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U-Space Utilisation of Airspace under Various Layer Function Assignments and Allocations

Morfin Veytia, A. (author), Badea, C. (author), Patrinopoulou, Niki (author), Daramouskas, Ioannis (author), Ellerbroek, Joost (author), Lappas, Vaios (author), Kostopoulos, Vassilios (author), Hoekstra, J.M. (author)

The interest in urban air mobility as a potential solution for urban congestion is steadily growing. Air operations in urban areas can present added complexity as compared with traditional air traffic management. As a result, it is necessary to test and develop novel airspace designs and rules. As airspace in urban areas is a scarce resource,...

journal article 2023

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Investigation of Merge Assist Policies to Improve Safety of Drone Traffic in a Constrained Urban Airspace

Doole, M.M. (author), Ellerbroek, Joost (author), Hoekstra, J.M. (author)

Package delivery via autonomous drones is often presumed to hold commercial and societal value when applied to urban environments. However, to realise the benefits, the challenge of safely managing high traffic densities of drones in heavily constrained urban spaces needs to be addressed. This paper applies the principles of traffic segmentation...

journal article 2022

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Using Reinforcement Learning to Improve Airspace Structuring in an Urban Environment

Ribeiro, M.J. (author), Ellerbroek, Joost (author), Hoekstra, J.M. (author)

Current predictions on future drone operations estimate that traffic density orders of magnitude will be higher than any observed in manned aviation. Such densities redirect the focus towards elements that can decrease conflict rate and severity, with special emphasis on airspace structures, an element that has been overlooked within...

journal article 2022

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

Ribeiro, M.J. (author), Ellerbroek, Joost (author), Hoekstra, J.M. (author)

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...

journal article 2022

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Improving Algorithm Conflict Resolution Manoeuvres with Reinforcement Learning

Ribeiro, M.J. (author), Ellerbroek, Joost (author), Hoekstra, J.M. (author)

Future high traffic densities with drone operations are expected to exceed the number of aircraft that current air traffic control procedures can control simultaneously. Despite extensive research on geometric CR methods, at higher densities, their performance is hindered by the unpredictable emergent behaviour from surrounding aircraft. In...

journal article 2022

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Distributed Conflict Resolution at High Traffic Densities with Reinforcement Learning

Ribeiro, M.J. (author), Ellerbroek, Joost (author), Hoekstra, J.M. (author)

Future operations involving drones are expected to result in traffic densities that are orders of magnitude higher than any observed in manned aviation. Current geometric conflict resolution (CR) methods have proven to be very efficient at relatively moderate densities. However, at higher densities, performance is hindered by the...

journal article 2022

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

Ribeiro, M.J. (author), Ellerbroek, Joost (author), Hoekstra, J.M. (author)

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...

journal article 2021

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Aerial Robotics: State-based Conflict Detection and Resolution (Detect and Avoid) in High Traffic Densities and Complexities

Hoekstra, J.M. (author), Ellerbroek, Joost (author)

Purpose of Review A lot of research into decentralised, state-based conflict detection and resolution, or detect and avoid algorithms has been executed. This paper explains the essential properties of state-based conflict detection and reviews the work in the context of applications for not only manned but also unmanned aerial vehicles, where...

journal article 2021

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Constrained Urban Airspace Design for Large-Scale Drone-Based Delivery Traffic

Doole, M.M. (author), Ellerbroek, Joost (author), Knoop, V.L. (author), Hoekstra, J.M. (author)

Large-scale adoption of drone-based delivery in urban areas promise societal benefits with respect to emissions and on-ground traffic congestion, as well as potential cost savings for drone-based logistic companies. However, for this to materialise, the ability of accommodating high volumes of drone traffic in an urban airspace is one of the...

journal article 2021

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Analysis of Risk-Based Operational Bird Strike Prevention

Metz, I.C. (author), Ellerbroek, Joost (author), Mühlhausen, Thorsten (author), Kügler, Dirk (author), Hoekstra, J.M. (author)

Bird strike prevention in civil aviation has traditionally focused on the airport perimeter. Since the risk of especially damaging bird strikes outside the airport boundaries is rising, this paper investigates the safety potential of operational bird strike prevention involving pilots and controllers. In such a concept, controllers would be...

journal article 2021

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The Efficacy of Operational Bird Strike Prevention

Metz, I.C. (author), Ellerbroek, Joost (author), Mühlhausen, Thorsten (author), Kügler, Dirk (author), Kern, Stefan (author), Hoekstra, J.M. (author)

Involving air traffic controllers and pilots into the bird strike prevention process is considered an essential step to increase aviation and avian safety. Prior to implementing operational measures such as real-time warning systems, it is vital to evaluate their feasibility. This paper studies the efficacy of a bird strike advisory system for...

journal article 2021

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Estimation of traffic density from drone-based delivery in very low level urban airspace

Doole, M.M. (author), Ellerbroek, Joost (author), Hoekstra, J.M. (author)

Driven by rising consumer demand, interest is growing in the application of autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) for the last-mile delivery of small express packages and fast-food meals in cities. To be realised, this would require the Very Low Level (VLL) urban airspace to be able to cope with high traffic densities of commercial...

journal article 2020

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Estimating aircraft drag polar using open flight surveillance data and a stochastic total energy model

Sun, Junzi (author), Hoekstra, J.M. (author), Ellerbroek, Joost (author)

In air traffic management research, aircraft performance models are often used to generate and analyze aircraft trajectories. Although a crucial part of the aircraft performance model, the aerodynamic property of aircraft is rarely available for public research purposes, as it is protected by aircraft manufacturers for commercial reasons. In...

journal article 2020

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OpenAP: An open-source aircraft performance model for air transportation studies and simulations

Sun, Junzi (author), Hoekstra, J.M. (author), Ellerbroek, Joost (author)

Air traffic simulations serve as common practice to evaluate different concepts and methods for air transportation studies. The aircraft performance model is a key element that supports these simulation-based studies. It is also an important component for simulation-independent studies, such as air traffic optimization and prediction studies....

journal article 2020

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Particle filter for aircraft mass estimation and uncertainty modeling

Sun, Junzi (author), Blom, H.A.P. (author), Ellerbroek, Joost (author), Hoekstra, J.M. (author)

This article investigates the estimation of aircraft mass and thrust settings of departing aircraft using a recursive Bayesian method called particle filtering. The method is based on a nonlinear state-space system derived from aircraft point-mass performance models. Using only aircraft surveillance data, flight states such as position,...

journal article 2019

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WRAP: An open-source kinematic aircraft performance model

Sun, Junzi (author), Ellerbroek, Joost (author), Hoekstra, J.M. (author)

Open access to flight data from Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) has provided researchers with more insights for air traffic management than aircraft tracking alone. With large quantities of trajectory data collected from a wide range of different aircraft types, it is possible to extract accurate aircraft performance...

journal article 2019

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pyModeS: Decoding Mode-S Surveillance Data for Open Air Transportation Research

Sun, Junzi (author), Vû, Huy (author), Ellerbroek, Joost (author), Hoekstra, J.M. (author)

The availability of low-cost automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) receivers has given researchers the ability to make use of large amounts of aircraft state data. This data is being used to support air transportation research in performance study, trajectory prediction, procedure analysis, and airspace design. However, aircraft...

journal article 2019