Autonomous Air Traffic Reporting and Operations for UAS

A hardware/software solution for autonomous reporting of flight operations of a UAS is proposed. Such a system would enable the UAS to report identity, position, and other information to local human and autonomous traffic and air traffic controllers in an autonomous manner, in legacy terminology. This will improve the overall safety of UAS operations, and lead to easier integration of UASs into the national airspace system. In Phase I, the hardware will be developed and flight tested on a manned platform. In Phase II, refinements to the design will be implemented, and the system will be readied for production.

Improved safety for UAS integration into the national airspace, improved human/machine integration.

Such a system can also be used for military air traffic scenarios involving manned and unmanned traffic, civilian autonomous traffic, etc.

This is a mature technology (TRL 7) — the realistic path in is usually NASA's Technology Transfer Program: licensing an existing NASA patent, or a Space Act Agreement to use NASA facilities/expertise directly. NASA also runs a startup licensing program with no upfront fee for companies formed to commercialize a specific NASA technology.

None of these are guaranteed paths for this specific project — TechPort itself doesn't have an "apply" button. Reaching out to the contact(s) above with a specific question is usually the fastest way to find out what's actually open.