Relative Position Indicator Concept for Managing Mixed RNAV and Vectored Arrival Traffic

Mosaic ATM proposes to study a Relative Position Indicator (RPI) concept for managing mixed RNAV and traditionally vectored arrival traffic, to enable increased adoption of RNAV procedures in airspace or traffic environments that include mixed RNAV and non-RNAV aircraft. The most common reason controllers give for why RNAV procedures are not used at their airports is the difficulty handling mixed RNAV and non-RNAV flights. Our proposed concept directly addresses this complaint, providing a controller decision aid to help controllers merge RNAV and non-RNAV aircraft. We will also study other applications of the RPI concept, such as planning departure slots into an arrival stream. The project directly compliments NASA's research and contributes to the NASA Airspace Systems Program's mission. The results of this project could be applied within NASA's TAPSS project to address mixed RNAV/vectored aircraft environments. Since RPI technology has been deployed by the FAA for other applications, and the project addresses a current need, the project also endeavors to transfer the resulting technology to the FAA for operational use.

Trajectory based operations are a cornerstone of NextGen and RNAV procedures have a proven benefit in the NAS. However, adoption of RNAV arrival procedures has been slow due to the challenge controllers face merging RNAV and non-RNAV flights. This project will deliver a controller aide that addresses this issue and could enable broad adoption of RNAV arrival procedures and the accompanying benefits. We envision technology transfer to the FAA occurring at the end of Phase 2, for implementation within the TRACON automation systems. A similar concept to address a different issue currently operates at several airports, offering a clear path for implementation of this technology.

Potential applications for the research results beyond Phase 2 include use by NASA within TAPSS. This technology would complement NASA's TAPSS by supporting controller acceptance showing ghost targets will increase the controller's confidence that the TAPSS speed advisories achieve the required merging without vectoring. In addition, TAPSS assumes all arrivals will be flying RNAV RNP approach procedures, or that controllers can manually handle non-RNAV aircraft using current vectoring techniques. Controllers at numerous ATC facilities not using RNAV arrival procedures have expressed that the main reason for not using RNAV procedures is the difficulty controllers have merging RNAV and non-RNAV arrivals. Our concept will help TAPSS accommodate non-RNAV flights and, thereby, support controller acceptance.

This is early/mid-stage (TRL 6) — the most realistic path in is NASA SBIR/STTR, which funds small businesses and research institutions to develop technology aligned with NASA's needs (equity-free, phased funding). Check whether a current SBIR/STTR solicitation topic overlaps with this project's technology area, or contact the project directly (above) to ask.

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.