SITIS Topic Details |
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| Proposals Accepted: | |
| Program: | SBIR |
| Topic Number: | AF103-002 (AirForce) |
| Title: | Improved Station Keeping Equipment | Research & Technical Areas: | Air Platform, Sensors |
| Objective: | Develop a novel system for accomplishing formation station keeping procedures for large transport aircraft.
| Description: | Three air force systems (C-130H, C-130J and C-17) use station keeping equipment (SKE) for formation flying. Missions that currently require SKE include precision airdrop, rendezvous, air refueling, and formation flight. Each aircraft uses a unique system and the different systems are not interoperable. The existing systems have imitations that include poor reliability and ghosting. Ghosting means that the SKE system gives the pilot false readings, indicating an a/c that does not exist. SKE is also highly vulnerable to passive detection. Studies have shown that simple detectors can find a formation of aircraft using SKE at distances greater that 45 NM. A need exists for an improved system.
Global Positioning System (GPS) based systems have shown the ability to measure relative distances between aircraft at long distances. However, this type of system can be sensitive to antenna placement on the aircraft and requires a data link between aircraft. A system that can operate in a GPS denied environment is desired.
Passive sensors (electro-optical camera, infrared, acoustic, etc) are very difficult to detect, need no data link and are not reliant on GPS. Unfortunately, these sensors have demonstrated good accuracy only at relatively short ranges. The goal of this solicitation is to develop a passive system than can demonstrate long range capability (>8000 ft) with acceptable accuracy (500 ft longitudinal, 200 ft lateral relative to host aircraft).
The system should provide information on distance, bearing, heading, airspeed, and relative altitude. Accuracy requirements, distance capability and the number of aircraft that can be included can be traded for other capabilities. The minimum requirement for the number of aircraft would be three, although many more would be desirable. Collision avoidance capability with other similarly equipped aircraft would also be desirable. The ability to operate in degraded environments (weather, etc) is critical.
The system should be fast enough to provide steering commands to correct and maintain formation position settings. A positive feature would be the ability to couple the system with existing autopilots. The focus of this study is not the cooperative control aspect of the program, it is the sensor itself. It can be assumed that all aircraft follow the leader and that the leader is always correctly positioned.
| PHASE I: Establish performance goals for the new concept. Define the proposed concept and compare it to existing solutions. Perform modeling and simulation to establish system performance. Analyze the feasibility of providing flight steering commands.
| PHASE II: Develop and demonstrate a prototype system. Bench level tests with sensors widely spaced should be conducted. A flight demonstration would be desirable if possible, small UAVs could be used to minimize cost. Assess integration issues for a large transport aircraft and develop cost estimates for a completed system.
| PHASE III | DUAL USE COMMERCIALIZATION: Military Application: Current military transports (C-130H, C-130J, C-17) have missions that involve formation flight. It would be desirable to have similar or interoperable systems on each aircraft.
Commercial Application: Formation flying of civilian airliners (Fedex transports for example) has been proposed for drag reduction. The system could be transitioned to this application.
| References: | 1. http://gouge.mabrooks.com/SKE_Guide.doc 2. http://www.docstoc.com/docs/25127471/C-130-Aircraft-Systems-Overview-_-EP-Guide 3. http:// handle.dtic.mil/100.2/ADA330287, “Rethinking Strategic Brigade Airdrop” |
| Keywords: | avionics, formation flying, SKE, station keeping, station keeping equipment |
Questions and Answers: |
No questions posed on this topic at this time |
As of midnight September 1, questions for solicitations SBIR 10.3 and STTR 10.B will no longer be accepted.
To read the solicitation for full proposal preparation and submission details click here. |