Cooperative and Coordinated Digital Flight
A capability of cooperative and coordinated flight operations founded on a platform of secure digital information exchange, distributed authority, and intelligent onboard automation for flight path management in four dimensions (lateral, vertical, & time) to promote ubiquitous, safe, seamless, and efficient airspace utilization for all operators and with flexible architectures that enable operators to achieve their unique and diverse mission objectives with minimal restriction.
Operate From Anywhere
A substantial expansion of the locations and operational conditions under which vehicles can access the National Airspace System, including expanded use of the nation’s existing uncontrolled aerodromes and flexible creation of new temporary and permanent aerodromes with minimal required permanent infrastructure, and support for low-visibility and high demand operations.
Intelligent and Adaptive Automation
Collective learning and dynamic information processing that augments operations and optimization of shared resources, with built-in resilience through intelligent and adaptive automation and applications, such as enhanced weather forecasting and predictive routing efficiency.
In-Time System-Wide Safety Assurance
A broad range of safety systems that proactively mitigate risks and demonstrate innovative solutions while ultimately ensuring safety to the community on the ground and in the airspace, employing services, functions, and capabilities that perform comprehensive monitoring and communication of the aviation system state, assessment of elevated risks, and mitigation actions to assure safety.
Micro-Services for Flight Operators
A diverse marketplace of appropriately authorized service providers distributed throughout the aviation ecosystem supporting flight operations with a wide range of micro-services to meet the varied needs of each operator in the local airspace.
Data and Decision Support Marketplace
A data-and-reasoning fabric providing an open virtual ecosystem of secured software infrastructure, tools, protocols, governance and policies to implement, manage and operate data sharing and reasoning services across the entire span of mobility for real-time decision support.
Digital Airspace
A capability of airspace and air traffic management founded on a platform of digital information and automation to promote safe, seamless, and flexible airspace utilization for all operators and considers airspace constraints dynamically by digital means to ensure system performance and safety.
We envision two community groups, day of use and contributing. Contributing stakeholders perform research, development, and implementation to ensure the day of use stakeholders are successful.
Day of Use Stakeholders
Contributing Stakeholders
Planning
An order for goods has been placed by a local resident that is not too distant from the merchant.
The merchant receives the order and begins to prepare the necessary goods for delivery by using a publicly available small uncrewed aircraft system with the capability to Operate from Essentially Anywhere, Anytime.
The merchant takes the goods to the nearby uncrewed aircraft system community deployment center, securely enters the package contents and destination, and the uncrewed aircraft system begins the pre-flight planning process.
Intelligent and Adaptive Automation systems leverage the Data and Decision Support Marketplace to gather information on other uncrewed and crewed aircraft flight plans that may impact the flight, as well as airspace constraints disseminated by Digital Airspace.
Operation
The uncrewed aircraft system flight plan is confirmed by a Micro-Services for Flight Operators provider and the aircraft takes off shortly after the merchant drops off the package for delivery.
During flight, the uncrewed aircraft system informs the merchant and customer of delivery status.
Cooperative and Coordinated Digital Flight ensures the uncrewed aircraft system remains well-clear of other uncrewed and crewed aircraft while en-route to drop off the goods.
The uncrewed aircraft system arrives at the drop off destination where it winches the goods vertically downward to a secure ground location which the customer can access after the area is safe and clear.
Success
The customer receives the goods within minutes of the expected time without having to leave the convenience of their residence. Other examples of such deliveries could include from rail cars to rural communities/farms, from trucks to homes and businesses, from distribution centers to job sites and mobile businesses.
The uncrewed aircraft system returns to its origin location to charge and prepare for another delivery.
Help us identify research questions to guide further exploration.
Help us identify barriers to describe obstacles we will need to address.