S-100 flies with detect and avoid system
Schiebel’s Camcopter S-100 UAS has taken part in a demonstration during which it was fitted with a newly developed airborne detect and avoid system, the company announced on 9 February.
The flights were conducted by the Netherlands Aerospace Centre (NLR), the Netherlands Coast Guard and the Royal Netherlands Air Force at the airport of Den Helder in December 2015 as part of the ATM Innovative RPAS Integration for Coast Guard Applications (AIRICA) project.
The Camcopter S-100 was fitted with the NLR-developed AirScout Detect and Avoid System. The Netherlands Coast Guard provided a Dornier Do-228 as ‘intruder’ and the Royal Netherlands Air Force contributed with an Alouette helicopter as ‘intruder’, while also providing air traffic control services.
Several scenarios were successfully executed where the UAS ‘unexpectedly’ encountered an intruder aircraft. The system then determined in real time the corrective action to ensure the necessary separation from the intruder aircraft.
The project is part of work being done to safely integrate UAS into all classes of airspace. The AIRICA project is funded through the European SESAR programme (part of the Single European Sky initiative) and the key focus – integration of a UAS into the airspace for Netherlands Coast Guard applications – was effectively demonstrated during the flights.
Edwin van der Pol, head of operations Kustwacht, said: ‘In the future we hope to use unmanned systems for our search and rescue operations. These trials are important to achieve regulations for bringing RPAS into non-segregated airspace.’
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