Reconfigurable Mission Plans for RPAS

Abstract

[EN] This paper deals with the problem of formally defining and specifying Mission Plans for Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS). Firstly, the profile of RPAS missions is highly variable and different from those of commercial flights. Route variability from the planned route is frequent due to operating conditions and, especially, contingencies. For this reason, RPAS Mission Plans should be reconfigurable: they should allow the nominal plan to be modified during flight time. Secondly, aviation authorities may require the ability to operate in an autonomous mode in response to Command and Control (C2) link losses. As a result, RPAS Mission Plans should specify all possible routings and behaviors in greater detail. The Reconfigurable Mission Plan concept introduced in this paper expands on current flight plans by providing a level of description that improves predictability and allows for reconfiguration, contingency handling, and higher levels of automation and pilot assistance. The paper presents a detailed discussion of RPAS contingency handling and develops a formal specification of the Reconfigurable Mission Plan concept. The paper also develops algorithms for dynamically configuring Mission Plan routes that might mitigate the effect of contingencies. Finally, the whole proposal is validated with a prototype implementation and a proof of concept.