Certification of a Civil UAS: A Virtual Engineering Approach

Cameron, Neil; Webster, Matt; Jump, Michael; Fisher, Michael

doi:10.2514/6.2011-6664

Cited by 11 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…Proven-in-use here refers to the situation where there is convincing evidence, based on the previous operation of the system, that it meets the relevant safety requirements of a standard. For example, Cameron et al [PS187] provide an approach for certification of UAS by demonstrating compliance to relevant proven-in-use UAS airworthiness codes. In another example, Meacham et al…”

Section: First-time Certification or Recertification Of "Proven-in-usmentioning

confidence: 99%

An extended systematic literature review on provision of evidence for safety certification

Nair

Vara

Sabetzadeh³

et al. 2014

Information and Software Technology

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Abstract:Context: Critical systems in domains such as aviation, railway, and automotive are often subject to a formal process of safety certification. The goal of this process is to ensure that these systems will operate safely without posing undue risks to the user, the public, or the environment. Safety is typically ensured via complying with safety standards. Demonstrating compliance to these standards involves providing evidence to show that the safety criteria of the standards are met. Objective:In order to cope with the complexity of large critical systems and subsequently the plethora of evidence information required for achieving compliance, safety professionals need in-depth knowledge to assist them in classifying different types of evidence, and in structuring and assessing the evidence. This paper is a step towards developing such a body of knowledge that is derived from a largescale empirically rigorous literature review. Method:We use a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) as the basis for our work. The SLR builds on 218 peer-reviewed studies, selected through a multi-stage process, from 4,963 studies published between 1990 and 2012. Results:We develop a taxonomy that classifies the information and artefacts considered as evidence for safety. We review the existing techniques for safety evidence structuring and assessment, and further study the relevant challenges that have been the target of investigation in the academic literature. We analyse commonalities in the results among different application domains and discuss implications of the results for both research and practice. Conclusion:The paper is, to our knowledge, the largest existing study on the topic of safety evidence. The results are particularly relevant to practitioners seeking a better grasp on evidence requirements as well as to researchers in the area of system safety. As a major finding of the review, the results strongly suggest the need for more practitioner-oriented and industry-driven empirical studies in the area of safety certification.

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Section: First-time Certification or Recertification Of "Proven-in-usmentioning

confidence: 99%

An extended systematic literature review on provision of evidence for safety certification

Nair

Vara

Sabetzadeh³

et al. 2014

Information and Software Technology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This approach follows on from previous work by Webster et al 7 on the use of agent model checking to formally verify selected Rules of the Air for autonomous control systems for unmanned aircraft, and extends it to cover requirements based on physical quantities. Furthermore, it is shown how the flight simulation facilities developed by Cameron et al 9 can be used to verify the environment models required to model check those requirements. We have shown how it is possible to model check requirements based on physical quantities (such as the Rules of the Air) for agent-based autonomous unmanned aircraft.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Integration of the agent-based control system within a virtual prototype unmanned aircraft within a flight simulator (VESL) in order to execute a high fidelity detect-and-avoid scenario simulation. (This step was described by Cameron et al 9 ) 3. Discovery of the flight profile of the autonomous unmanned aircraft detect-and-avoid manoeuvre based on analysis of data from the high fidelity flight dynamics simulation software within the flight simulator, and discovery of the minimum separation distance in this scenario.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Arrows represent information flow between software systems, and labels on the arrows show the software/protocol used. More information on the VESL is given by Cameron et al 9 As the aim was to create a higher fidelity environment model for the purposes of model-checking the Executive agent, the detect-and-avoid manoeuvre from the flight simulation was recorded and analysed. Since the manoeuvre consists of two turns, one to the right and one to the left, the headings of the unmanned aircraft in the simulation were noted at three points: (i) prior to the manoeuvre, (ii) after the first turn; and (iii) after the second turn.…”

Section: A Developing a Higher Fidelity Environment Model For Model mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The manoeuvre is illustrated in Figure 4. The flight simulation environment used is the VEC's Virtual Engineering Simulation Laboratory (VESL) described by Cameron et al 9 VESL uses Advanced Rotorcraft Technology's FLIGHTLAB ® software 24 for high fidelity flight dynamics simulation. FLIGHTLAB is connected via custom software and hardware interfaces to the Executive agent described in Section A.…”

Section: A Developing a Higher Fidelity Environment Model For Model mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Towards Certification of Autonomous Unmanned Aircraft Using Formal Model Checking and Simulation

Webster

Cameron

Jump

et al. 2012

Infotech@Aerospace 2012

Self Cite

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Unmanned aircraft are expected to increase in use in civil applications over the coming years, particularly for the so-called dull, dirty and dangerous missions. Unmanned aircraft will undoubtedly require some form of autonomy in order to ensure safe operations: communications failure could render a completely human-piloted unmanned aircraft dangerous to other airspace users. In order to be used for civil applications, unmanned aircraft must gain government regulatory approval in a process known as certification. This paper presents an approach to gathering evidence for certification of autonomous unmanned aircraft based on formal methods (in particular formal model checking) and flight simulation. In particular, rational agent-based autonomous systems are examined. Rational agents for unmanned aircraft can be model checked using implicit models of the aircraft's physical environment specified in terms of the different sensor inputs the autonomous system may receive. However this presents difficulties when trying to model check the agents relative to physical quantities such as those found in regulatory documents like the CAA Air Navigation Order. It is shown how this can be remedied using an explicit physical model of the environment within the model checker, and how this explicit physical model can itself be verified through comparison with flight simulations. To conclude, an overview of related and future work is given.

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Verifiable Autonomy and Responsible Robotics

Dennis

Fisher

2020

Software Engineering for Robotics

Self Cite

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The move towards greater autonomy presents challenges for software engineering. As we may be delegating greater responsibility to software systems and as these autonomous systems can make their own decisions and take their own actions, a step change in the way the systems are developed and verified is needed. This step involves moving from just considering what the system does, but also why it chooses to do it (since decision-making may be delegated). In this chapter, we provide an overview of our programme of work in this area: utilising hybrid agent architectures, exposing and verifying the reasons for decisions, and applying this to assessing a range of properties of autonomous systems.

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Certification of a Civil UAS: A Virtual Engineering Approach

Cited by 11 publications

References 6 publications

An extended systematic literature review on provision of evidence for safety certification

An extended systematic literature review on provision of evidence for safety certification

Towards Certification of Autonomous Unmanned Aircraft Using Formal Model Checking and Simulation

Verifiable Autonomy and Responsible Robotics

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