Development of critical enablers for Unmanned Traffic Management

Abstract

As the interest in drones continues to grow in both commercial and leisure markets, governments around the world are preparing to face the new challenges arising from unmanned operations. Safe and efficient handling of this novel drone traffic warrants an Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM) system capable of dealing with the envisioned high traffic densities. In this dissertation, we identify and address several topics critical for future UTM system development, specifically in the areas of airspace and traffic management. Our work on airspace management includes comparing different airspace designs, developing a risk-management concept inspired by performance-based navigation (PBN), and proposing algorithms for establishing a common altitude reference system. Our contributions to unmanned traffic management include comparing different conflict detection and resolution (CD&R) strategies, developing risk-aware routing algorithms, and proposing an approach for planning mass-scale operations with focus on medical use. We obtained these results primarily through quantitative methods, including mathematical modeling, design and analysis of algorithms, and numerical simulations. With this work, we aim to build a strong foundation for the development of future UTM and discuss directions for future research. Polishchuk and Tobias Andersson Granberg, who made my PhD adventure possible. I deeply enjoyed working with Valentin, who not only patiently taught me how to be a researcher but also completely changed the way I think about everything in life, influencing the very person I am -the experience that I value most in this journey. I am also extremely grateful to Tobias for being so supportive and being there whenever I needed help with anything, no matter how small or big, solving all my problems and answering all my questions -you saved my sanity.I would also like to thank all colleagues in our AEAR research group -it was so much fun working with you! My special gratitude goes to Tatiana Polishchuk, who always treated me with utmost warmth and kindness. You gave me so much help, support, and advice that I do not have enough words to express how thankful I am for everything. I am grateful to Christiane Schmidt -not only was it a pleasure to learn from you and to collaborate with you, but I enjoyed our conversations a lot. I am also especially thankful to Anastasia Lemetti -I deeply enjoyed all our work together (especially winning the EUROCONTROL Challenge ). I am also grateful to Lucie Smetanova, Henrik Hardell, Hardy Hasan, and Kristofer Krus -working with all of you was a blessing.My research would not have been possible without all the help from Billy Josefsson (LFV). A person for whom there are no closed doors and no unsolvable problems -as a true manager and leader, he always helped us, treating us all like a family. Taking the opportunity, I also thank all the other people from LFV who worked with me, especially Lothar Meyer and Erik Liljeroth, as well as our industry partners in Transportstyrelsen (especially Christ...