A Finite-State Fixed-Corridor Model for UAS Traffic Management

TL;DR

This paper introduces a physics-inspired, finite-state model for urban UAS traffic management, decomposing the problem into spatial and temporal planning using continuum mechanics and MDPs to ensure safe navigation.

Contribution

It presents a novel finite-state, fixed-corridor model for UTM that integrates continuum mechanics and Markov Decision Processes for urban airspace planning.

Findings

Successfully applied to downtown Tucson UAS traffic coordination

Partitioned airspace into planned and unplanned zones for safety

Demonstrated effective navigation channel planning

Abstract

This paper proposes a physics-inspired solution for low altitude Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Traffic Management (UTM) in urban areas. We decompose UTM into spatial and temporal planning problems. For the spatial planning problem, we use the principles of Eulerian continuum mechanics to safely and optimally allocate finite airspace to a UAS. To this end, the finite airspace is partitioned into planned and unplanned subspaces with unplanned subspace(s) or zone(s) enclosing buildings and restricted no-fly regions. The planned subspace is divided into navigable channels that safely wrap unplanned zone(s). We model the airspace planning problem as a Markov Decision Process (MDP) with states defined based on spatial and temporal airspace features and actions authorizing transitions between safe navigable channels. We apply the proposed traffic management solution to plan safe coordination of small UAS in the airspace above downtown Tucson, Arizona.