Reducing safe UAV separation distances with U2U communication and new Remote ID formats

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new safety volume for UAVs considering multiple factors, demonstrating that U2U communication and enhanced Remote ID formats can reduce separation distances without compromising safety.

Contribution

It proposes a novel UAV Near Mid-Air Collision (uNMAC) safety volume and shows how U2U communication and improved Remote ID messages can safely decrease UAV separation distances.

Findings

U2U communication enables reduced separation distances.

Enhanced Remote ID messages improve safety and efficiency.

5G NR Sidelink, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth are suitable for U2U communication.

Abstract

As the number of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in the airspace grows, ensuring that the aircraft do not collide becomes vital for further technology development. In this work, we propose a new UAV Near Mid-Air collision (uNMAC) safety volume taking into account i) Airframe size, ii) Localization precision, iii) UAV speed/velocity, and iv) wireless technology capabilities. Based on uNMAC, we demonstrate that inter-UAV separation distances can be reduced by using UAV-to-UAV (U2U) communication while the safety levels remain unchanged. Moreover, this work shows that next-generation Remote ID messages should contain additional information (i.e., estimated localization error and, for some applications, movement direction). As frequent broadcasting of Remote ID can further reduce the separation distances, we identified 5G NR Sidelink, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth as suitable candidates for U2U communication.