-
Army Phase I and II SBIR: Micro IFF Transponder
Army SBIR award under topic A19-072 to develop modern identification friend or foe technologies.
-
Navy Phase II.5 SBIR: Identification of Friend or Foe
R Cubed Engineering developed an RT-2087/ZPX transponder with IFF Capabilities and a KIV-79 ECU. The IFF is less than 4 oz., under 4 cubic inches in volume, and can be used for mode Mode 5, as well as Modes 1,2, 3/A, C, S, and ES. Peak power is 500 watts, with a diversity and battery option in a double-size package. GPS is included so that the device can operate stand-alone, or interfaced with a platform. The size is also suitable for use on personnel.
-
NASA Phase II and II-E SBIR: Independent Authentication of ADS-B And Transponder-Equipped Aircraft Location
R3E commercialized the Phase I results that demonstrated the existing “trusted” ATC technology, in combination with a miniature, low-cost, state-of-the-art micro-avionic, that validates GPS-based ADS-B position reports reliably and accurately for safe navigation and collision avoidance in the National Airspace System (NAS). With minor rule changes, this approach results in safe, fully-autonomous vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) operation at very high traffic densities within the current Air Traffic Control System (including some UAS) and provides direct paths to accommodate the exponential growth of UAS in the future.
-
Navy Phase I and II SBIR: Identification of Friend or Foe
Navy SBIR award under topic N142-102 to develop modern identification friend or foe technologies.
-
NASA High-Density UAS Operations with 978Mhz ADS-B
Flight Safety in the NAS consists of multiple layers: flight planning, routing, radar coverage, transponder coverage, and dual-band ADS-B are some examples. R Cubed Engineering focused on the optimization of the existing active RF dual-band ADS-B and transponder system for use with anticipated large numbers of Small UAS (SUAS). SUAS will often be operating in areas and at altitudes that will not be visible to the existing FAA infrastructure. They will also have much higher densities of aircraft than the current infrastructure can handle. R3E has investigated the use of very small software-defined transceiver technology (under 1 oz) tri-band avionics that includes the ability to receive full UAT including ADS-B, ES, Mode A, C, and S transponder responses that can keep track of all transmitting aircraft. The SUAS will also transmit low-power UAT ADS-B with dynamically configurable time slots allowing for a very high density of SUAS. There is also the use of a low-power 'all call' interrogator when the operational area is not already interrogated by a local source.
-
NASA Phase I SBIR: Jam Proof and Spoof Proof GPS System
Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) is the most SWaP-C-compatible safety solution for Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) and will be mandated for use by the FAA in the National Airspace System (NAS) by 2020. The ongoing miniaturization efforts will continue to enable a cooperative approach to the integration of UAS into NAS moving forward. A critical limitation of ADS-B is the use of a GPS-derived position vector in its broadcast, which can be easily spoofed or jammed, or confused by reflections in urban areas. We present a low-SWaP-C solution to secure and verify the GPS integrity using a novel antenna design so that ADS-B can be used as trusted vehicle-to-vehicle communication and navigation link for UAS.
-
NASA Phase I SBIR: ADS-B Validation
R3E investigated techniques for NASA to independently validate ADS-B positional squitters with the intent to use these data points for trusted collision avoidance between manned and unmanned aerial vehicles.
-
Office of Naval Research (ONR): All Weather Sense and Avoid System (AWSAS)
Military and other national security agencies have been denied unfettered access to the National Air Space (NAS) because their unmanned aircraft lack a reliable and effective collision avoidance capability. To overcome the constraints imposed on UAS's use of the NAS, a new, conformable collision avoidance system has been developed — one that will be effective in all flyable weather conditions, overcoming the shortfalls of other sensing systems. Upon implementation, this system will achieve collision avoidance capability for UASs deployed for national security purposes and will allow the expansion of UAS usage for commercial or other civil purposes.
-
Defense Safety Oversight Committee (DSOC): Air-to-Air ADS-B Based Avoidance System with the TigerShark UAS
R3E performed the world’s first autonomous collision avoidance sequences between two autonomous RQ-23 assets equipped with AWSAS systems at Yuma Proving Ground.
-
Air Force Subcontract: X-Band Radar System for Air-to-Air Detection and Avoidance
ADS-B and Radar of Cooperative and Non-Cooperative Surveillance with ten UAS sites flying coordinated drones.
-
NASA Subcontract: Unmanned Traffic Management National Campaign
R3E provided cooperative and non-cooperative situational awareness, data capture, and analysis for the Mid-Atlantic Aviation Partnership (MAAP) FAA-selected UAS test site.
-
Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) Subcontract: Low Altitude Interrogation System
A low-altitude interrogation and tracking system for railroad inspections to coordinate permission for drones flying down the railroad.
-
DRDC and National Research Canada (NRC): X-Band Radar and ADS-B Surveillance Operations Center
R3E supported Seamatica Aerospace in St. John’s, Newfoundland, in building a situational awareness UAS mobile command center with cooperative and non-cooperative sensor systems.
-
Naval Research Labs (NRL): ADS-B Hardware and Support
NRL purchased AWSAS systems to develop autonomous collision avoidance capabilities for UAS testing.
