A Cockpit-based Application for Traffic Aware Trajectory Optimization

Abstract

The Traffic Aware Planner (TAP) is a cockpit-based advisory tool designed to be hosted on a Class 2 Electronic Flight Bag and developed to enable the concept of Traffic Aware Strategic Aircrew Requests (TASAR). This near-term concept provides pilots with optimized route changes that reduce fuel burn or flight time, avoids interactions with known traffic, weather and restricted airspace, and may be used by the pilots to request a trajectory change from air traffic control. TAP's internal architecture and algorithms are derived from the Autonomous Operations Planner, a flight-deck automation system developed by NASA to support research into aircraft self-separation. This paper reviews the architecture, functionality and operation of TAP.

Achieving TASAR Operational Readiness

“…The TAP software functionality and design were presented in 2013. 4,8 Developed for NASA by Engility Corporation, TAP was designed to run on a commercial-off-the-shelf Class 2 EFB platform. TAP's flight optimization and traffic conflict management algorithms were originally developed by Engility for advanced selfAmerican Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics separation research, 7 and these high-performance algorithms have been extensively tested and matured for over a decade.…”

“…Since 2012, NASA has been developing and testing the Traffic Aware Strategic Aircrew Requests (TASAR) concept 1,2,3 for aircraft operations featuring a NASA-developed cockpit automation tool, the Traffic Aware Planner (TAP), 4 which computes traffic/hazard-compatible route changes to improve flight efficiency. The technology is anticipated to save fuel and flight time and thereby provide immediate and pervasive benefits to the aircraft operator, as well as improving flight schedule compliance, passenger comfort, and pilot and controller workload.…”

Traffic Aware Planner for Cockpit-based Trajectory Optimization

“…4 In order to test the TASAR concept, NASA Langley Research Center has developed a prototype cockpit-based, flight optimization tool, the Traffic Aware Planner (TAP). 5,6 Designed to operate on a variety of EFB platforms, the tool processes up-to-date data from avionics and the internet, including the aircraft's current route and state, ADS-B IN, winds, convective weather, and special use airspace schedules, to generate conflict-free, flight-optimizing, routechange advisories. The internal architecture and algorithms of TAP's main processor were derived from the NASA Autonomous Operations Planner (AOP), a flight-deck automation system developed to support aircraft selfseparation research.…”

In-Flight Evaluation of the Traffic Aware Planner on the NASA HU-25A Guardian Aircraft

“…The research prototype TAP system [6][7][8], explained further in Section III.C, continually incorporates up-to-date aircraft state data from onboard avionics, as well as the latest position of surrounding traffic, the most recent wind forecast, and the most recent convective weather forecast, in order to calculate candidate trajectory modifications that improve upon the current active route. These trajectories account for user-selectable objective functions [3] of reduced fuel burn, reduced flight time, or an airline-derived combination of factors known as trip cost.…”