PEGASE - helicoPter and aEronef naviGation Airborne SystEms
Overview
Background & policy context:
Approaches, landings and take-offs, manoeuvres or navigation in the terminal zone, are among the most critical tasks in aircraft operation. At the time of this project, the only certified navigation system available for landings, ground rolls and take-offs are the ILS and MLS which require heavy airport infrastructures; recently, one can notice a trend towards the GNSS systems (Global Navigation Satellite Systems) which do not have the necessary integrity.
PEGASE contributed to the enhancement of the future 2012 Air Traffic Management. PEGASE promotes the development of Research and Innovation via the collaboration between highly skilled SMEs and Research Institutions.
Objectives:
The PEGASE project was a feasibility study of a new navigation system which allows a three dimensional (3D) truly autonomous approach and guidance for airports and helipads and improves the integrity and accuracy of GNSS differential navigation systems.
The main objectives of the study were:
- to assess the feasibility of the autonomous, all weather conditions, localisation and guidance system;
- to determine the performance required for the vision sensors (visual, infrared, electromagnetic) and the ground reference database in order to provide an accurate guidance from the final approach leg to full stop on the taxiway / helipad and for the take-off run from alignment up to the final take-off segment.
Methodology:
This new navigation system relied on three key technologies:
- specification of a reliable ground reference database;
- innovative correlation techniques between sensors outputs and onboard ground database;
- a robust servoing algorithm for the management of the trajectories of both fixed wing and rotary wing aircraft.
Two different threads of activity have been defined:
- how to create an onboard database safe and secure enough to allow the tracking and servoing;
- assuming we are able to build such a database, what would be the candidate algorithms that would allow the tracking and servoing to work?
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