NASA and MITRE have developed a surrogate aircraft to test UAS. The aircraft is manned, says MITRE's Todd Stock. But it is designed to accept algorithms and UAS to test systems such as sense and avoid.
One of the main focus of testing is the Federal Aviation Administration's ADS-B transponder-based aircraft tracking system - which could provide a solution for airborne sense and avoid.
The aircraft would be used to simulate a UAS under sense-and-avoid scenario but with a human pilot onboard to intervene in case of problems.
Charles Howell, NASA's program manager, says it is based on a Cirrus SR-22.