IFA2S -- In-flight Awareness Augmentation Systems

This paper presents some key concepts of In-Flight Awareness (IFA) and its implementation named In-Flight Awareness Augmentation System (IFA²S). It introduces IFA as a novel and more realistic concept intended to enhance flight safety. The IFA²S has the potential of improving Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) reliability to the levels of general aviation aircraft. It increases aircraft awareness regarding both itself and its environment at the same time recognizing platform constraints to act in accordance to predefined decision algorithms. The major contribution of this paper is the IFA²S conceptualization and its insertion into the UAV reality, describing a practical way to define and integrate such a system in a real world aircraft. At the end, it also presents an IFA²S case study implementation into a small fixed wing aircraft.