Autonomous drone aircraft traffic in uncontrolled airspace below 400 feet altitude is expected to substantially increase in the next few years. "Our simulated system leverages autonomy algorithms to enhance the safety and scalability of UAS operations below 400 feet altitude." To address the challenge of increasing UAS traffic, the Hopkins team evaluated the impact of autonomous algorithms in a simulated 3D airspace. Adding strategic deconfliction algorithms, which control traffic timing to avoid collisions, made things even safer and nearly eliminated airspace accidents, they found. Watkins and Whitcomb say that these approaches allow the system to make autonomous decisions to prevent collisions.
