GPS-Based Aircraft Collision Avoidance

Student: Owen John Crowe

Supervisor: Dr. Vaughan Clarkson

Category: Electrical Engineering Thesis Project

There is no doubt that a collision avoidance system in an aircraft adds an extra level of safety to flying. The situation is, however, that many light aircraft and gliders have no avionic systems protecting the aircraft from midair collision. This thesis documents the development of a low-cost proximity warning system for light aircraft that uses the existing GPS network to derive precise positional information. This approach is inherently more reliable and accruate than tradional radar. The system consists of a device carried aboard the aircraft that transmits and receives position and velocity information from identical systems carried by proximate aircraft. Using the transmissions from other aircraft, the system determines which intruder aircraft are a threat and alerts the pilot accordingly.

GPS based aircraft collision avoidance is a low cost, lightweight alternative to the current industrial systems used in commercial aircraft, such as TCAS. The GPS Radar demonstrates the viability of providing a low-cost collision avoidance system for recreational aircraft and is a promising platform for future work.

Poster Presentation (PDF)

Thesis Document (PDF)