TACE lays down foundation for future UAV test safety

                                                                                                                                                                  Engineers prepare an unmanned jet-powered aircraft for a flight test
                                                                                                                                                                  at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., July 25. The flight tested a software
                                                                                                                                                                  suite called TACE, Testing Autonomy in a Complex Environment,
                                                                                                                                                                  developed by John Hopkins Applied Physics Lab.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Air Force photographa by Giancarlo Casem

An unmanned jet-powered aircraft takes off from dry lake bed at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., July 25. The flight tested a software suite called TACE, Testing Autonomy in a Complex Environment,
developed by John Hopkins Applied Physics Lab.

by Giancarlo Casem                                                   The TACE test is part of the Air Force Research Laborato-       Skyborg’s TACE complements AFRL’s previous work with
Edwards AFB, Calif.                                               ry’s Skyborg program. The Skyborg program is a developing       artificial intelligence used with programs such as the Auto-
                                                                  software tool that allows engineers and researchers to develop  matic Ground and Air Collision Avoidance Systems, which
   The 412th Test Wing’s Emerging Technologies Combined           autonomous capabilities. AFRL plans to have Skyborg as an       have been proven to have saved lives.
Test Force conducted an autonomous test flight at Edwards         Early Operational Capability as early as 2023. To help meet
Air Force Base, Calif., July 25.                                  that requirement, engineers are testing autonomous elements        Earlier this year, ET-CTF conducted a TACE test on a
                                                                  like TACE to provide safety foundations for future tests.       smaller, lower-performance aircraft. That earlier test proved
   The flight’s mission was to test a software suite designed                                                                     that the program works on a slower aircraft, one that flew at
to make unmanned aerial vehicle flight safer.                        The TACE safety net programming sits between a vehicle’s     30 knots. After today’s test, ET-CTF will eventually equip
                                                                  safety critical control system and its mission system. Proven   TACE on even larger, more powerful, full-size aircraft.
   “What we have here today is a sub-scaled jet-powered air-      algorithms keep the plane within safe bounds defined before
craft; it’s about 12 feet long and can do about 250 knots,” said  takeoff. Jessen said, the idea is to let the autonomous test       “Ultimately this is going to be our safety net for future
Jeff Jessen, chief engineer, Emerging Technology Combined         aircraft fly itself out of the safety bounds; the TACE program  autonomous testing, we hope to be testing autonomy that
Test Force. “Our goal is to verify an autonomy safety net that    would then take over control of the airplane and take it to a   does air combat-type maneuvers and TACE is fundamental
was developed by John Hopkins Applied Physics Lab, called         safe point.                                                     to being able to allow us to do that safely and effectively,”
TACE, Testing Autonomy in a Complex Environment.”                                                                                 Jessen said.

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