From Feb. 26 to 28, the 412th Test Wing’s Emerging Technologies Combined Test Force (ET CTF) conducted its first autonomy flight test.

During the test, the team collected data on the Testing of Autonomy in Complex Environments (TACE) system, which was developed by Johns Hopkins University.

According to Capt. Riley Livermore, 412th Test Wing ET CTF Autonomy lead, the TACE system is test middleware that sits between an autonomy/artificial intelligence computer and an aircraft’s autopilot. The system monitors the commands being sent from the autonomy to the autopilot, and then sends back the aircraft state information such as position, speed and orientation to the autonomy. 

“Today we had an autonomous algorithm commanding the aircraft without any direct human involvement; we call it human ON the loop as opposed to most remotely piloted aircraft that are human IN the loop,” Riley explains.

As part of the flight test, a Lynx small UAS—made by Swift Radio Planes—was hand launched. Riley notes that while the TACE payload itself is not designed for a specific aircraft, it can be used on different aircraft sizes for test.

The TACE system has two primary functions. One of those functions is called “autonomy watchdog.”

“If a safety-of-flight parameter is violated during an autonomously commanded maneuver — aka proximity to other test aircraft, flying out of an airspace boundary, or losing communications with the ground unit — then TACE will stop the commands from the autonomy and force it to remediate and loiter at a pre-determined safety location,” Riley explains.

The second function, known as Live-Virtual-Constructive, is the ability for TACE to allow simulated entities to interact with live aircraft. 

“TACE controls what the autonomy computer sees and therefore can manipulate that information to allow for simulated entities to influence its decision making,” Riley says.

“For example, using TACE, a single live aircraft can fly in formation with a virtual wingman, with simulated sensors, flying in a simulated GPS-denied environment. The beautiful thing about TACE and LVC is that it can stress the autonomous algorithms without jeopardizing the safety of flight.”

The three-day flight test showcased how the TACE system aboard the Lynx small UAS would turn the aircraft around to its safety area when approaching a virtual border, as well as its ability to track a simulated vehicle on the ground without human commands.

Riley notes that the mastery of an autonomous flying system could be an asset for the warfighter.

“Both the 2018 National Defense Strategy and the 2019 National Defense Appropriations Act mandate that the services develop, test, and implement autonomous and AI systems,” Riley says.

“TACE is a crucial first step in providing a safe, rapid and effective tool for evaluating these systems. The current use case for autonomous systems in the Air Force is as a loyal wingman. The concept there being an autonomous wingman who can cooperatively work with and help a manned aircraft through a variety of scenarios.”

The ET CTF will conduct another autonomous flight test within the next few weeks. Once the TACE flight testing has been successfully completed, the unit will be able to declare autonomy test Initial Operation Capability, Riley says. Riley adds that the ET CTF plans on flying autonomy on much larger unmanned systems that can fly up to 250 miles per hour this summer.

“The main features will be our flight tested TACE system that is compatible with an open systems architecture,” Riley says. “This will allow us to rapidly and safely test unknown autonomy and AI algorithms developed by third-party vendors.”