Range performance evaluation from the flight tests of a passive electro-optical aircraft detection sensor for unmanned aircraft systems

The range performance evaluation of a multi-camera electro-optical aircraft detection instrument, “DragonflEYE,” was conducted. A “range at first detection” (R0) quantity, evaluated from the temporal signal-to-noise ratio of potential targets on a collision course, is proposed as a generic metric for evaluating electro-optical systems. The methodology and evaluation process are discussed. Efficacy of the approach was tested by flying multiple collision trajectories, with the instrument mounted onto a Bell 205 helicopter acting as a surrogate unmanned aircraft system, while an instrumented Bell 206 Jet-Ranger acted as the intruder. The R0 values were extracted and subsequently compared to visual estimates by the flight crew. A mean detection range of R0 = 6.3 ± 1.7 km was observed to be within the margin of error for flight-crew detection range of 4.8 ± 2.0 km. Sensitivity analysis was conducted on the choice of threshold and the sensor’s angular resolution, with increased resolution, yielded diminishing r...