On September 30th, members of NASA Ames'
Airspace Operations Laboratory (AOL) and the Autonomous Vehicle Applications Laboratory (AVAL) representing the
Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) High Density Vertiplex (HDV) subproject conducted the Advanced Onboard Automation (AOA) simulation, the first in a series of simulations in collaboration with NASA Langley's
Air Traffic Operations Laboratory (ATOL). The goals for this simulation were to test the usability of prototype traffic management software, and to perform overall system functionality checks across all integrated systems between Ames and Langley.
As part of the test, a Fleet Manager participant at Ames used traffic management software to monitor operations in their airspace and update flight plans with necessary reroutes, while a pilot participant at Langley monitored their station and executed the flight plans. With the virtual support of team members, working both onsite at Ames as well as remotely, the team was able to verify data exchanges between key AOA subsystems, and were able to visualize exchanges on situation awareness displays. The AOL also successfully collected data on the usability of the prototype software using field observations, interviews, and questionnaires.
