Simulation of obstacle avoidance system (OASYS) sensor and display alternatives

The U.S. Army Crew Station Research and Development Facility (CSRDF) at NASA Ames Research Center recently completed an experiment whose goal was to analyze candidate symbologies for the display of information obtained from a simulated Obstacle Avoidance System (OASYS) Sensor. The OASYS Sensor, developed by Northrop Corporation in conjunction with BES Engineering Services and SPARTA, consists of a laser-radar (ladar) that pulses at a high rate. The ladar returns distances to objects encountered. These returns are then assembled to determine where (if any) objects are located with respect to the aircraft. Once detected, the objects are retained in internal memory for a period of time, so that the sensor maintains as exact a picture as possible of the world in front of and, in the case of a ship that is moving, around the ownship as well. These objects, taken as a whole, form what is known as the object database, which is used as input to a symbology generator. This paper will discuss the design and implementation of the real-time OASYS sensor model that were use in the aforementioned experiment