Emerging regulations require unmanned aircraft to be identified remotely by electronic means, in combination with a UAS registry database. The benefits include added security, higher safety standards, increased accountability, and easier access to airspace.
The principle of electronic identification (eID) is that a cooperative UAS regularly broadcasts a unique identifier and the current position through a radio frequency digital message. This enables authorized parties to detect, identify, locate and track UAS anywhere at any time, also in the absence of network connectivity or other infrastructure.
Reliable identification is also a basic element for airspace and traffic management, be it UTMS, LAANC, eID mandatory zones (IMZ), or a safe integration into current airspace used by and shared with manned aviation. Electronic identification is a key pillar in SESAR’s U-space foundation services.
The open FLARM UAS eID standard (contact us for a free copy) builds on the proven FLARM protocol layers with over 40,000 installations in manned aircraft worldwide, implements key requirements in the upcoming EASA, FAA and national regulations, and is influenced by the draft Eurocontrol Asterix Part 29 Category 129 standard. It is designed to be simple to implement, cheap to build, and easy to test. Manufacturers can use existing radio hardware, or inexpensively add the required COTS hardware to start using the standard. The implementation of this standard does neither require a license from or a royalty to FLARM Technology Ltd.
Send us an mail request to reserve a 4-character manufacturer ID, and give a list of several codes with your priority. To ease implementation and allow faster time-to-market, we commercially offer reference implementations, and other services. Contact us if interested, and be specific and detailed enough about your needs.
About FLARM
The FLARM system was invented by active pilots and launched through a crowd-funding campaign in 2004. It has since gained fast acceptance and high penetration in the entire aeronautical community, and is known as a safe, efficient and affordable technology.
FLARM is the state-of-the-art traffic information, collision avoidance and remote electronic identification technology used in general aviation, installed in over 40,000 manned aircraft and already tens of thousands of UAS. FLARM is the most popular solution in the lower airspace outside major airports: over half of Europe’s manned aircraft plus countless other airspace users such as UAS, R/C model aircraft, and para-/hang-gliders are equipped with it.
Several FLARM implementations and interfaces exist for UAS, amongst them for PX4, ArduPilot, MAVLink, Dronecode, QGroundControl, Mission Planner and TBS Crossfire. FLARM offers a broad range of solutions to accommodate the converging needs of the industry, including electronic conspicuity, secure e-identification, traffic sensors, multi-sensor fusion, autonomous collision avoidance, ground tracking services, data uplink and rebroadcast, IFF, and air risk assessments.
FLARM is a truly cooperative, real-time, low-latency, scalable V2V and V2X communication technology with elements for integrity, safety and privacy. FLARM’s unique technology is also applied to other industries, e.g. vehicle safety on Daimler’s high-speed automotive test track, mining vehicle safety and fleet management solutions from Hexagon Mining and Leica Geosystems.