Web-Based Negotiation Tool for Conflict Resolution in Higher Airspace Operations

In higher airspace operations, vehicles such as high-altitude, long-endurance balloons and fixed-wing gliders have diverse characteristics and limited maneuverability. To handle vehicles with these unique characteristics, a new strategic negotiation-based conflict resolution method with a real-time web-based negotiation tool has been proposed to avoid potential conflict between vehicles in Upper Class E airspace. To facilitate negotiation, this tool incorporates a bilateral negotiation model with an algorithm to assess conflict risks and generate new flight trajectories with a given flight path deviation. This tool allows users to make decisions during negotiation, both manually and automatically, while enforcing the necessary constraints for successful negotiation. An experimental study is carried out to evaluate the impact of varying negotiation strategies, vehicle types, crossing angles, and operator response times during negotiation on metrics such as total completion time, number of negotiation rounds, and extra flight distance to avoid conflict. The results suggest that operators benefit from using negotiated flight paths with quick response times across various crossing angles and vehicle types. Compared to the conventional method, where a single operator assumes full responsibility, the findings suggest that negotiation-based strategic deconfliction reduces the total extra flight distance by an average of 25%.