Speech systems for autonomous unmanned aircraft: Enabling autonomous unmanned aircraft to communicate in civil airspace

Abstract

Airspace control is currently based largely on the exchange of speech between aircraft and Air Traffic Service Units, or between aircraft themselves. ICAO regulatory guidelines make no distinction between unmanned and manned aircraft, implying that unmanned aircraft will have to comply with requirements for radio communication in certain airspaces. The availability of speech capability is therefore imperative for autonomous operations in civil airspace. The paper assesses the feasibility of automated speech in unmanned aircraft given the current state of the art.