Tag: Urban Air Mobility

Paris Air Show and kamikaze UAVs

Air Mobility Event Illustration. (Image: Paris Air Show)

The Paris Air Show

The Paris Air Show rolls out this week, accompanied this year by several urban air mobility (UAM) companies, including Eve Air Mobility with a cabin mock-up of its eVTOL, and demonstrations of its UAM software.

Eve also announced ahead of the show that United Airlines, its major partner, is moving forward with route and infrastructure planning in San Francisco — where such factors as the size of the city and high traffic volume cry out for mobility alternatives.

Eve UAM. (Image: Eve press release)

Emerging as a start-up from within the Brazilian aircraft company Embraer, Eve was eventually floated in 2022 through an initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange. Given the relationship with Embraer, Eve (in particular, United and other Eve customers) stand to gain access to the worldwide maintenance, support, parts and repair organization that Embraer has developed to support its own passenger fleet of thousands of aircraft. An enviable solution for any current or future purchaser of Eve vehicles — this probably has something to do with their huge order backlog for 2,770 vehicles. All that is required now is the full-scale assembly, ground and flight test, verification and certification of the Eve air mobility aircraft — currently forecast to enable a 2026 entry into service.

Additionally, other UAM companies will be present in a special show exhibit, the “Air Mobility Event,” in Hall 5 in Paris.

Is Ukraine winning the UAV war with Russia?

This is not at all clear, as both sides throw at each other many different UAVs in various configurations with different missions. We tend to only see the Ukraine side of the picture, given that Russia does not generally document its successes in the media.

However, recent news indicates that Moscow is importing Iranian UAV technology to bare in its war with Ukraine. It seems that Iran has been supplying complete kamikaze attack UAVs and may also be assisting with materials to set up an assembly plant near Moscow. Potential one-way attack UAVs include the HESA Shahed 136/Geran-2, the new MERAJ-523 which can carry a 50 kg warhead, and the Mohajer-6 reconnaissance/attack drone.

Last week, Russia unleashed a volley of about 44 UAVs on the capital Kyiv, thought to be Shahed 136 kamikaze UAVs. Ukrainian defenses brought down the majority, but there were still a number of casualties. These attacks on the center of Kyiv are said to have intensified during the last two months — the UAVs are cheap, long range, and carry significant ordinance.

Mohajer-6. (Image: courtesy of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine)

The UK is reported to have called Iran’s actions in support of Russia contrary to the nuclear agreements reached between Iran and the European Union in October 2022, which prohibit the supply of any military aid to Russia by Iran.

Not to be left behind, India has brought its own kamikaze UAV online

The ALS-50 loitering munition, built by the Mumbai Tata group, was recently inducted into the Indian Air Force (IAF) for use against targets on the ground (i.e., missile batteries) and on the sea (i.e., ships).

With an apparent range of 1,000 km (62 miles) and a payload of 25 kg (55 lb), the Indian-produced UAV will replace more expensive UAVs, which India has imported from Poland and elsewhere.

With the war in Ukraine on the mind of all countries near the conflict, it is clear that many may take on defense strategies similar to those that have been used by both Russia and Ukraine.

UAV news summed up

So, as the International Paris Air Show, previously a major military exhibition and air show, begins to welcome and feature the coming age of UAM, it is good to see that there are several independent programs that plan to show their wares. Air-taxi services are still some way off from being a reality, as there are still heavy, lengthy investments to be made in building and qualifying these unmanned/manned aircraft for passenger use. Hopefully, however, several of the contenders will make it to the finish line and fulfill the promises made for UAM.

Meanwhile, as the war in Ukraine plods along, taking lives and destroying property, it is good that both sides have decided that UAVs should be the way to proceed. UAVs, after all, are relatively small and the degree of destruction they can cause is limited. Still, this is not very comforting for people on both sides as they run from the sound of two-stroke and four-stroke engines descending from on high, carrying explosive charges that will kill and maim. Additionally, as the West arms Ukraine with defensive materials, it’s not surprising that Russia is seeking weapons from allies, wherever it can find them.

June 23, 2023
M3 Systems, Pipistrel and Volocopter complete air traffic tests in France
The flight test is the third of several to simulate a variety of real-world scenarios that demonstrate how UTM and ATM intersect with multiple aircraft types.

M3 Systems, Pipistrel and Volocopter have completed their first joint flight test campaign in France at Pontoise airfield.

The week-long flight tests simulated three different avoidance maneuvers in real-world situations where unforeseen circumstances occur, such as a complete airport or vertiport closure, an unavailable final approach and takeoff area, and traffic deconfliction.

M3 Systems was created from engineering activities in GNSS and consulting activities in air traffic management (ATM), including for uncrewed aircraft. M3 played a role in Galileo signal definition, among other projects for Europe’s various space agencies. Pipstrel is a light aircraft manufacturer specializing in electric propulsion, and Volocopter specializes in urban air mobility (UAM) systems.

The joint campaign among the three companies — with French partners Groupe ADP and its subsidiary Hologarde — aimed to achieve smooth interaction within and between the new lower airspace’s unmanned traffic management (UTM) and standard civil aviation ATM systems.

The Boreal system is a fixed-wing UAV with high-endurance and heavy payload capacity. (Photo: M3 Systems)

The aviation industry is experiencing an innovation upsurge driven by technology and societal pressure for new forms of aviation focused on sustainable, digital and autonomous air mobility. The resulting solutions will generate a significant increase in traffic density in the lower airspace.

Because existing ATM systems are not designed to handle such volumes or digitalization, coordinating existing and new traffic management systems for brand-new aircraft integration will ensure efficient large-scale operations. This includes commercial, general and drone aircraft for cargo and passenger flights, both crewed and uncrewed.

The CORUS-XUAM project, funded by the European Union’s initiative Single European Sky ATM Research (SESAR) Joint Undertaking, focuses on solving the challenge of conventional and new traffic management system integration and consists of 19 partners and 11 third parties. M3 Systems, Pipistrel and Volocopter all completed individual flight-test campaigns before this event to bring their aircraft in line with the U-space services.

A week of flight tests ended with an Open Day air show and presentations. (Photo: M3 Mobility)

The CORUS-XUAM flight test conducted at Pontoise airfield near Paris is the third of several flight tests to simulate a variety of real-world scenarios that demonstrate how UTM and ATM intersect with multiple aircraft types.

Moreover, the CORUS-XUAM project will continue to proactively test and create a safe and controlled lower airspace under the European Union’s ambitious Single European Sky (SES) initiative throughout 2022.

The successful flight tests at Pontoise airfield were conducted with M3 System’s Boreal remotely piloted aircraft system, Pipistrel’s crewed Velis Electro, the only type-certified electric aircraft in commercial service in the world, and Volocopter’s fullscale, remotely piloted 2X prototype. Pipistrel uses the conventional ATM tower and system while Volocopter and M3 Systems use the UTM system. The following three flight scenarios were tested:
- The unexpected occupancy of a final-approach-and-takeoff plan and aircraft diversion because of priority landing of another aircraft (Pipistrel and Volocopter aircraft).
- The diversion of a flight path because of the closure of an airport or vertiport (M3 Systems).
- The diversion of a flight path with two aircraft flying the same path (M3 Systems and Volocopter aircraft).
“These successful tests confirm that our Boreal UAS will be an enabler for future XUAM operations in situations where aircraft need to safely divert paths to another vertiport due to an unforeseen closure or another aircraft in the air,” explained Marc Pollina, M3 Systems CEO. “By providing rerouting demonstrations and tactical communications with U-Space service providers, M3 Systems can support future coordination between AAM and airport operators.”

Pipistrel is “As the manufacturer of the only type-certified electric aircraft in commercial service in the world, proud to take part in technical projects that shape the vision of air mobility and make progress in a meaningful way,” said Gabriel Massey, Pipistrel president. “The CORUS project and Paris demonstrations clearly show how UAM vehicles will be able to fly safely in regular airspace post-2030 and will help to unlock new lower-noise and lower-emission air passenger and air cargo services.”

In 2019, Volocopter tested its 2X ATM integration at Helsinki airport and was actively involved in the development of the European U-Space Concept of Operations, according to Oliver Reinhardt, Volocopter’s chief risk and certification officer. “Building an efficient ecosystem around UAM is Volocopter’s mission, and connecting ATM/UTM integration with our digital platform, VoloIQ, is poised to be an integral part of bringing UAM to megacities worldwide,” Reinhardt said. “I am looking forward to the next CORUS-XUAM test flights later this year in Germany and what we can achieve there.”

The project has received funding from the SESAR Joint Undertaking under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No. 101017682.
September 29, 2022
AUVSI to host Xponential webinar series on unmanned systems technology

Photo: GPS World Staff

The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) will host Xponential Virtual Sessions, a week-long webinar series, May 4-8.

According to AUVSI, the series will offer information, insights and insider knowledge covering a number of topics, including drone delivery, public safety, connectivity, and other aspects of the unmanned systems and robotics industry.

These webinars are being held because of the rescheduled Xponential 2020 conference. Xponential 2020 was originally scheduled to take place May 4-8 in Boston, but is now tentatively scheduled to take place Aug. 9-12.

AUVSI offered an overview of the webinars, which are all complimentary.

Digital Twins — The Future of Virtual and Mixed Reality Robotic Avatars
Date: Monday, May 4, 3-4 p.m. EDT
Speaker: Peter Haas, associate director, Humanity Centered Robotics Initiative, Brown University

Hass will describe how advances in mixed and virtual reality control will lead to a UX revolution for avatar-based robotic teleoperation, where the manipulation of digital twins will translate to manipulation of a robot — or robots — in the physical world. Register here.

Drone Delivery Supporting Public Health
Date: Tuesday, May 5, 3-4 p.m. EDT
Speakers: Eric Gardiner and Eric Lasker, federal business development, Zipline

Executives from Zipline will describe how drone delivery has evolved through the Federal Aviation Administration UAS Integration Pilot Program and is now being adapted to help community healthcare partners respond to COVID-19 in the United States. Register here.

NASA’s Vision and Role to Enable Urban Air Mobility
Date: Wednesday, May 6, 3-4 p.m. EDT
Speakers: Robert Pearce, associate administrator, NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, and Brian Wynne, president and CEO, AUVSI

Pearce will review initiatives to enable small UAS operating at low altitude through a UAS Traffic Management System and large UAS operating in higher altitude airspace with definitive flight experiments to validate key standards, such as detect-and-avoid technology. Wynne will host a discussion with Pearce about his full vision for future aviation, including what the next 50 years has in store for commercial airline travel and urban air mobility.
Register here.

Advancing Autonomy Through DARPA Challenge to Benefit First Responders
Date: Thursday, May 7, 3-4 p.m. EDT
Speaker: Dr. Timothy Chung, program manager, DARPA Tactical Technology Office

DARPA’s Subterranean Challenge engages international teams to deploy autonomous systems — rolling, walking, flying and floating — to remotely map, identify and report on artifacts discovered along underground courses. Chung will discuss persisting challenges with robotics, how teams are succeeding in competition while advancing unmanned capabilities and how these lessons can benefit first responders. Register here.

Aerial Connectivity Joint Activity — Bridging the Gap Between Cellular and Aviation
Date: Friday, May 8, 2-3 p.m.
Speaker: Mark Davis, technical lead, ACJA

Davis will explore the latest roadmap for aviation and cellular communications, including how recent initiatives such as Aerial Connectivity Joint Activity (ACJA) are aimed at providing a standards framework to enable unmanned aerial cellular. ACJA is a joint activity between GSMA, which represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide, and the Global UTM Association, a non-profit consortium of worldwide Unmanned Aircraft Systems Traffic Management stakeholders. Register here.

April 30, 2020
Aircraft lands autonomously without ground assistance

A German research team successfully demonstrated a completely autonomous airplane landing in May, without assistance from any ground-based systems, fulfilling a key step towards autonomous air traffic and the much-bruited Urban Air Mobility (UAM).

An optical reference system, encompassing a camera in the normal visible range and an infrared camera for conditions with poor visibility, combined with GPS to bring the modified Diamond DA42 in for a safe, unpiloted landing at the Diamond Aircraft airfield in Wiener-Neustadt, Austria.

The team, from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and the Technische Universität Braunschweig, formed the project they call C2Land with funding from the German federal government. Two 2019 conference papers by the researchers, cited at the end of this article, give the technical underpinnings of the C2Land system.

What’s New

Automatic landings by both commercial aircraft and small planes can and do take place at major airports with the Instrument Landing System (ILS) infrastructure to guide aircraft in with sufficient precision. Ground antennas send radio signals to the autopilot to make sure it navigates to the runway safely. Procedures in development to use GNSS alone to make autonomous landings also require a ground-based augmentation system.

But systems such as these are too expensive for small airports that will conceivably carry the major share of UAM: automated air freight transport and autonomous flying taxis.

What needs to happen before George Jetson air taxis become a reality? UAM will take place in the zone 500 to 5,000 feet above ground, transporting one to five passengers or cargo over distances of five to 50 miles. The vision shared by most UAM stakeholders, a group that includes NASA and the FAA, involves vertical take-off and landing rather than conventional “glide” takeoff and landing, but precise navigation to the landing spot is critical in both cases.

“Automatic landing is essential, especially in the context of the future role of aviation,” said Martin Kügler, research associate at the TUM Chair of Flight System Dynamics.

Fly-by-wire systems, semiautomatic and typically computer-regulated systems for aircraft navigation, use GPS signals for positioning. But since GPS is susceptible to errors, interference, and obstruction, it is not solely sufficient for landing procedures. Current GPS approach procedures require that human pilots resume control over the aircraft at 60 meters altitude, and land the aircraft manually.

To enable completely automated landings , the TU Braunschweig team designed an optical reference system: two cameras, one in normal visible range and one infrared camera for poor visibility conditions. Custom image processing software lets the system determine where the aircraft is relative to the runway based on the camera data it receives. Additional functions were integrated in the software, such as comparison of data from the cameras with GPS signals, calculation of a virtual glide path for the landing approach and flight control for various phases of the approach.

Visual Recognition

Test pilot Thomas Wimmer, who sat through the procedure with his hands folded, said “The cameras already recognize the runway at a great distance from the airport. The system then guides the aircraft through the landing approach on a completely automatic basis and lands it precisely on the runway’s centerline.”

The researchers presented their system in two papers at the Institute of Navigation’s 2019 Pacific PNT Meeting in April:

“Model-based Threshold and Centerline Detection for Aircraft Positioning during Landing Approach,” by S. Wolkow, M. Angermann, A. Dekiert, and Ulf Bestmann; and

“Linear Blend: Data Fusion in the Image Domain for Image-based Aircraft Positioning during Landing Approach,” by M. Angermann, S. Wolkow, A. Dekiert, U. Bestmann, and P. Hecker.

Summaries of each paper are here. The full papers are available at www.ion.org/publications/browse.cfm.

July 9, 2019
Audi, Airbus and Italdesign test flying taxi concept

Audi, Airbus and Italdesign presented for the first time a flying and driving prototype of Pop.Up Next, a flying taxi. The companies demonstrated the concept at Drone Week, held Nov. 27-29 in Amsterdam.

The concept combines a self-driving electric car with a passenger drone. In the first public test flight, the flight module accurately placed a passenger capsule on the ground module, which then drove from the test grounds autonomously.

Photo: Audi

The demonstration was done with a 1:4 scale model. But as soon as the coming decade, Audi customers could use the flying taxi service in large cities — in multi-modal operation, in the air and on the road, without changing vehicles.

“Flying taxis are on the way. We at Audi are convinced of that,” said Bernd Martens, Audi board member for sourcing and IT and president of the Audi subsidiary Italdesign. “More and more people are moving to cities. And more and more people will be mobile thanks to automation. In future senior citizens, children, and people without a driver’s license will want to use convenient robot taxis. If we succeed in making a smart allocation of traffic between roads and airspace, people and cities can benefit in equal measure.”

To see what an on-demand service of this kind could be like, Audi is conducting tests in South America in cooperation with the Airbus subsidiary Voom. Customers book helicopter flights in Mexico City or Sao Paulo, while an Audi is at the ready for the journey to or from the landing site.

“Services like this help us to understand our customers’ needs better,” Martens said. “Because in the future, flying taxis will appeal to a wide range of city dwellers. With Pop.Up Next we are simultaneously exploring the boundaries of what is technically possible. The next step is for a full-size prototype to fly and drive.”

Audi is also supporting the Urban Air Mobility flying taxi project in Ingolstadt. This initiative is preparing test operations for a flying taxi at Audi’s site, and is part of a joint project of the European Union in the framework of the marketplace for the European Innovation Partnership on Smart Cities and Communities.

The project aims to convince the public of the benefits of the new technology and answer questions concerning battery technology, regulation, certification and infrastructure.

December 5, 2018