The SESAR U-space TindAIR project, coordinated by Innov’ATM, recently completed a series of very large-scale demonstrations in France on urban air mobility (UAM), with a focus on strategic deconfliction. The project has now concluded its demonstration activities, in addition to work on public engagement and acceptance of this future mode of transport and travel.
As the demand for the use of unmanned air vehicles (UAV) in urban settings grows, so does the need to ensure the unlimited, unrestricted and safe cohabitation of all airspace users in our skies.
The TindAIR demonstrations covered a range of representative and operational use cases and featured a combination of manned and unmanned aircraft. Operational scenarios addressed existing urban needs or compelling use cases, from medical emergency transport to a mix of freight and passenger flights, including extreme cases like sector saturation capacity and emergency landing. And all this using aircraft of various types and capacities with varying levels of automation, all sharing the same volume of airspace.
The TindAIR demonstrations took place in the suburban - urban areas of the French cities of Toulouse and Bordeaux, and focused on strategic and tactical assistance to conflict detection and resolution. The aim was to validate concepts of operations and target architecture for conflict detection and resolution function for all airspace users and to offer validated and experienced U-space services to the future users of these modes of urban air mobility. This was also the opportunity to demonstrate operations of a tactical conflict resolution service module that embeds an artificial intelligence algorithm, which will possibly be integrated into the future U-space deployments.
Getting the buy-in from citizens will be crucial for integrating urban air mobility into cities. Mindful of this, TindAIR’s partner Issnova held a workshop on 8 November to discuss how to best establish trust and gain public acceptance. The project is also part of a pan-European initiative to engage with local public authorities and stakeholders to provide the best possible services to citizens. The TindAIR consortium has benefited from a successful cooperation with a perfect set of innovative start-ups, research labs, air taxi and industrial providers coordinated by Innov’ATM, French company, a well-known specialist in AI for UTM/C-UAS.
