Rupert Dent attended on behalf of ARPAS-UK to ensure the Drone Industry is kept up to date and has an opportunity for their voice and opinion to be hear.
Presentations included:
12 April 2024
From new cargo drones to upcycling freight trains, the latest firms selected for the Freight Innovation Fund Accelerator have been unveiled.
Ten small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) will each receive a share of £1.3m to conduct technology trials with industry partners. The SMEs will also benefit from trial and business support tailored to their needs as part of the programme. This includes trial design training, monitoring and evaluation, investment readiness, pitch coaching, marketing support, and business modelling.
The Freight Innovation Fund is backed by the Department for Transport (DfT) and delivered by Connected Places Catapult. The Fund was launched in January 2023 to help SMEs develop greener and more efficient solutions for freight. The first round of winning projects on the Accelerator was announced in April 2023.
“Our freight sector is growing at pace and has the potential to support jobs and economic growth in every region of the UK.
“Transforming freight also provides opportunities to unlock efficiency savings for businesses and drive down carbon emissions. I’m pleased to welcome this exciting group of innovators to the Freight Innovation Fund Accelerator.”
Erika Lewis, Chief Executive at Connected Places Catapult
Speaking at the Microlise Transport Conference last week, Minister for Roads and Local Transport, Guy Opperman MP, announced that a new group of SMEs have been selected. Meet the accelerators’ Second Cohort :
The Freight Innovation Fund programme also features the Freight Innovation Cluster, launched last year, which has already grown to a network of over 320 businesses. The Cluster connects industry, innovators, and investors looking to explore joint opportunities and progress disruptive technologies in freight.
IONA is an ARPAS-UK Member. www.ionadrones.com
8 April 2024
The prospect of remotely piloted drones operating in and out of some of the UK’s busiest airports has taken a step closer to reality following a series of pioneering simulations by the air traffic management service, NATS.
The simulations, run at NATS’ head office in Hampshire, demonstrated how drones could be seamlessly integrated alongside other air traffic at a busy airport. This included drone operators filing flight plans, flying in and out of the airport and being safely deconflicted with other aircraft.
The leading work forms part of Project CAELUS, a UKRI industry collaboration of 16 partners including AGS Airports, University of Strathclyde, NATS and NHS Scotland, aiming to use drones to transport essential medical supplies throughout Scotland.
The project’s first test flight occurred at Glasgow Airport last year, with a drone flying to the nearby NHS Golden Jubilee hospital. The concept development and simulation work NATS has led on is essential to understanding how that one-off flight could be safely scaled up to include dozens of drones flying ‘Beyond Visual Line of Sight’ and delivering medicines and blood tests to patients across Scotland and potentially beyond.
The airspace integration was overseen by a new Airspace Manager function using new technology developed by NATS. As part of this proposed ‘concept of operations,’ direct voice communication between a drone operator and air traffic control would only be required by exception – including the kind of emergency scenario demonstrated during the simulations.
Richard Ellis, NATS New Airspace Users Director, said: “Everything we’re doing is striving towards enabling the seamless, safe integration of drones and other new airspace users into our skies. There is a lot of work still to do, including the development and approval of new technology and regulations, but I believe what we and our Project CAELUS partners are doing will help support that process and is taking us a step closer to an exciting future.”
Fiona Smith, AGS Airports Group Head of Aerodrome Strategy and Project CAELUS Director, said: “We have continued to see some valuable collaboration and innovation across Project CAELUS and this latest work led by NATS truly demonstrates our ambition to forge a new path.”
“Our first live flight trial last year was incredibly important and demonstrated a means of integrating drones into an airport environment.”
“This year, we look forward to showcasing many more demonstrations including a ramped up flying programme across Scotland and we are delighted to kick start that programme with this exciting NATS showcase”.
Hazel Dempsey, Caelus National Programme Manager from NHS Grampian added: “Exploring how drone technology could be usefully used as a way of delivering care to people who live in urban, remote, rural and island locations, is edging ever-closer to a reality.”
Project Caelus is a Future Flight Challenge programme jointly funded by UK Research and Innovation. Further test flights are planned for later this year.
In this enlightening interview, Elena Major, Head of Operations at ARPAS-UK, talks with CEO Anne-Lise Scaillierez about the recent drone regulation consultation, focusing on key takeaways like the CAA’s DISCO initiative for digitalisation, the SORA safety methodology, and the integration of CAP-722 for Unmanned Aircraft System operations. This discussion delves into the future of drone technology, emphasising innovation, safety, and the impact of regulatory changes on the industry. Tune in to hear from leading voices in the UK’s drone sector as they navigate these transformative developments.
The new 4th edition of the Metric Survey Specifications for Cultural Heritage has just been published online by the Geospatial Survey team of ARPAS-UK Member, Historic England. The third edition was published in 2015, and this new edition contains the most notable advance being the ubiquitous use of multi-image, structure from motion photogrammetric software and drones to capture aerial photography.
This latest edition is now entitled “Geospatial Survey Specifications for Cultural Heritage” and incorporates several advances in geospatial surveying technology since the previous version was published in 2015. The most notable is the now widespread use of multi-image, structure from motion photogrammetric software and drones for capturing low-level aerial photography of heritage buildings, sites, and landscapes.
It should be very useful to those specifying survey work throughout the historic environment sector and academics researching building conservation.
This new specification, together with an accompanying project brief template, is free to download.
The UK Civil Aviation Authority, in partnership with Baringa and QinetiQ, is hosting virtual workshops in February to discuss Electronic Conspicuity (EC) device use. The sessions will look at how EC is used to detect airborne threats and how decisions are made to avoid airborne collisions.
They are looking for volunteers who are operationally qualified users from the following categories:
Participants cannot not have any connection to an EC manufacturer.
If you are interested in attending a workshop please email your name, contact details and which of the categories you fall under to: ec@caa.co.uk
During the CAA Finance Service Forum on 8 December 2023 and covering among other matters the “FY2024/25 Charging Consultation Proposals”, the CAA introduced a proposal for “a further new activity price increase of 3.0% across our safety schemes, providing a contribution to the CAA’s role in enabling innovation in the sector, particularly Future Flight which will deliver benefits to existing users through enabling the safe integration of new users, as well as to those new users who will in time be part of the aviation system and at that point make a financial contribution to regulatory costs.”
That proposal would help fund 10% of the costs supported by the CAA, with the government funding the other 90%.
ARPAS-UK supports the proposal, and we believe that innovation will benefit all airspace users.
10 January 2024
The WMO Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UAS) Demonstration Campaign (UAS-DC) aims at demonstrating the potential capability of UAS to play a role as an operational component of the WMO Integrated Global Observing System (WIGOS) under the Global Basic Observing Network (GBON).
The scope of the campaign is elaborated below and is based on key requirements and expectations that are derived from the theme and the aims.
| Element of Scope | Proposed | ||
| Observations Period | 6 months, from 1 March to 30 September 2024 | ||
| 3 x Special Observing Periods (SOP) | Periods where participants are requested to undertake observations with, where possible:higher temporal resolution – more frequent flights with observations made at a higher frequencyWith wider coverage – observations from more sitesThe SOPs are expected to occur as follows:April 2024, all month, with high priority on the week commencing on April 8 (overlapping with the total solar eclipse of April 8)5 – 12 August 2024, overlapping with the Paris Olympics9-15 September 2024, overlapping with the ISARRA flight week | ||
| Participants | Participant OperatorsWMO Member UAS operatorResearch UAS operatorPrivate UAS operator | Participant Data UsersMember Data UserNumerical Weather Prediction CentresOther applicationsResearch Data User | Other StakeholdersWMO, INFCOMICAONational Civil Aviation Authorities |
| Geographical scope | Global – participants from all regions, countries and locations where UAS are and can be flown in compliance with national airspace regulations. | ||
| UAS types | Autonomous copter or fixed-wing small UAS Remote-piloted copter or fixed-wind small UAS Automated high altitude fixed-wing UAS Remote-piloted high altitude fixed-wing UAS | ||
| Observations Locations & Modes | Observations from all locations and modes, including but not limited to:Oceanic Atmospheric Boundary Layer (ABL) – Vertical profiles of the atmospheric boundary layer with UAS from stationary or moving platform location.Remote land, mountain, coastal and cryosphere observations and vertical profiles with UAS.Upper troposphere and lower stratosphere observations of UAS.Testbed observations and vertical profiling UAS.Symbiotic UAS observations collected by private UAS performing some other primary mission (e.g., package delivery). | ||
| Reported Variables | Required physical variablesAir temperatureAir pressureRelative humidity | Additional physical variableswind speedwind direction snow coversnow depthsoil moisturealbedoroughness lengthaerosols or particulatesvolcanic ashturbulence | |
| Data Provision | Data provided by participant operators will be made with continuous, routine provision of data for at least 1 month during the demonstration observing period, in the Standard Data Representation Format to the central data repository and in Near-real Time, where:Continuous, Routine Data Provision – The making and provision of observations of the Required Physical Variables and associated Supporting Observational Metadata in accordance with the Modes of Operation at a frequency of at least once per day, on at least 4 days per week.Near-real Time – preferably within 30 minutes of the observation time if possible, and no later than within 3 hours as a maximum.Standard Data Representation Format (SDRF) – Data shall be submitted in a pre-defined NetCDF or WMO BUFR format tailored for UAS data representation. | ||
So as to ensure that participants in the UAS Demonstration Campaign can help to best meet the scope and the aims of the campaign, it is necessary to impose some specific requirements of participants in terms of several aspects related to the role they will play as participants.
Participants fall into 2 main categories:
For more information, follow the link:
Heliport was facing a growing number of drone flight requests. And it was causing problems.
London Heliport’s Flight-Restriction Zone (FRZ) encompasses a number of locations: Clapham Common, Battersea Park, Stamford Bridge stadium, HMP Wandsworth, and many more. Unsurprisingly, hundreds of drone operators apply to fly within London Heliport’s FRZ, with the numbers increasing each year.
Each application requires its own risk assessment to ensure the safety of the heliport’s staff and passengers, not to mention the time and resources spent handling each request.
London Heliport needed a way to streamline the approvals process while maintaining strict operational safety.
Which is why London Heliport now works with Altitude Angel.
London’s only CAA-licensed heliport
Sitting opposite Chelsea Harbour for over 50 years, London Heliport is the only CAA licensed heliport serving the City of London. Providing a huge suite of luxury services to both VIPs and the business community, including private charters and airport transfers, it also serves as a departure and arrival point for events both in and around the City.
The heliport also provides local emergency services such as the London Air Ambulance with the facilities they need, helping them keep people safe and save lives.
With so much traffic coming in and out of the Heliport, safety is an absolute priority. Unauthorised drone flights can pose a huge risk to pilots and passengers, which is why the team is keen to work with and accommodate drone operators as much as possible. But the sheer number of flight applications was starting to make that difficult.
Struggling under administrative burden
Unfortunately, the growing number of drone flight applications submitted to the heliport was causing a strain on resources.
“Our main role is providing a VIP service to helicopters and passengers here. The guys at the front desk were trying to support passengers but having to spend loads of time dealing with drone flight applications.”
Matthew Rice, Heliport Manager at London Heliport
The source of the issues lay in the application process. Drone operators would contact the heliport and be sent an application form. The team would process the application, diligently checking it against other planned operations and assessing the risk. Where the application was found to be incomplete, the team would need to spend extra time seeking missing information from the drone operator.
If the team’s risk assessment determined the application was safe to approve, they would do so and manually process the administration fee by credit card machine or by verifying a wire transfer.
“It was long-winded and used up a lot of your time. One application could take you about half an hour.” Matthew Rice, Heliport Manager at London Heliport
Processing up to 800 applications a year meant London Heliport was investing resources into 400 hours (and rising) of drone flight approvals.
Once a flight was approved, it was manually added to a central spreadsheet. Unfortunately, this didn’t give the team the visibility it needed.
“The biggest problem with the spreadsheet was it was huge. Last time I looked, there were over 700 permits. And flights weren’t listed individually. Permits were issued with date ranges. A line on the spreadsheet saying a pilot has a permit for a year doesn’t tell me what’s happening today.”
Matthew Rice, Heliport Manager at London Heliport
This meant that the Heliport’s audit trail needed a degree of interpretation to demonstrate operational safety, as well as relying on records of calls with individual drone operators on the day.
What they needed was a platform that would make the application process simple, straightforward, and efficient.
A platform like GuardianUTM Approval Services.
Easier, quicker, safer
Implementing GuardianUTM’s Approval Services took the burden away from London Heliport’s resources while maintaining operational safety.
Drone operators simply use one of Altitude Angel’s free drone planning tools to submit a flight request to operate in London Heliport’s FRZ. The platform consolidates all flight and operator information, saving the team time on verifying all the necessary information. Administration fees can even be automatically processed upon approval.
From half an hour per application, London Heliport saw dramatic time savings.
“Getting the approval service on GuardianUTM changed the game completely. Straightforward applications take significantly less time. Even ones with issues are much easier and faster. It has shaved off so much time.” Matthew Rice, Heliport Manager at London Heliport
More importantly, these time savings don’t come at the price of safety. In fact, GuardianUTM makes it easier to conduct thorough risk assessments by bringing all the necessary data together in one place and the reduction in time has enabled us to keep our administrative fees from rising as demand increases.
The London Heliport team can see ground and air data from within London Heliport’s FRZ, as well as providing situational awareness of activity outside the FRZ, in a single view. Making it not just quicker and easier to conduct risk assessments, but ensuring such assessments are more comprehensive than ever.
“The situational awareness map is incredible. What you can see on there, and all the extra information is brilliant. This was one of the big selling points for us. It all shows up on the system. It gives us a picture of what’s going on.”
Matthew Rice, Heliport Manager at London Heliport
Continuing to make things better
Working with London Heliport has been an absolute pleasure, and we’re thrilled to see how much our GuardianUTM platform has helped them. And this is just the
beginning.
“Altitude Angel’s service has been brilliant. And they’re working with us to constantly improve the system.”
Matthew Rice, Heliport Manager at London Heliport
All the while, we continue to provide London Heliport, and the drone operators flying within its FRZ, with any help they need to make the application process as straightforward as possible.
“The Altitude Angel team is brilliant. I know if anyone needs guidance, we can pass them on to the team to get the help they need.”
Matthew Rice, Heliport Manager at London Heliport
London Heliport UTM ready zone.
For more information about GuardianUTM approval services, please visit the webpage: GuardianUTM Approval Services webpage
You can also visit the contact page to speak to the team: Contact us
