Ajuno are conducting a short survey on assurance of UAS flight controllers.
The flight controller is core to any UAS and is responsible for stabilising the aircraft, executing flight commands, and enabling increasingly autonomous navigation. Despite significant advancements in UAS technology, current flight controllers present both significant challenges and opportunities to future drone capabilities
Complete this <10min survey to help steer the future of flight controller development and have a chance to win a £50 Amazon voucher!
The Future of Drone Flight – Flying High with Wind Farm Test Trials: Watch Again
Join Mike Turner, Cloud Architect at Zenotech on
The SafeZone project is in full flight with an increasing number of successful trials. SafeZone is part of the Future Flight Challenge to position the UK as a leader in the third aviation revolution. With the initial project partners, Flare Bright, Zenotech’s project is designed to further safer and more viable drone flight.
The project has already achieved successful results at Cardiff Airport, St Athan Airport, and wind farms in the UK.
This webinar will delve into the results of these wind trials in Wales. Zenotech will show how the use of high fidelity computational modelling can improve drone safety by predicting areas of highly turbulent air.
Find out how Zenotech validated the computational models using physical flight trials with Flare Bright’s wind measurement technology.
Mike will also demonstrate the way the data from the computational models can be processed and used in mission planning and flight control.
Speaker Biography:
Mike Turner, Zenotech, Cloud Architect
Mike is a specialist in cloud computing and HPC. He has gained experience from working on numerous computing deployment projects at BAE Systems, the Financial Services sector and then as a Solutions Architect on global data centre consolidation and cloud migration projects.
Mike is responsible for managing the development of Zenotech’s EPIC product where he has developed the product from the early stages. He works closely with a variety of supercomputing centres and cloud providers to give Zenotech customers access to the latest world-class HPC hardware. Mike also works with customers to evaluate and benchmark engineering simulation workloads on cloud HPC platforms and demonstrate how these workloads can take advantage of new cloud services.
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Westminster eForum: Priorities & Next Steps for the Drone Industry. AL Scaillierez, ARPAS-UK CEO and D. Pankhurst, BT as speakers
Date: 16 January 2024
Location: Virtual
Chaired by: Henry SmithMP, Chair, Future of Aviation APPG
Dave Pankhurst, Director of Drones, BT, Professor James Scanlan, Professor of Aerospace Design, University of Southampton, Robert Garbett, Chief Executive, Drone Major Group, Simon Phippard, Bird & Bird; and Anne-Lise Scaillierez, The Drone Office and ARPAS-UK
This conference, taking place on Tuesday, 16th January 2024, will focus on the future of the UK drone industry, and priorities for supporting innovation and growth.
It will be an opportunity for key stakeholders and policymakers to discuss next steps for policy and regulation, as well as action by the drone sector and its partners, following recommendations in the HM Treasury Pro-innovation Regulation of Technologies Review.
Delegates will look at how best to unlock commercial potential for drones, looking at use cases across industries, consumer engagement, and models of funding for research and development in the sector, especially for newer entrants to the market.
Further sessions look at the way for forward for developing collaborative frameworks for industry stakeholders, including UTMs and drone developers, agreements and the steps needed to enhance connectivity and airspace integration to support growth in the sector.
Expect discussion on UKRI’s Future Flight Challenge, its outcomes so far and next steps for 2024 and beyond, as well as the CAA’s Airspace Modernisation Strategy and international case studies on best practice for drone regulation and policy.
Overall, areas for discussion include:
Policy and regulation: frameworks for collaboration between government, regulators and industry – providing support and certainty for new entrants and smaller industry players
Commercialisation: priorities for drone market development – latest use cases and strategies for realising the potential of commercial drone use – consumer engagement
Innovation: what is needed across industry and government to foster innovation – next steps for funding and investment for research and development – infrastructure priorities
Collaboration: opportunities for cross-sector collaboration and frameworks for industry and UTMs – practical, legal, technological and commercial considerations for harmonisation of airspace
Safety and security: prospects for airspace integration – BVLOS regulation – security and safety for UAVs – operating standards – building public trust
International markets: key commercial trends and opportunities – lessons for the UK drone sector – opportunities for collaboration – the UK’s potential leadership role
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AAM Evidence report published by DfT
BryceTech was commissioned by the Department for Transport to assess the Advanced Air Mobility market readiness.
The UK’s Department for Transport (DfT) has published a comprehensive review on Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) titled “Advanced Air Mobility Evidence Review.” Released on December 5, 2023, and updated on December 7, 2023, this independent report, produced by BryceTech on behalf of the DfT, marks a crucial step in understanding and shaping the future of air travel.
The review meticulously addresses evidence gaps identified in DfT’s research areas, providing an in-depth overview of the current status and expected future trajectory of both the UK and global AAM industry. This includes a detailed examination of the development level and market entry timelines for various vehicles and enabling technologies, pivotal in shaping the industry’s future.
One of the key aspects of the review is its focus on the size and potential growth of the current UK and global markets for advanced air mobility. By assessing future market outlooks, the report highlights significant opportunities for industry players and policymakers. Importantly, the review identifies key market drivers and barriers, offering insights into potential government interventions that could facilitate the growth of the UK AAM market.
The AAM market is characterized by a high level of uncertainty due to its emergent nature. To address this, the review draws from a broad spectrum of literature and expertise, including contributions from a steering group comprising representatives from the DfT, Civil Aviation Authority, Future Flight Challenge, Connected Places Catapult, and various academic institutions. This comprehensive approach ensures a balanced and well-informed perspective on the subject.
The review is not just an academic exercise; it is a vital resource for stakeholders across the aviation sector, including manufacturers, service providers, policy makers, and regulators. It sets the stage for informed decision-making and strategic planning, essential for navigating the complexities and leveraging the opportunities in the rapidly evolving world of advanced air mobility.
In conclusion, the “Advanced Air Mobility Evidence Review” by the UK Department for Transport is a landmark report that offers a clear vision of the future of aviation. It is a testament to the UK’s commitment to leading in the development and deployment of innovative aviation technologies. As the industry stands on the brink of a new era, this report will undoubtedly serve as a key reference point for shaping the future of air travel, both in the UK and globally.
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When Crewed meets Uncrewed Aircraft
One of the major challenges in integrating uncrewed aircraft into the same skies as crewed aircraft is that they communicate using different languages, in essence verbal vs data.
As experts in trialling advanced communications technology alongside their specialised aviation tasking, Draken Europe has been hard at work recently with their partners Volant Autonomy, supporting trials in the Agile Integrated Airspace System programme (aka ALIAS).
Last week, the ALIAS partners successfully completed their first flight trial using Draken’s crewed Diamond DA42 aircraft in proximate airspace with SkyLift’s uncrewed platform. This is the first of multiple flight trials in which Volant will be building team situation awareness, culminating in uncrewed SkyDrones, SkyLift and SkyPorts being able to operate safely and confidently in the same proximate airspace as Draken’s crewed aircraft.
Anthony (Tony) O’Connor, Draken’s Director of Strategic Bid Programmes, is leading the development of Draken’s #RPAS capability. He explained the role Draken is currently delivering in the ALIAS trials:
“We recognise there is considerable opportunity for us in building teaming capability to conduct safe UAV operations in challenging and congested airspace. Our investment in this goal is reflected in the contribution we bring to the ALIAS Project, part of Phase 3 of the Innovate UK Future Flight Challenge. The ALIAS project will deliver huge benefits in technological capability. The addition of Draken’s extensive operational experience will, we hope, result in commercial benefits for the whole consortium.”
5 December 2023
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Lincolnshire Prepares for Emergencies with Drones and Digital Twins
Geospatial and drone technology from ARPAS-UK member Esri UK supports more effective response to floods, power cuts and severe weather.
Lincolnshire Resilience Forum (LRF) has gone live with new geospatial and drone technology from Esri UK to help it better prepare for emergencies across the county, including flooding, loss of critical infrastructure, pandemics or severe weather. Image recognition and drone software are among new applications helping to create real-time intelligence and an improved understanding of potential catastrophes.
Covering over 2,000 square miles and a population of more than 750,000, the LRF’s objective is to save and protect human life, relieve suffering and contain emergencies, limiting their escalation by ensuring comprehensive readiness. One of 38 Local Resilience Forums in England, the multi-agency partnership consists of over 30 category 1 and 2 responders, including local authorities, government agencies, emergency services, NHS and health bodies, utilities and transport providers.
New systems are being used to identify unknown caravans using drone and satellite imagery, to gain a more accurate understanding of where residents need to be evacuated from in the event of a major flood. Preparing for tidal inundation is a top priority for the LRF due to Lincolnshire having one of the largest single landmasses in the country at risk of such an event, along with Europe’s highest density of static caravans at more than 34,000.
Esri drone software is making aerial data capture faster and more accurate to create 3D digital twins of potential higher risk zones, supporting better understanding of access and evacuation points in relation to homes and other properties. The new deployment means the LRF can create digital twins more quickly, particularly for Control of Major Accident Hazards (COMAH) locations, which involve dangerous substances such as gas and oil refineries.
Responding to large emergencies – particularly flooding but also major transport incidents or the loss of critical infrastructure – is a crucial role of public services. With the climate crisis comes more extreme weather events, which means community resilience is even more important.
Lincolnshire is a large county with no motorways and few dual carriageways so response and evacuation planning is critical. These new innovations are enabling emergency planners to model risks affecting the county to maximise response, improve communication and coordination and reduce, as practicably as possible, the impacts on the wider communities of the county. Creating the new caravan dataset in particular will dramatically improve intelligence.
Steve Eason-Harris, Emergency Planning Officer at Lincolnshire County Council, who is the lead officer for GIS and Resilient Communities for the LRF.
Identifying static caravans is traditionally difficult due to licensing regulations, land ownership and registry data. Now with new deep learning tools available, the LRF is exploring and developing ways of employing drone and satellite imagery and GIS to identify previously unknown caravans. Tourism is the lifeblood of many coastal regions in the country but this can increase risks to coastal populations residing in caravans when holiday seasons lengthen into storm periods. In Lincolnshire, this traditionally runs from October to March.
We’re aiming to solve a huge challenge and having the latest geospatial technology means the LRF can respond more effectively. Constant innovation is critical at the LRF, the objective being to use new systems to ensure we get the right resources to the right people at the right time
continued Eason-Harris.
At the core of the solution lies an Esri real-time mapping dashboard, providing a common operating picture, which went live in summer 2022 and was used extensively during Storm Babet in October 2023. Available online, on mobile devices and giant touch screens in the County Emergency Centre, it integrates data from over 30 agencies to allow rapid decision making. The system provides a faster and more advanced method of showing partners what the situation is before, during and after an emergency, compared to paper maps and spreadsheets.
Other new GIS projects at LRF include developing a workforce application for deploying, tracking and communicating with volunteers in the field to support vulnerable people who need assistance the most. The system will update the control centre via a mobile app when volunteer tasks have been completed and alert the team with any requests for medical intervention or transport assistance. Data from the app will also feed directly into the mapping dashboard in the control centre.
5 December 2023
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Drone logistics: Transporting Dangerous Goods by Drone: webinar WATCH AGAIN
What kinds of items are classified as dangerous goods and how can they be transported by uncrewed aircraft?
This seminar answers these questions and presents an overview of the relevant regulatory requirements plus options for how operators can become compliant, opening the door to new commercial use cases.
Speaker Bios:
Geoff Leach, Viking Drone Packaging.
Geoff is one of the world’s foremost authorities on the safe transport of dangerous goods and former head of the UK CAA dangerous goods office and Chairman of the ICAO Dangerous Goods Panel.
Anthony Venetz, Founder & Managing Director of Across Safety Development
Anthony is a UAS regulatory and safety management expert, and founder of Across Safety Development, a training and consulting business that has helped clients achieve many firsts in the uncrewed aviation industry, including the UK”s first operator approvals for the transport of dangerous goods by drone.
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Unmanned Aerial Precision Spraying (UAPS) with Railscape: webinar watch again
Railscape Ltd, one of the UK’s leading commercial drone service providers, have developed, designed, and patented the UK’s first unmanned aerial precision sprayer (UAPS).
The system, designed to deliver pesticides and herbicides via a sprayer attached to a drone, means a gamechanger in managing locations considered hazardous or difficult to reach using conventional working at height methods.
UAPS delivers safety, efficiency and environmental benefits and, whilst originally designed to operate in the railway environment, the utility of the sprayer means equally challenging environments are now in scope such as restricted industrial areas or protected historical monuments.
Speaker Bio:
Ed Lewis – Operations and Project Manager for Railscape Ltd.
With over 25 years of planning and operational experience developed during a career in the British Army, Ed was ideally suited to get the UAPS project across the line and oversee the first pesticide spraying from a drone on the railway in the UK.
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Maritime & Coastguard Aviation Evolution: webinar WATCH AGAIN
Join us as Philip Hanson, Aviation Technical Assurance Manager at the Maritime & Coastguard Agency discusses the evolution of Coastguard aviation and how that led the MCA to explore BVLOS drone use to support time critical missions, to increase search efficience and effectiveness, while reducing the risk to the rescuers.
Phil’s career began as an Avionic engineering apprentice at the Royal Naval Aircraft Yard Fleetlands in Gosport Hampshire.
Career Highlights include:
Implementing business change in the Defence Aviation Repair Agency
Working in MOD airworthiness policy
Management and development of UAV research programmes for the MOD
Project managing the implementation of interim Search and Rescue (SAR) Helicopter contract in introducing new technology
Project engineer for the Joint SAR Helicopter Procurement, holding airworthiness and safety delegations
Managing through life support of 20+ MOD UAV capabilities which provided surveillance and information superiority for the RAF, RN and Army.
Current role: Responsible for technical aspects and service acceptance of SAR Helicopter, Aerial Surveillance and Maritime drone capability.
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CAA: UAS Regulations Review Consultation due 10 Jan. DO RESPOND!
The CAA have launched a consultation on proposals to make it easier for drone users to fly safely and meet regulatory requirements. This is a follow-up to the Call for Input that took place in October – our responses were made available via the bulleting and the website.
The responses are due on January 10 2024, and we encourage all members to respond with their own views. The primary audience are the hundreds of thousands of Flyer and Operator ID holders and the Open Category operators, but the proposals also reach operators in the Specific category. A quick skim through the document indicates that it is going in the right direction, with among other proposals:
Proposal to implement a UK version of Class Marking, which will bring to life the real intended benefits of the Open category and its subcategories
Proposal that C1/UK1 (<900g) drones may fly over uninvolved people, like C0/UK0 drones
Gradual phase out of the CAP722 series and the merger of key content into a revised Acceptable Means of Compliance and Guidance Material AMC & GM. To avoid duplication of documentation and contradictions between documents.
Proposals also include the extension of Flyer ID training to users of drones under 250g, and the extension of time period to adopt class-marked drones by 2 years.
The most challenging proposal is most likely the introduction Remote ID. We know that there is no consensus among our members, based on your feedback collected in October for the Call for Input . Our position as an Organisation is in favour of Remote ID, with caveats, for the reasons outlined in our response at the time. You can read it again by clicking Here (password protected). We will also make our response to this formal consultation available to members once we’ve reviewed it within the Regulation Special Interest Group REGSIG.
We will share our thoughts and our response with members, in the meantime we encourage all members to respond with their own views:
