Air Mobility Urban - Large Experimental Demonstrations

Project Information

AMU-LED

Grant agreement ID: 101017702

DOI

10.3030/101017702

Project closed

EC signature date 21 December 2020

Start date 1 January 2021

End date 28 February 2023

Funded under

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Smart, Green And Integrated Transport

Total cost

€ 4 806 522,50

EU contribution

€ 3 997 415,13

Coordinated by

NTT DATA SPAIN, SL
Spain

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - AMU-LED (Air Mobility Urban - Large Experimental Demonstrations)

Reporting period: 2022-01-01 to 2023-02-28

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Urban Air Mobility (UAM) is a challenging new domain as it encompasses safety needs of the avionic domain (including integration with other Airspace users), the complexity of the urban environment and challenging topics such as sustainable development and public acceptance. In the past, air traffic management and aircraft developed methodologies, standards and regulations. Safe and controlled airspace exist thanks to crucial rules and concepts such as segregated or controlled airspace and aircraft separations that re-enforce the safety of the air traffic domain. The AMU-LED purpose is to adapt and enhance Air Traffic Management (ATM) and U-space technology and methodologies to facilitate and speed up the development of UAM and perform exhaustive and conclusive tests in controlled and safe conditions.
The AMU-LED project aims at the definition and initial validation of a high-level concept of operations and use cases definition for performing UAM flight test campaigns, to demonstrate the safe integration of UAM as additional airspace user in U-space.
This safe integration of UAM as additional airspace user faces two main challenges:
1. The safe UAM flight and navigation
2. The integration with other airspace users
Accordingly, AMU-LED is focused on achieving the following two objectives:
• Objetive 1: Safe interaction of UAM with other Airspace Users. AMU-LED define and test U-space services and technologies to provide means to coordinate and integrate safely UAM operations with other Airspace Users, including manned aviation and ATC coordination.
• Objetive 2: Safe UAM flight. Additionally, the AMU-LED Project explore the requirements of UAM platforms to fly and navigate safely even in complex urban environments, considering the impact of buildings both in surrounding air streams and multipath effects on electromagnetic signals. This is done through the provision of guidance (e.g. GNSS) and communications (e.g. 4G/5G) to the UAM platforms.
The goal of Very Large-Scale Demonstrations (VLDs) is to join the Research & Innovation with the implementation phase without replacing such activities. VLDs are primarily focused on closing the gap between the development and operational implementation, being at the border in terms of maturity transition from the Industrial Research & Validation and the industrialisation and to the posterior implementation. As such, they will mostly derive from work matured through an earlier phase of Industrial Research & Validation while taking the opportunity to trial innovation close to the market to help secure a short time to market. The VLD described here may also be a vehicle to promote SESAR Solutions outside Europe and contribute to global de-carbonisation/fuel efficiency.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

AMU-LED project started officially on January 1st 2021. Seven (out of the eight) work packages (WP) are ongoing at this point of the project (month 12, M12) and WP5 (U-space Management and Aerial Systems Deployment) started in M13.

WP1 - Project Management and Monitoring & Ethics
• The management infrastructure, procedures, quality standards and European Ethics Regulations have been set up and maintained
• Financial supervision
• Several high level meetings have been arranged (kick-off meeting, consortium meetings and midterm meeting)
• Collaboration and synergies between partners have been fostered
• Advisory board has been consolidated

WP2 - UAM Operational & Safety Concept Definition
• Submission of the Operational Safety Analysis and Concept and the initial draft of the ConOps
• This ConOps were presented and discussed during public workshop arranged on April the 30th
• Participation to SJU ConOps Coordination Cell meetings and discussions hosted by Eurocontrol
• There has also been an active participation in workshops and collaboration with other sibling projects

WP3 - Use Case & Scenario Definition
• We defined Use Cases Definitions and we identified typical UAM and U-Space features across each of the three tests
• We defined the simulation requirement for the project and designed a synthetic ATM/UTM Use Case- Scenario Simulation
• Collected and analyzed SORAs for test flights
• We have started to work on the contingency management

WP4 - Technical Solution Definition
• Transformation of operational requirements (WP2 & WP3) into Functional Requirements
• Identify the interaction and required information exchanges between UAM & U-space, other Airspace Users, ATC, and other stakeholders
• Description of platforms main features and definition of Drones-USSP integration solution
• Operational Models Definition, identification of Points of Interaction among U-space Services and actors and Data model definition for information exchanges
• Definition of U-Space Architecture
• Definition of the expected CNS performances and definition of the supporting infrastructure to allow U-space and UAM/UAS interaction, as well as collaboration with ATC

WP6 - Testing and Demonstrations
In this WP, two versions of the Demonstration Plan have been provided, with version 01 focussing on the specification of demo sites, operational scenarios and demonstration objectives and version 02 providing an update, based on progress in the project and specific attention to the safety plan.

WP7 - Support to Standardisation and Regulation
• Identify existing standardisation and regulatory gaps associated to U-Space in the context of UAM
• Beginning of the analysis of Standards&Regulation and UAM services Safety and Social Acceptance

WP8 - Communication, Exploitation and Dissemination
• Set up the website and social media accounts
• Develop the dissemination and communication plan
• Publishing of news, blogs and newsletter
• Attendance to several congresses and submission of several contributions to conferences

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The project will define, design and deliver a detailed concept of operations and a set of urban air missions. This will be by simulations and a large real flight campaign composed of three demonstrations (in United Kingdom, The Netherlands and Spain) to verify and validate the concepts in order to compare two UTM architectures. AMU-LED will allow UAM stakeholders to specify various use cases applicable to logistics and urban transport of passengers, while integrating these in a UAM environment, to demonstrate the UAS ground and airborne platforms and finally, to assess safety, security, sustainability and public acceptance.
The corresponding City Councils of the demos have confirmed their interest, involvement and needs for Air logistics, transport and emergency services.
With respect to the use cases, the consortium will consider at least the following missions: logistics and good transportation, air taxi, surveillance, infrastructure inspection and monitoring and emergency services. Conventional UAS (multicopter and fixed-wing), large eVTOL and helicopters will be the platforms supporting the demonstrations, thus representing a complete urban air mobility ecosystem. The tests will be performed in cities with highly accurate 3D terrain and city models, surrounding drone traffic, diverse weather conditions, UTM regulation for U-Space and communication coverage. U-Space service provision will be based on the latest EASA Opinion and in accordance to new EC regulation, proposing a regulatory framework with a Common Information Service (CIS) and several U-Space Service Providers. Discussions on the regulation are ongoing between the member states.

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