Forprosjekt UAV Traffic Management (UTM)

A sky full of drones. When the words drone traffic is mentioned, our first thoughts are brought to videos and images of a sky full of drones bringing packages, pizzas or other products home to people who have done a couple of clicks on the internet. Alternatively, it could be services of a more medical character where e.g. a defibrillator brought to someone who needs it, blood samples or medical equipment is transported between hospitals, or that we get drone-taxies, which is currently being tested. The possibilities are more or less endless, and the number of drones in Norway that have been reported and approved for commercial use as increased from 200 to 4000 in three years. When drone operations are getting closer to urban areas or are increasing in volume, the danger and likelihood of conflicts between drones, between drones and other air traffic or between drones and people will increase significantly. Even if it seems like the future drones to a high degree will be autonomous, it will be necessary for the drones to be continuous monitored and controlled from control stations on the ground, and at least to the same level as conventional air traffic is being controlled today In other words will UAV Traffic Management (UTM) systems be needed in the same way as today's Air Traffic Management (ATM) systems for managing manned air traffic. Indra Navia has many years of experience and expertise in ATM, and will use this expertise to develop the future UTM solutions.

Indra Navias prosjekt er å utvikle et UAV Traffic Management (UTM) system for overvåkning og kontroll av UAV/droner Bruk av UAV/droner innen kontrollerte og urbane områder vil kreve en mye høyere grad av nøyaktighet og sikkerhet, herunder også overvåkning og kontroll, enn det som i dag kreves for lavt- og sakteflyvende droner. UAV/droner vil også etter hvert gjøre sitt inntreden i luftrom som i dag er regulert for konvensjonell flytrafikk (kontrollerte luftrom), og en antar da at kravene som da vil stilles til selve dronen og kontrollsystemene rundt den vil nærme seg kravene som stilles til flytrafikk i dag. Som en del av dette søker Indra Nava støtte til et forprosjekt for å studere krav og teknologier for å identifisere hvilke praktiske løsninger som må tas frem for å realisere et UTM system.