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U-Space promises a long-term solution for the safe control of drones for routine air traffic
July 4 and 5 Madrid welcomed to IFEMA in Expadronika 2018We are seeing such an event in the capital for the first time. In hall 5 of the exhibition complex, we could see many booths of companies that provide drone services, especially topography and thermography services, manufacturers such as DJI and other smaller ones, as well as suppliers for companies and pilotssuch as insurance brokers, pilot associations…
In addition, these stands were accompanied by a bonfire where you could talk to some of the most important figures in the world of drones in Spain and talks on the main stage.
From the whole event, we would like to highlight the intervention of a Ener, Everis I Unifly about his plan for the development of the drone industry in a the future: U Space.
What is U-Space?
By now we are all more or less familiar with the difficulties of manufacturing unmanned workplaces depending on which spaces for security reasons. Since 2014, the activity has been regulated in such a way that it is illegal to fly drones in controlled airspace, and in December 2017 this type of work was given the go-ahead, subject to extensive safety studies and AESA approval. Although the new legislation seemed promising, little changed.
With more than 3,000 authorized operators in Spain requesting permits, the amount of work placed on AESA and air traffic controllers to issue these permits is virtually non-existent, creating the bottleneck that leads to the current situation.
That is why the initiative is being developed U Space with the intention of making drone flights in this type of space not only possible, but also an activity managed in a fully autonomous way, adapting the aviation safety procedures and mechanisms we know today to guarantee work and safety for all.
It sounds utopian, but at the same time it is possible. Let’s imagine a scenario where an RPAS pilot needs to fly a CTR. While, in theory, a flight plan and safety study should be drawn up, which should be approved by AESA and the relevant air traffic controller well in advance. Once there, before takeoff and throughout the operation, the drone pilot must communicate with the controller. Although it is a logical system, it requires a lot of work for everyone, from the drone operator who has to triple the work before the flight, to the controller who has to control another flight for each drone that is going to fly in his area. , increasing the complexity of an already delicate work; obviously going through all the permit management procedures that AESA is not currently in a position to undertake.
Thanks to the U-Space offering, you can record when and where you are going to fly through the app. Once in the air, the drone transmits its position, altitude, speed and trajectory to the server. The server detects a possible danger, because at this moment an aircraft is assembled near the drone. The server then moves the drone to an altitude and/or position where it cannot in any way interfere with the other aircraft, which obviously has the upper hand when transporting people. Once the danger has passed, the drone pilot regains control and continues the operation.
So it’s about having a central system that can receive information from manned aircraft, both about flights in progress and no-drone areas, and that at the same time can receive all information from drones that are flying at this point. , to make decisions and execute them with a high degree of automation.
What is needed to implement U-Space?
To begin with, for U-Space to be effective, all drones must be equipped with the necessary technology to transmit this key data. We can speculate about what technology will be required to do this, but one of the foundations of U-Space is that it will be cost-effective for users, both professional and hobbyist, and that is one of the biggest hurdles they face today. will have to overcome..
On the other hand, it entails investment by the European Union authorities in technology and training to realize these possibilities.
U-Space will gradually develop
As something so complex, a four-phase U-Space implementation strategy has been proposed. The first is to provide drone operators with a single electronic system for logging flights and geographic information to perform geofencing tasks over specific areas. Whereas geofencing (or virtual fencing) is a well-known, reliable and easily implemented technology, and that those responsible for aviation security have recently been doing their best to obtain certain information regarding the geography of different airspaces, This script, U1, is expected to be available in 2019. The remaining steps will be taken to gradually expand the powers of this service until the scenario described above becomes possible, in a phase they called U4, starting in 2035.
On the one hand, we are glad that there is a desire to integrate, normalize and promote the flight of drones in the community, and we like that the decision does not involve a ban, because the drone industry, although it must develop, guaranteeing safety first, has a huge potential to provide jobs and improving lives in an incredibly diverse range of areas. On the other hand, the emerging timeline is a pitcher of cold water: Unmanned aerial vehicles have technologically advanced in ways that would have seemed like science fiction to us five years ago, and by 2035 many things could happen that would make U-Space fall short or that it is not even implemented. It’s great to find long-term solutions, but drone operators today need urgent action to be able to fly freely and safely and to be competitive in the illegal services market that emerged as an unintended consequence of the 2014 and 2017 laws.
Also, the last thing we should do is sit back and think that the problems we face with drone pilots will solve themselves. The goal is security, but the reason is the new era of change that is coming. These changes go hand in hand with technology and new pilots who want to fight for our space in the sky. You can’t put a door on the field, and you can’t put a roof on the sky, so everyone has to make it a free and safe place.
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