Singapore has completed a second stage of flight trials for an Unmanned Air Traffic Management (UTM) system, a two-year project focused on enabling safe and efficient Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) delivery operations and Urban Air Mobility (UAM) within Singapore’s densely populated urban environment launched by the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS). Flight test company Nova Systems, in close collaboration with OneSky, is leading a consortium to isolate the necessary mix of systems and technologies required to support the integration of drones in low-level airspace and safely coordinate their movement. Other significant partners collaborating in this flight test included M1, Scout Aerial, and Rohde and Schwarz. Nova Systems is also supporting Volocopter and Skyports’ demonstration of the world’s first flying taxi hub in Singapore.
CE Nova Systems Asia- Pacific Bret Barton commented: “Our trials have completed a study of the telecommunication network in Singapore, focused on establishing comprehensive 4G coverage maps. This is critical for the future conduct of low-level airspace operations in urban environments due to the safety-driven requirement for reliable communication links between the UAS, the ground control station and any traffic coordinating bodies.”
The trials included progressive flight testing from 0-1000 feet, testing of LTE connectivity in densely populated areas such as the Marina Bay Financial Centre where infrastructure introduces many urban canyon effects and maritime environments such as Keppel Bay. “Our team highlights that the safety and operational suitability of UTM and UAM operations employing 4G/5G telecommunications, requires focused effort to first establish signal latency, availability, integrity and continuity and subsequently isolate what the required performance needs to be,” added Barton.
“We’ve achieved a few significant, world-leading milestones during this suite of trials, particularly in expanding the assessed operational envelope for a drone’s communication and navigation performance in Singapore. One significant milestone is the progressive flight testing from 0-1000 feet, testing of LTE connectivity and importantly, doing so in densely populated areas such as the Marina Bay Financial Centre where infrastructure introduces many urban canyon effects and maritime environments such as Keppel Bay.
“Our team highlights that the safety and operational suitability of UTM and UAM operations employing 4G/5G telecommunications, requires focused effort to first establish signal latency, availability, integrity and continuity and subsequently isolate what the required performance needs to be.” Nova Systems plans to model the data collected to isolate performance requirements.
The next round of flight trials will be held in 2020, with a review of the UTM prototype’s functionality against an operational backdrop of multi-platform drones conducting a mix of VLOS and BVLOS operations.
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