A Canadian firm has reached a research collaboration agreement with the National Research Council of Canada (NRC). The goal, according to a news release, is “to use artificial intelligence in Advanced Air Mobility.”
The company is called Aquarius Innovation, and it works on software solutions for Unmanned Traffic Management. Specifically, a new collaboration will integrate “the NRC’s cutting-edge work in artificial intelligence-based detect and classify systems into Aquarius Innovation’s fully autonomous drone traffic management systems, frequently referred to as RPAS Traffic Management (RTM).”
Let’s find out more.
RTM
Remotely Piloted Aircraft System, or RPAS, is the term used for aerial drones in Canada (and by the International Civil Aviation Organization, ICAO). So don’t let the term “RTM” confuse you; it has the same meaning as Unmanned Traffic Management, or UTM.
Regardless of which acronym you use, the meaning is the same: an automated system that will ensure that manned and unmanned (or “crewed” and “uncrewed,” which is starting to be used regularly) aircraft can safely share the airspace. Many different companies and working groups around the globe are actively working on solutions for this issue.
Real-time
Of course, any system like this has to be working in real-time. Any operator running drone software – whether it’s an individual unit or a fleet – needs to have constant situational awareness of the airspace. There have to be safeguards built in so that any aircraft can be detected, identified – and avoided.
Aquarius Innovations already has an RTM solution that it’s been working on, a fleet-management tool for remotely operating drones. Now, it will be working with the NRC on the first phase of their collaborative project. That project (take a deep breath) is called: “Integration of the NRC’s Detect and Classify Module into Aquarius’s Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) Traffic Management System.”
Synergy
You could think of this project, then, as aiming for a synergic effect. Successfully integrating some of NRC’s tech into the existing software would provide much-needed capabilities in a world where automated Beyond Visual Line of Site drone missions become routine (an era that will be here before you know it).
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