AGORA

Partners

• Airbus
• FADA-CATEC

Summary

The AGORA project is the result of a Joint Research Unit between the UTM (Unmanned Aerial Traffic Management) unit of AIRBUS Puerto Real and FADA, in which both centers of the foundation collaborate: the Advanced Center for Aerospace Technologies (CATEC) in Seville, and the ATLAS center in Villacarrillo (Jaén). The project’s main objective is to develop enabling technologies for the future U-space ecosystem, a set of services that will support unmanned aircraft operations. Specifically, AGORA will research the integration of highly autonomous aircraft and the U-space services required for this.

As its main technological challenges, the AGORA project aims to define new operational concepts, as well as reference architectures for U-space and the associated regulations. It will also address the development of advanced U-space digital services prototypes to facilitate the safe operation of multiple autonomous drones in a U-space ecosystem. For this integration, onboard algorithms will be developed for in-flight contingency management for highly autonomous UAVs. All of the above will be integrated into a U-space experimentation platform, which will be deployed at the ATLAS center in Villacarrillo, Jaén.

In particular, the technological objectives of the AGORA project are:

• 1. Definition of new operational concepts and reference architectures for unmanned vehicle traffic management, in line with the European UTM paradigm, U-space, and the future regulations associated with it. One of the key challenges is that the architecture must enable a future digital U-space services market, in which multiple providers, known as USSPs, can simultaneously serve multiple operators in the same airspace environment. Another key challenge is the integration of the U-space environment with conventional ATM, so that unmanned and manned traffic can be safely integrated.
• 2. Development of advanced U-space digital services prototypes that facilitate the safe and efficient operation of multiple autonomous drones in U-space environments. The services to be developed will facilitate, on the one hand, mission planning and management before takeoff, taking into account various factors that may affect it (such as traffic or weather conditions), real-time flight monitoring, and the management of non-nominal situations that may arise, such as conflicts with traffic operating in the same airspace. Services will also be developed to provide access to mission-critical information and facilitate collaboration between different USSPs and between USSPs and ATMs.
• 3. Development of onboard algorithms for in-flight contingency management in highly autonomous drones. Solutions will be explored to increase mission robustness and integrity in situations of loss of communication link and deterioration of the GNSS navigation signal, reducing the safety risks associated with operations in U-space environments. Algorithms will also be developed to automatically detect and avoid obstacles in real time, a key challenge for operations in urban environments (UAM).
• 4. Creation of a U-space experimentation platform, deployed at the ATLAS center (Jaén), which will allow testing advanced U-space concepts thanks to the possibility of creating simulated scenarios that combine real and synthetic systems, where different USSPs coexist and interact simultaneously, offering their services to different users who may be real or virtual. The platform will also provide an integration interface with the authorities responsible for providing ATM services, enabling the study of mixed scenarios involving manned and unmanned traffic. In addition, this platform will serve to experiment with different standards and regulatory norms, providing information to civil aviation entities to help advance the definition of the regulatory framework for U-space.

CATEC’s role in the project

FADA-CATEC, one of Europe’s leading technology centers in the field of unmanned aerial vehicles and the leading technology center in Spain, has developed advanced technologies for unmanned vehicles that are recognized worldwide. FADA-CATEC works to promote and develop the creation of technological knowledge and its transfer to the aerospace production sector through applied research, technological development, and knowledge management activities.

Through the AGORA project, Airbus and FADA-CATEC aim to become leaders in the development of technologies to enable the future European UTM ecosystem (U-space), which will place them in a preferential position to access future opportunities once this ecosystem is regulated and a market is created for the provision of services to UAV operators and for the industrialization and commercialization of the technological solutions, both onboard and on the ground, that will enable these services.

In particular, CATEC will work on:

• Development of operational procedures and autonomous functionalities that allow for the safe management of non-nominal and emergency situations.
• Validation in a controlled environment. A prototype platform for technology validation up to TRL4 (validation in a controlled laboratory/environment) will be developed at the ATLAS experimental flight center.

An incentive has been received from the Innovation and Development Agency of Andalusia (IDEA), of the Regional Government of Andalusia, for an amount of €299,483.48, 80% co-financed by the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) for the implementation of project 602C2000003 – Experimental Unit for Air Traffic Management for Autonomous Vehicles with the aim of “Promoting technological development, innovation and quality research”.