A3’s Altiscope Aims to Facilitate UAS Integration into Airspace
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APEX Insight: A3 has created a simulator to allow regulators, policymakers and operators to test air traffic management (ATM) policies and operational models. Will Altiscope help stakeholders prepare for the aircraft of the not-too-distant future?
Without a plan for how to manage increased aerial traffic, recent innovations in unmanned aircraft systems (UAMs) aimed at easing congestion on the ground risk creating new problems in the air. Luckily Airbus’ Silicon Valley outpost A3 has a solution: It’s called “Altiscope.”
Announced earlier this month, Altiscope is A3‘s response to the fact that, “1) the number of vehicles in the air is projected to rapidly increase and current ATM systems cannot support these new levels of traffic and 2) it’s a complex challenge that must be solved with all parties at the table,” according to a post written by project executive Karthik Balakrishnan and published on the new Altiscope blog. There are already about 5,000 aircraft in US airspace at any given time, reports the FAA and, according to A3‘s internal estimates, there will be between one and two orders of magnitude more aircraft in the sky by 2035, contingent on population density, geography, jurisdiction and economic needs.
Unlike several other parties working to address the issue of outgrowing current ATM systems, A3 isn’t building a system to replace existing ones, but developing a simulator to allow regulators, policymakers, operators and other stakeholders to evaluate ATM policy options and operational models moving forward. A3 describes Altiscope as being “policy agnostic and globally relevant,” meaning that it is compatible with all types of aircraft operations, systems, geographical regions and regulatory requirements. “Successful future airborne traffic management depends on a solution that is both flexible and scalable as yet-unimagined applications are developed and take flight,” Balakrishnan said.
“We can’t just launch 500 drones in the urban sky and see what happens.” – Karthik Balakrishnan, A3 by Airbus
The Altiscope team is already working with a variety of global organizations across the public and private sector on aspects like risk modeling and operational analysis. “Unlike the first aviation revolution, when we had an empty sky, there is a lot in the air today,” Balakrishnan said. “We can’t just launch 500 drones in the urban sky and see what happens. It has to be a measured and calculated approach.”
A3 is rolling out projects that will ease urban traffic on the ground, but, in doing so, will further populate global airspace, so it’s only fitting that it should dedicate itself to the problem of aerial congestion as well. The company’s autonomous air taxi, Vahana, is slated to begin full-scale flight tests later this year, and Voom, A3‘s on-demand helicopter service, currently available in Sao Paulo, Brazil, will be expanded to other cities around the world in the months to come.