Report on Workshop AI4HyDrop
This Workshop report presents the organization of the 1st workshop with the AI4HyDrop Advisory board members and relevant U-Space stakeholders. This event is part of WP2 Requirements and Holistic Conceptual Framework.
The workshop began with a plenary session introducing the AI-based Holistic Dynamic Framework for safe drone operations. It was followed by three separate sessions, each addressing different aspects of UAS (Unmanned Aerial System) integration into airspace. Each session was conducted twice to allow participants to engage with topics of their interest.
- Session 1: Airspace Design for UAS Operations. In this sessesion we discussed the design of airspace to accommodate UAS operations, including the structural aspects and considerations for UAS integration. Discussion points included fairness, priority in authorization systems, economic importance and network integration of vertiports, and the role of UTM (Unmanned Traffic Management) in assisting UAS flights. Participants raised questions about accessing airspace information in emergencies, deconfliction strategies, and the necessity for a common language in flight plan formats to ensure conformance monitoring during flight operations.
- Session 2: Detection and Identification of Drones. This session covered the methods and technologies for detecting and identifying drones in restricted areas. Discussion highlights included the importance of timely detection, the need for additional parameters in drone type data for flight plans. The session also touched upon the challenges associated with drone detection and the best solutions identified for urban environments.
- Session 3: AI Transformation in Flight Plan Authorization Processes. This session focused on how AI can transform the authorization processes of flight plans, emphasizing automation and efficiency. Discussion points involved the format of flight plans, airspace capacity considerations, deconfliction, and monitoring during flights. The session also explored the integration of various parameters for drone types into the flight plan data to enhance safety and operational efficiency.
On January 7th 2024, during the first AI4HyDrop Workshop, we invited the participants to contribute with their suggestions for U-plan data and format. We will listen to your feedback along the whole project (around the end on 2025), to reflect your ideas in a final report.
However, during the validations, the final users reported different needs that had to be reflected also in the flight plan, like the possibility to define geo-cages, to fly at a certain altitude, or to define segregated volumes in the origin or destination for the fixed wings to execute their climb/descend manoeuvres. There were also technical limitations and the desire to specify preferences to be allowed if possible.
In Labyrinth, it was selected JSON as the format for the messages to communicate with the U-space.
Same as in the project DACUS, Labyrinth selected the GeoJSON standard to represent the flight plans. It allows to describe the trajectories as a sequence of points and areas or volumes.
In GeoJSON, a large number or elements can be added to the coordinates, which allows to specify information and constraints associated to the waypoints.
However, inspired by proposals that suggest high level flight plan specifications, we could consider the possibility of using plans with the capability to reflect complex parts like conditions or loops.
The article in the slide was suggesting a high-level format that would be translated into a list of waypoints to be uploaded to the drone. In our case, a similar high-level specification could be sent to the Operation Plan Preparation/Optimisation service, which would convert it to a more low-level format to be processed by the Flight Authorization service. In the event that the Operation Plan Preparation/Optimisation service is not available, the option to directly send a simpler format should be possible.
