ATC og UAM - Tar Brasil føringen? - Curt Lewis

Brazil develops traffic system to lead the flying car market

Common parts in science fiction films and cartoons, flying cars are becoming closer to reality, and Brazil wants to lead the development of this segment in the world, according to executives from Embraer's Atech subsidiary, present at the 12th LAAD Defense & Security.

At a press conference at the most important defence and security trade show in Latin America, held in the begging of April in Rio de Janeiro, representatives of the company revealed details involving eVTOL.

"We are already anticipating, preparing a vision and a concept of how we will be able to see the future of the future. Will be the air traffic in that period. This is what our project will be", stated Marcos Resende, director of technology at Atech.

Embraer's flying car, eVTOL is being developed by another segment of the Brazilian company, Embraer X, and has had its first sketches shown earlier this year at the South By Southwest (SXSW) innovation festival in the United States. By the concept disclosed, the vehicle will be similar to a helicopter, powered by electricity and will have vertical takeoff and landing.

"Aircraft are being developed now, they are still being prototyped, and then comes a series of certifications and that's where that demand comes in. We want to be ready, with a ready-made air traffic system" , Resende added.

"In Brazil, specifically, there are large metropolises with very great potential to develop urban mobility solutions discussed, such as São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, which have traffic problems, bottlenecks, and with a great potential for it to develop here", explained Atech's president Edson Mallaco Mr Mallaco

"There are already some prototypes of this type of aircraft flying in the world, in tests not yet certified, including some with people on board already, flying almost like a drone, carrying people, but this is still a long way from what we imagine as a certified, safe aircraft, and also a control system that coordinates that airspace to allow all that flow and transform these aircraft. There are many vectors that will be circulating in this environment and that somehow need to be coordinated", the Atech executive added.

According to business development director David Rottblatt, Embraer X also began conversations with more than five Asia-Pacific regulators, starting with Singapore, late last year to better understand the UAM environment and expectations of the region.