ATC - Dronekontroll BVLOS - UAS Vision

Neuron har vært omtalt her på bloggen tidligere, også andre selskaper som utvikler ATC for UAM og droner. Bl.a. rapportert her fra siste Solakonferanse. Allikevel, det er alltid noe nytt, også i artiklene under. (Red.)

Neuron Leverages the Hedera Network for Drone Radar System in UK Government Sponsored Trial

 

Neuron, a supplier of aviation technology and air traffic critical national infrastructure, has leveraged the Hedera network, the most used, sustainable, enterprise-grade public ledger for the decentralized economy, in a UK government-sponsored trial to demonstrate the capability to safely track the movements of military, enterprise, and government drones once out of visual line of sight.

The trials, which took place at Port Montrose in Scotland on 29 April 2021, and at Cranfield University during October 2021, used sensors to track the drones, recording flight data via the Hedera Consensus Service. Over time, Neuron’s vision is to provide a decentralised platform for a range of mobility solutions including drones, air taxis, autonomous vehicles and ground robots. Neuron will do this by connecting sensors, vehicles and management systems to provide a trusted network which can be used for data sharing, record keeping and potentially even decision making.

Niall Greenwood, CCO of Neuron, said,

“Until now, drones have had limited benefit for governments and private enterprises, because they could not be flown safely out of line of sight and therefore could not be used for long distance deliveries, transport, or inspections. With this trial, leveraging Hedera Consensus Service, we have made unmanned, long distance drone travel possible using safety-critical aviation infrastructure. Each flight creates millions of data points, which no other public ledger has been fast enough to log and correctly order. By leveraging the Hedera Consensus Service we can gather, store, and order this data immediately, giving us a real time ‘radar system’ for drones.”

Neuron sensors pick up data points on each drone’s location and direction. From there, the Hedera Consensus Service provides a unique method of logging and timestamping the data from each drone flight onto Hedera’s decentralized public ledger. The Hedera network operates at a higher speed and performance, with a lower cost per transaction than any other public distributed ledger technology (DLT), offering a scalable basis for drone flights to be adopted across industries. The Hedera network offers all applications the highest grade of security possible (ABFT), ensuring data protection for users.

The trial was sponsored by the UK government’s department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), and took place as part of a series of experiments by BEIS to explore the use of drones. The trial by Neuron successfully demonstrated safely tracking drone flights once out of sight, allowing the drones to fly longer distances safely and securely.

Neuron aims to deploy its solution for all drone use cases, transforming industries and supply chains in the UK and internationally. Applications for drone flights leveraging the Hedera-powered radar system in healthcare include remote medical testing, transportation of medical supplies to difficult locations, movement of equipment from hospital to hospital, Covid-19 test kits and beyond, as demonstrated across the UK on-demand.

The Hedera Consensus Service has already been adopted in healthcare solutions in the UK through its usage by Everyware and the NHS to track the cold storage of COVID-19 vaccines, in the Middle East through MVC’s use for their track and trace system for pharmaceuticals in Bahrain, and in the US through its collaboration with SAFE and Acoer to provide COVID-19 track and trace systems for Arizona State University, E&I Cooperative, and major enterprises.

Mance Harmon, CEO and Co-Founder of Hedera Hashgraph, said,

“Through this trial, Neuron has exhibited an extraordinary feat, allowing unmanned drones to safely exist in the sky. The Hedera Consensus Service enables the use of drones to transport essential equipment across long distances, which has enormous implications in the fields of healthcare and national security in particular. We are excited to continue Hedera’s work in these sectors, particularly following our notable partnerships with Everyware and Hala Systems, and to see diverse industries realise the benefits of the Hedera Consensus Service.”

Michigan and Ontario to Create Cross-Border Commercial Drone Skyway

Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced that Michigan and Ontario are collaborating on a first-of-its kind technology initiative involving unmanned aerial systems (UAS). This effort involves studying the feasibility of a commercial drone skyway in three proposed areas, including an international connection between Michigan and Ontario, southeast Michigan, and any other suitable location in the state.

Through the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) and the Michigan Aeronautics Commission (MAC), the State of Michigan, with support from the Michigan Office of Future Mobility and Electrification (OFME), the Michigan Economic Development Corp., and the Government of Ontario, through the Ontario Vehicle Innovation Network (OVIN), will explore whether small drones can be flown beyond the line of sight of a pilot and be used in operations like just-in-time delivery, medical transport, or other small-scale deployment of UAS. The information gathered from this feasibility study will be used to further decision-making in preparing for the future of advanced air mobility in North America. Another critical piece of information that will determine if and how to proceed is the teams’ education and engagement with the communities surrounding the areas where the feasibility study is done.

“Cross-border partnership is critical across all dimensions of mobility, including aerial systems. Michigan and Ontario have a rich history of partnering on groundbreaking innovations and this project by Air Space Link continues that tradition,” said Gov. Whitmer. “Considering the density of auto suppliers, logistic companies, technology start-ups, and consumers in the region, it is a natural fit to test this cutting-edge aerial technology here. The vital research could lead to faster product deliveries and reduced supply chain disruptions in the future, helping us grow Michigan’s economy and put Michiganders first.”

“Ontario has a strong and strategically important economic connection with the State of Michigan,” said Ontario Premier Doug Ford. “We welcome this opportunity to further deepen that relationship and foster new jobs and economic opportunities in developing industries now and well into the future.”

A newly formed partnership with Airspace Link, a Detroit-based drone technology start-up, and their partners at Thales USA, the Northern Plains UAS Test Site, Aviation Innovations LLC, CityFi, and Grand Sky Development Co. LLC will develop a feasibility analysis as a first step to establish infrastructure required to support a range of commercial and public advanced air mobility use cases.

Another key partner in two of the three proposed areas will be the Michigan Central mobility innovation district in the Corktown neighborhood of Detroit. Their collaboration with key stakeholders from the state and city will help advance this research and innovation to a broader idea of autonomy that goes beyond vehicles on the road, but also the water or sky. In addition, their community-based outreach sets a precedent for how other partners exploring and testing in the Michigan Central impact area educates and conducts feedback from the residents.

“Michigan’s Central’s aim really is to serve as an open platform for collaboration – drawing the best minds from around the world to co-create and test mobility solutions on real-world streets, in real-world situations,” said Carolina Pluszczynski, Michigan Central development director. “That includes, in this case, bringing in the best from here in the States and also across the way to Ontario to push the boundaries of how we look at autonomy as part of this aerial mobility corridor. But no matter what we’re exploring, the ideas or solutions need to have one ultimate purpose: to improve access and equity for all, and that is why community engagement from the offset will always remain key to us.”

In addition, the Airspace Link team will provide an analysis of existing airspace, air traffic infrastructure, and ground infrastructure required to ensure operational safety of commercial drone skyway. The analysis also will include the potential economic impacts, applicable state and local zoning restrictions, environmental factors (like social equity and noise considerations), travel impacts, and connections to existing aviation, surface transportation, and transit modes.

“This unmanned aerial system joint venture with Ontario builds on the extensive work underway to make Michigan a global leader in the development and deployment of mobility technologies that will benefit society, protect the environment, and strengthen our economy,” said State Transportation Director Paul C. Ajegba. “We look forward to demonstrating beyond visual line of sight commercial UAS operations are not only safe, efficient and feasible, but also that the technology can be employed to better connect the intermodal transportation system that many in Michigan rely upon.”

“New and emerging transportation technologies offer enormous potential to improve the way we move people and goods,” said Ontario Minister of Transportation Caroline Mulroney. “Ontario is a leader in connected and automated vehicle technologies, and working together with Michigan, we are taking important steps to explore how drones can be used to safely ship goods.”

“We know the future of mobility is more than just vehicles – it is on air, land and sea,” said Chief Mobility Officer Trevor Pawl, OFME. “Michigan is uniquely positioned to study, test and deploy the technologies that will lead to more affordable, accessible transportation solutions and are proud to continue to build on our strong relationship with Ontario to take a collaborative, innovative approach to these efforts.”

“This is a great collaboration between economic partners across the Ontario-Michigan border,” said Ontario Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade Vic Fedeli. “Ontario is an important trading partner to more than half of U.S. states, Michigan among them. This effort, through our exciting new OVIN program, will help strengthen economic growth and job creation in Windsor, and across Ontario’s modern automotive supply chain, the largest in Canada.”

Today’s announcement builds on Gov. Whitmer’s announcement in August that Michigan and Ontario were extending their longstanding collaboration on transportation and cross-border activities, with MDOT and OVIN signing a Memorandum of Understanding to explore the implementation of a cross-border, multimodal testbed for advanced automotive and mobility solutions.

Quick Facts

• Ontario has more than 300 companies and organizations pioneering connected and autonomous vehicle technologies. This ecosystem is strengthened by OVIN, led by the Ontario Centre of Innovation. It connects the province’s world-leading automotive and mobility sectors, including electrified vehicles, high-quality post-secondary institutions, first-class talent, and regional infrastructure to support entrepreneurship and create jobs.
• Ontario’s 2021 budget announced an investment of C$56.4 million in OVIN over the next four years to build on the successful elements of the Autonomous Vehicle Innovation Network (AVIN), which supported the province’s connected and autonomous vehicle industry between 2017 and 2021. Launched in December 2021, OVIN is helping foster the next generation of electric vehicles in addition to connected and autonomous vehicle and mobility technologies in Ontario.
• Ensuring southwestern Ontario is prepared for future growth and the introduction of new technologies is part of Ontario’s draft transportation plan for southwestern Ontario.
• For 2020, two-way goods trade between Michigan and Ontario was valued at $44.8 billion (C$60.1 billion). The state and province are each other’s top export customer. This trade relationship supports thousands of jobs on both sides of the border.
• More than 25 percent of the more than $700 billion in annual trade between the U.S. and Canada crosses between Windsor and Detroit, the most active border crossing in North America.