The European R&D project U-space SEParation in Europe (USEPE) is co-funded by the European Commission in the framework of the H2020 Research and Innovation Program, through the SESAR Program, under grant agreement number 890378.
USEPE is an exploratory research project, i.e. low level of maturity, funded by the Horizon 2020 program, which aims to explore possible separation methods to ensure the safety of drone operations in urban environments, with a particular focus on densely populated areas.
It is worth mentioning that SESAR is an institutionalized European partnership between public and private sector partners created to accelerate, through research and innovation, the realization of the European Digital Sky. To this end, it harnesses, develops and seeks to adopt the most advanced technological solutions for the management of conventional aircraft, drones, air cabs and vehicles flying at higher altitudes.
The main objective of the USEPE R&D project is to propose solutions to the existing drone separation problem in order to ensure safe operations in urban environments. Therefore, USEPE develops and evaluates a Concept of Operations and a series of technologies to ensure the separation of drones from each other, as well as from the rest of manned aviation. It also seeks to respond to the addendum of the ATM Master Plan related to U-space, for automation and the use of new technologies such as artificial intelligence.
The main consequences of USEPE are to obtain:
- An Initial Concept of Operations, where different proposals are presented to define a management system for the separation of drones in urban environments.
- A set of validation experiments of the proposed solutions, to try to complete the V1 phase defined by E-OCVM (European Operational Concept Validation Methodology) and reach TRL2 (Technology Readiness Level).
The Isdefe team participating in the project as consortium leader is coordinated by Esther Nistal Cabañas of Isdefe’s Transport, Energy and ICT Department.
For further information, please contact innovacion@isdefe.es
