Automation and autonomy already play a key role in many aspects of aerospace, including autopilot and air traffic management, but the future is enabled by artificial intelligence (AI), and has the potential to impact every part of the aerospace sector.

In this episode, we’re joined by James Bell, Innovation Strategy Lead, who has led the work for the UK CAA’s Strategy for Artificial Intelligence. 

We hear from Florian Ostmann, Director of AI Governance and Regulatory Innovation with the Turing Institute about how AI has evolved in recent years and what the future holds. 

We also speak to Vicki Murdie from the Future Flight Team at Innovate UK to learn about potential new uses of AI across the aviation landscape.

Further information related to this episode

• The CAA's Strategy for Artificial Intelligence
• The Alan Turing Institute

About the Future Flight Challenge

Launched in 2019 the Future Flight Challenge is a £125 million investment in the UK’s aviation industry, designed to deliver the third revolution in aviation.

Unmanned aerial vehicles (drones), advanced air mobility (AAM) and zero-carbon aircraft will come together to transform how we connect people, deliver goods and provide services.

The challenge is delivered by Innovate UK and the Economic and Social Research Council on behalf of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

Find out more at:

• Future flight challenge (UKRI)
• About the Future flight challenge programme (Innovate UK / Business Connect)

In this episode we talk with Brenden Hedblom from the Eve Consortium on its new concept of operations (CONOPS) into how future types of flying, such as electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, could be safety incorporated into London’s airspace.

You can find more information on this work at:

UK Concept of Operations (CONOPS)

Key Considerations for Airspace Integration within an Urban Air Mobility Landscape (CAP 2272)

Additional work from Eve:

Urban air traffic management concept of operations

Flight Plan 2030 - An air traffic management concept for urban air mobility

Other podcasts from the UK CAA include:

CAA Drone safety - https://podfollow.com/caa-drone-safety

CAA on General Aviation - https://podfollow.com/caa-on-general-aviation

In the third and final part of this series we look at how medical deliveries by drone could help support the health service in remote communities across the UK.

We speak with Alex Brown, Head of Operations at Skyports about a recent trial that saw drones making medical deliveries between four NHS hospitals in the Scottish Highlands.

This project, which reduced the average transport time from 20 hours to 1 hour, involved drones carrying cargo including COVID-19 tests, pathology samples and medicine while flying up to 60kms beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS).

You can find more information about this work at:

https://skyports.net/nhs-trials/

and

https://www.caa.co.uk/innovation

In part two of our three part series we hear about a recent trial that explored using drones for medical deliveries, including essential PPE items, from Cornwall to remote communities on the Isles of Scilly.

This project involved Royal Mail and a consortium funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) who we featured in the first part of this series.

We speak with Chris Paxton from the Royal Mail, Gareth Whatmore, CEO of Droneprep which led the consortium and Alex Brown from Skyports about the trial, its achievements and what is coming next.

You can find out more by visiting

https://www.royalmailgroup.com/en/press-centre/press-releases/royal-mail-group/scillies-drones-trial/

https://vimeo.com/547372795

https://droneprep.uk/news/droneprep-and-royal-mail-drone-delivery-to-the-scilly-isles/

The CAA Innovation Hub at http://www.caa.co.uk/innovation

In this episode we begin a three part series that looks at how drones have been used to help the NHS response to COVID-19.

We're joined by Simon Masters and Dawn MacGregor from UKRI (UK Research and Innovation), the UK's largest public funder of research and innovation.

UKRI's work includes the 'Future flight challenge' which aims to bring together technologies in electrification, aviation systems and autonomy to create new modes of air travel and capability.

Some of the projects funded by the 'Future flight challenge' so far have included using drones to support the NHS and emergency services during the COVID-19 pandemic.

You'll hear about how these projects were selected, the benefits they can deliver and how the CAA's Innovation team helped support this work.

You can find our more about UKRI and the 'Future flight challenge' below

https://www.ukri.org/our-work/our-main-funds/industrial-strategy-challenge-fund/future-of-mobility/future-flight-challenge/

UKRI Future flight vision roadmap

https://www.ukri.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/UKRI-130821-FutureFlightVisionRoadmap.pdf

For information about projects focussing on the demonstration aspects of novel classes of electric or autonomous air vehicles and systems see:

Future flight challenge phase three: strand one

https://www.ukri.org/opportunity/future-flight-challenge-phase-three-strand-one/

For information about projects focussing on developing enabling technologies and cross-cutting systems that support the deployment of these novel air vehicles in UK airspace see:

Future flight challenge phase three: strand two

https://apply-for-innovation-funding.service.gov.uk/competition/980/overview

Electric air taxis, also called electric vertical take-off and landing vehicles (eVTOLs), will soon be operational. These ‘green’ aircraft will deliver on-demand urban flights and make trips across cities quick, easy and more affordable.

In this episode speak with Brenden Hedblom and David Rottblatt from Eve Air Mobility about the work that is taking place to support the growth of urban air mobility (UAM) in the UK.

Eve Air Mobility is leading a consortium of world leading aviation organisations that is working with the UK CAA to define the airspace design, procedures and infrastructure required for safely integrating new types of electric air taxi operations into the UK’s low level airspace.

More about this work

EmbraerX – Urban Air Traffic Management concept video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSkyvOV5Mcw&t=5s

UK Air Mobility Website - https://ukairmobility.com/

Flight Plan 2030

https://daflwcl3bnxyt.cloudfront.net/m/72d6ed98a71cb43f/original/200702_AF_EMBX_White_Paper_DM.pdf

UATM Concept of Operations, co-written with Airservices Australia

https://daflwcl3bnxyt.cloudfront.net/m/3dc1907d3388ff52/original/PPJ016561-UATM-Concept-of-Operations-Design_D11-FINAL.pdf

The UK CAA’s Innovation Hub at https://www.caa.co.uk/innovation

Angela and Sonia from our Innovation team discuss how we're working with innovators to look at the different concepts people are working on for future air mobility.

That includes everything from the aircraft being developed to the systems that will support them. This builds up to our exciting Future Air Mobility sandbox announcements that are coming soon.

You'll find more information about our work on future air mobility on our website https://www.caa.co.uk/innovation

Jonathan Nicholson and David Pratt talk Threat and Error Management with Amy Breckell and Neil Winbolt from the CAA's General Aviation unit.

Links to more TEM information:

CAA: Flight-crew human factors handbook (CAP737) - https://www.caa.co.uk/CAP737

Airspace & Safety Initiative: Avoiding airspace infringements using Threat & Error Management - https://airspacesafety.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/ASI-TEM.pdf

More information recreational flying is available on our General Aviation podcast at

https://podfollow.com/caa-on-general-aviation

The concept of Unmanned Traffic Management, or UTM, has been developing over the last few years and sets out how unmanned vehicles can be safely integrated into the wider airspace system.

This podcast gives an update on the UK's work in this area and the scale and breadth of impact that the integration of UAS into UK airspace could have across the whole aviation system.

For more information on Unmanned Traffic Management see https://www.caa.co.uk/cap1868

Our thanks to NATS and Connected Places Catapult for contributing to this podcast.

You can find out more about NATS by visiting https://www.nats.aero/

For more information on Connected Places Catapult’s work around UTM please visit their website and read the latest report here:

https://cp.catapult.org.uk/2020/05/22/enabling-unmanned-traffic-management-in-the-uk-report-launched/

You can also watch the recent UTM webinar on this report here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6IxjSUGwYo

Jonathan Nicholson and David Pratt talk to Hannah Foskett and Neil Winbolt from the CAA's General Aviation unit about how to prepare to return to the air after a longer than usual break from recreational flying.

More information from the CAA at https://www.caa.co.uk/CAP1919 and https://www.caa.co.uk/CAP1925

More information recreational flying is available on our General Aviation podcast at

https://podfollow.com/caa-on-general-aviation