Europe tests the future of urban air mobility

The presence of air taxis, cargo delivery drones, and unmanned emergency systems in cities is increasingly becoming a reality. The development of urban air mobility will make cities more sustainable, safe, and intelligent. One of the tools that will make these goals a reality is AMU-LED, a European Union H2020 project whose main purpose is to demonstrate the safe integration of different types of drone operations in the skies above urban areas.
SESAR U-space inicia las pruebas de movilidad aérea en varias localizaciones europeas.
SESAR U-space inicia las pruebas de movilidad aérea en varias localizaciones europeas. Fuente: www.interempresas.net

This is “an ambitious two-year initiative” that plans to carry out “one of the largest demonstrations of mobility services with aerial vehicles in an urban environment” in 2022. Several locations have been selected in three different countries: Santiago de Compostela in Spain, Cranfield in the United Kingdom, and Amsterdam and Rotterdam in the Netherlands.

In total, the project involves seventeen different entities from Europe and the United States. Coordinated by everis, the consortium is made up of a group of leading industry players: Airbus, AirHub, Altitude Angel, ANRA Technologies, Boeing Research & Technology-Europe, FADA-CATEC, Cranfield University, EHang, Enaire, Gemeente Amsterdam, INECO, ITG, Jeppesen, NLR, Space53, and Tecnalia, according to everis sources in a press release.

More than 100 flight hours in an urban environment

The exercises planned for AMU-LED include more than 100 flight hours combining different unmanned aerial systems and encompassing various scenarios, use cases, and applications. AMU-LED will perform air taxi operations, cargo transport, delivery of goods and medical equipment, infrastructure inspection, police surveillance, and support for emergency services.