Experience Optimate: Your Aviation Assistance, Providing an Additional Sense of Vision and Hearing for Pilots
The aviation industry is gearing up to address the challenge of flight crew overload by focusing on three key areas: reducing pilot workload, increasing safety through automated trajectory protection, and digitally assisting collaboration between flight crews and air traffic control. One of the innovative solutions being developed is the 'flying truck', a technology that could one day help reduce pilot workload, allowing them to focus primarily on critical decision-making.
Airbus, a global leader in the aviation industry, is at the forefront of this innovation. Through its UpNext division, Airbus is demonstrating how to make runway-to-gate taxiing safer. The focus of smart automation in aviation is on gate-to-gate support, specifically on runway-to-gate taxiing.
Enter the Optimate project, a next-generation autonomy demonstrator that showcases new capabilities and integrates functions tested by its predecessors, such as VERTEX and ATTOL. The Optimate demonstrator is designed to perform automatic gate-to-gate flight missions, integrating advanced sensing and automation technologies to reduce pilot workload and enhance operational safety in commercial aviation.
The key features of Optimate include the combination of geolocating sensors, 4D radar, and 4D LiDAR. These technologies enable capabilities such as automatic taxiing on the runway and potentially throughout various flight phases, aiming to reduce the manual tasks required by pilots. By automating complex ground and flight operations, Optimate seeks to alleviate pilot cognitive and physical workload while improving situational awareness and precision in aircraft maneuvering.
The 'flying truck', a unique, fully-electric vehicle registered as OPTI1, is the physical embodiment of the Optimate project. Equipped with an A350 virtual flight deck and sensor technology, including geo-locating sensors, 4D radar, and lidar, the 'flying truck' was initially trialled at UpNext's headquarters near Toulouse and later on the runways of Blagnac airport. Plans are underway to take the 'flying truck' to an international airport for further testing.
The Optimate project is a three-year partnership involving industry stakeholders, researchers, and regulatory bodies, including the French Civil Aviation Authority. The global jetliner fleet is predicted to double over the next twenty years to satisfy demand, which could potentially lead to a pilot shortage and flight crew overload. Optimate aims to address this issue by minimising human error and helping pilots manage the operational complexities of commercial aviation more effectively.
By the fourth quarter of 2024, Optimate will demonstrate automated taxi operations on board an Airbus A350-1000 test aircraft. The goal is to perform an automatic 'gate-to-gate' mission on an Airbus commercial airliner, featuring 4D trajectory flight management, a tablet-operated connected virtual assistant, and overridable protections.
As airports and airspace become increasingly congested and complex to navigate, the Optimate project is expected to play a crucial role in ensuring the safety and efficiency of commercial aviation. By reducing pilot workload and increasing operational safety, Optimate could pave the way for single-pilot operations or significantly reduced cockpit crew scenarios, making commercial aviation more accessible and sustainable for the future.
[1] Airbus (2021). Airbus UpNext launches Optimate, a next-generation autonomy demonstrator. Retrieved from https://www.airbus.com/newsroom/press-releases/en/2021/06/airbus-upnext-launches-optimate-a-next-generation-autonomy-demonstrator.html
[2] Airbus (2021). Airbus UpNext demonstrates how to make runway-to-gate taxiing safer. Retrieved from https://www.airbus.com/newsroom/press-releases/en/2021/06/airbus-upnext-demonstrates-how-to-make-runway-to-gate-taxiing-safer.html
