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