MyCopter clears PAVs; airborne travel jams
Traffic jam is not a problem confined solely to major motorways. Congestion problems occur in the skies as well, and since the European Commission believes that the personal aerial vehicle (PAV) will soon be over us like a rash, the problem is only set to increase. If the EC’s predictions that PAVs will be used […]
Traffic jam is not a problem confined solely to major motorways. Congestion problems occur in the skies as well, and since the European Commission believes that the personal aerial vehicle (PAV) will soon be over us like a rash, the problem is only set to increase. If the EC’s predictions that PAVs will be used on a greater scale for personal transportation will soon become reality, the issue of airborne traffic jam shouldn’t be taken lightly. To face the challenge, and combat the prospect of the skies being overrun by non-professional pilots hurriedly making their way to work, the EC has come up with a concept that fuses the best of ground-based and air-based transportation.
The research project, called MyCopter, is major and well funded with €4.3m in the pot. Key components of the scheme are to ensure that PAVs can automatically travel in the skies in orderly fashion, by sensing the other vehicles around them. Other important aspects that will help make the PAVs fully or partially autonomous without requiring ground-based air traffic control include functions such as control and simulation, flocking and the development of easily graspable user interfaces for pilots.
