The PansaUTM system is the basis for the development of the U-space concept in Poland. The demonstration and certification of U-space services will allow the commencement of introducing urban mobility to the airspace and its integration with manned aviation – announced Mateusz Kotliński, PANSA expert during the Amsterdam Drone Week conference. Polish solutions for the unmanned services market have become a key point in the programs of global drone events.
Amsterdam Drone Week is an international conference dedicated to unmanned aerial vehicles and the latest solutions in the field of safety and integration of drones with manned aviation.
During the three-day event, representatives of the Polish Air Navigation Services Agency presented new functionalities of the PansaUTM system and talked about the activities undertaken jointly with the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Polish Civil Aviation Authority, thanks to which Poland is today the European leader in the field of drones and U-space readiness.
Mateusz Kotliński, head of the U-space program at PANSA, in a presentation for international experts from the drone industry, introduced the issues of safety and integration of manned and unmanned aviation in Poland. He also answered questions about Polish experiences in the operation of the first in Europe and operationally implemented system for UAV flight coordination. He noted that the growing number of drone flights recorded in the PansaUTM system shows the industry’s appetite for more complex services for unmanned aviation.
In a session dedicated to the Central European Drone Demonstrator (CEDD), PANSA expert emphasized the great importance of PansaUTM to the implementation of the U-space concept in Poland, pointing to the challenges that will have to be faced before the completion of this process. Kotliński also talked about other projects that PANSA participates in – the development of innovation and unmanned aviation, such as Digital Services for UAVs under the Operational Program “Digital Poland”.
The panel also discussed the achievements and activities carried out by CEDD in the past year. Apart from the PANSA delegate, representatives of other CEDD institutions participated in the discussion: plenipotentiary of the Minister of Infrastructure for UAV Małgorzata Darowska, chief specialist at the Civil Aviation Authority Dorota Jaworska, director of the Center for Unmanned Technologies of the Institute of Aviation Mikołaj Jarkowski, director of the Social and Economic Development Department of Metropolis GZM Jacek Woźnikowski, head of the Security and Monitoring Department at the Port of Gdynia, Michał Świeczkowski.
The foundation of PansaUTM is to ensure two-way non-verbal communication between drone operators and air traffic services. Such functionality of the UTM system is a necessary condition to enable UAV operations in large cities with airports and airport control zones – CTRs. This is the only way to ensure a high level of safety for joint unmanned and manned operations, said Mateusz Kotliński.
Thanks to the fundamental U-Space services being implemented so swiftly, the next stage of drone integration with manned aviation will be able to commence. The development of technologies increasing the level of operational awareness of air traffic controllers and drone operators, guaranteeing at the same time the highest level of safety of air operations, will allow the creation of an environment for more complex drone services in Poland and in Europe. Urban Air Mobility will be one of them.
Kotliński also emphasized the essence of the CEDD initiative for the further development of the U-space environment and the concept of introducing urban mobility to the airspace. CEDD provides a properly prepared space for testing, demonstration and standardization processes of the necessary services that are to enable the tracking of drone movements and the detection of potential hazards. Thanks to the CEDD initiative, drones that can perform the most complex operations and provide services that are currently reserved for manned aviation or road transport can be developed in a test environment.
