Revolution Aerospace Australia and Thales Australia successfully demonstrate desktop showcase of UAS

Last month (November 2023), Revolution Aerospace (RevAero) and consortium partner, Thales Australia, successfully demonstrated their UTM services at the Thales SkyLab in Melbourne to key government and industry stakeholders.

The RevAero team comprise UTM Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) with experience designing UTM solutions for several Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs), which was complemented by Thales’ team, providing significant global experience deploying complex operational ATM-CNS and UTM systems.

The demonstration, coordinated by RevAero, updated stakeholders on the development of core system features, showcased Thales’s Live Virtual Constructive Simulation (LVCS) platform (utilising real-time flight operations), and highlighted the strong collaboration between RevAero and Thales in the pursuit of advancing innovative emerging aviation concepts for the Australian ecosystem.

The full-day demonstration allowed stakeholders to deep-dive into the team’s development process with the consortium outlining the genesis for RevAero and Thales core services, offerings, expert insight into available UTM architectures around the world, and a prelude to what’s on the horizon. RevAero showcased findings of research on a Discovery and Synchronisation Service by demonstrating, through an experimental design, the present and future challenges that exist and need to be overcome to treat a growing industry. RevAero prefaced the showcase with key development themes of fairness, demand and capacity management balancing and separation requirements. RevAero’s offering stands out for its ambitious routing and scheduling algorithm, flexible constraint management and integration with their in-house airborne Detect and Avoid (DAA) system. By combining RevAero’s DAA offering with their UTM, enhanced dynamic rerouting and tactical deconfliction can be conducted in real-time.

Image: RevAero’s Research and Development Engineer demonstrating how the on-board Detect and Avoid payload will be integrated into the UTM offering.

RevAero’s Co-Founder and CEO, Dr Terry Martin says, “From our engagement with many Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs), regulators and policy representatives around the world, we’ve found that many are insisting that key UTM services be nationalised, and that some services need centralised coordination to be conducted optimally. The market hasn't produced such a solution to date, so RevAero, in partnership with Thales, are working to provide an alternate UTM architecture that is demonstrably better at providing a safe, secure, efficient UTM with transparency and fairness ingrained in its DNA. This means services like routing and scheduling and demand and capacity management are offered to support scalability as the UTM ecosystem evolves.”

Further, RevAero's Project Director, Guy Morris, shared his appreciation for the team’s dedication, “I’m immensely proud of the progress the team has made and the innovative approaches they’ve taken in developing a centralised approach to key UTM services.”

Thales Project Manager Elita Huynh shares the following from the demonstration:

“It is a unique privilege to unveil the exceptional results reached by our teams for Australian UTM services. This program paves the foundation for a future where UAV delivery systems redefine logistics and connectivity, revolutionising industries such as emergency response, medical supplies, and connecting regional and remote cities to the business district. Together, Thales Australia, and consortium partners share a commitment to pushing the boundaries of emerging aviation technologies for a more connected and efficient future.”

Image: The RevAero and Thales teams together following the successful demonstration at the Thales SkyLab Australia in Melbourne.

RevAero and Thales are planning a second desktop demonstration in early 2024 to further showcase core software developments. The demonstration remains invite only, reach out to eatp@revn.aero for further information.

The RevAero capstone trial includes a wide-scale demonstration in the Whitsunday region in early 2024, showcasing end-to-end delivery of cargo, incorporating a variety of drone types, delivery distances and scenarios, in complex uncontrolled airspace environments.

About RevAero

The RevAero mission of “Benefitting society through revolutionary advances in autonomous systems technologies” is firmly aligned with the purpose of the EATP program, exploring the utility of emerging aviation technologies to address community needs, particularly in regional Australia.

Revolution Aerospace (RevAero) - As the consortium lead, the collective experience of the RevAero team in the autonomous systems sector, particularly Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UAS) and UAS Traffic Management (UTM), is fundamental to the deployment and scaling of emerging aviation technology across regional Australia. Established in 2021, RevAero has grown to 20 dedicated engineers, researchers, and subject matter experts (SMEs) in autonomous systems. RevAero co-founders, Dr Terry Martin (CEO) and Kristian Cruickshank (CTO) hold a wealth of experience leading and managing large-scale Emerging Aviation Technologies projects with governments and partners across the globe.

Get in touch

For further information on the project, queries can be sent to eatp@revn.aero

Thales

Thales - Thales Australia is a trusted partner of the Australian Defence Force and is also present in commercial sectors ranging from air traffic management and ground transport systems to security systems and services. Thales Australia employs over 4,300 people directly and supports over 2,051 jobs along its Australian supply chain. Since 2018 Thales Australia has spent over $1.9 billion with local Australian businesses.

Thales Australia has a history of patient investment to build advanced in-country capability across manufacturing, critical systems, and services. Close collaborative relationships with local customers, Australian SME suppliers and research institutions combined with technology transfer from our global business enables Thales to tailor high quality solutions for Australian and export markets, generating revenue of $1.6 billion in exports over the past 10 years.

TAS

Trusted Autonomous Systems- A leading autonomous and robotic cooperative research centre (CRC) in Australia facilitating trusted and effective cooperation between humans and machines.

Revolution Aerospace Australia (RevAero) to receive delivery of RevAero HT-100

Earlier this year Revolution Aerospace (RevAero) announced the expansion of their Uncrewed Aerial Vehicle (UAV) based cargo delivery capability, with the procurement of the ANAVIA HT-100; lifting payloads over 55kg and with over 4 hours of endurance. Our EATP Project Director, Guy Morris, was recently in Switzerland to oversee our aircraft's first flight, prior to final acceptance and delivery to Australia.

The platform significantly enhances RevAero’s intent to transport meaningful payloads out to regional and remote communities and is a critical enabler for an 18-month program being undertaken with the support of the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communication, and the Arts (DITRDCA) under the Emerging Aviation Technologies Program (EATP). The project is titled ‘Regional Aerial Logistics and Air Taxi Operations with Unified Traffic Management’, where RevAero will demonstrate how the distribution of people and product can be achieved, at scale.

During the visit, the RevAero team were invited to the ANAVIA Factory in Näfels, Switzerland and witnessed the HT-100’s first flight. The aircraft was put through its paces for initial calibration, basic hovering and multiple flight manoeuvres.

Image: The RevAero livery stood proud against the backdrop of the Swiss Alpine ranges and will be at home against the Australian landscape when it lands this month.

Prior to the conduct of RevAero’s capstone activity, the RevAero HT-100 will undertake several Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) flights in Australia advancing RevAero’s test methodologies and building a layered safety case toward the eventual demonstration. The RevAero capstone trial includes a wide-scale demonstration in the Whitsunday region in early 2024, showcasing end-to-end delivery of cargo, incorporating a variety of drone types, delivery distances and scenarios, in complex uncontrolled airspace environments.

About RevAero

The RevAero mission of “Benefitting society through revolutionary advances in autonomous systems technologies” is firmly aligned with the purpose of the EATP program, exploring the utility of emerging aviation technologies to address community needs, particularly in regional Australia.

Revolution Aerospace (RevAero) - As the consortium lead, the collective experience of the RevAero team in the autonomous systems sector, particularly Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UAS) and UAS Traffic Management (UTM), is fundamental to the deployment and scaling of emerging aviation technology across regional Australia. Since establishment in 2021, RevAero has a team of 20 dedicated engineers, researchers, and subject matter experts (SMEs) in autonomous systems. RevAero co-founders, Dr Terry Martin (CEO) and Mr Kristian Cruickshank (CTO) hold a wealth of experience leading and managing large-scale Emerging Aviation Technologies projects with governments and partners across the globe.

Get in touch

For further information on the project, queries can be sent to eatp@revn.aero

ANAVIA

ANAVIA, Switzerland - Is a Swiss based aviation company specializing in the design, development & manufacturing of vertical take-off & landing (VTOL) systems of up to 500 kilograms. The company offers industry leading uncrewed helicopter systems for various mission profiles such as Surveillance & Reconnaissance, Inspection or Cargo.

For further information on ANAVIA, queries can be sent to Info@anavia.eu

Revolution Aerospace Australia (RevAero) Enabling Regional Aerial Logistics and Air Taxi Operations

Media Release: 2nd August 2023

Revolution Aerospace (RevAero) was awarded a $5.3 million Round 1 – Emerging Aviation Technologies Partnership (EATP) Program grant from the Commonwealth Government, undertaking a project that seeks to Enable Regional Aerial logistics and Air Taxi Operations with Unified Traffic Management.

The project grant is designed to maximise opportunity for Australian emerging aviation technology researchers, developers, and manufacturers into the future by breaking down regulatory barriers through advanced, safe, and globally informed enabling technology – developed in Australia.

Revolution Aerospace are leading a consortium of world-recognised industry partners in the emerging aviation technologies sector; Thales Australia and the Trusted Autonomous Systems (TAS). The consortium will examine several critical enabling technologies including Detect and Avoid (DAA), Unified Traffic Management (UTM) and Uncrewed Aerial Vehicle (UAV) based cargo delivery.

In the first instance, RevAero is developing a Detect and Avoid (DAA) payload, in addition to drafting a Test Method guideline in partnership with TAS. Separately, RevAero is developing a UTM in partnership with Thales which incorporates a suite of centralised management services alongside integrated airspace management functionality.

Through the application of both enabling technologies, RevAero will demonstrate how the distribution of people and product, at scale, can be achieved.

The first key stage of the 18-month project saw the completion of a set of initial flight trials in May 2023, at the Qinetiq Queensland Flight Test Range in Cloncurry. These trials were conducted with the appropriate approvals from the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA), and stress tested many months of UA and DAA prototype development at RevAero, using a selection of RevAero’s fleet of fixed and rotary wing Vertical Take-off and Lift (VTOL) UAS.

The DAA testing employed an array of Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) encounter profiles between RevAero aircraft and a crewed helicopter, with significant improvements in the DAA system performance observed.

Whilst in Cloncurry, RevAero was proud to host the Year 11 class from Cloncurry State School during the trial, offering the class a hands-on day showcasing STEM in the workplace.

Image: Revolution Aerospace and Qinetiq teams with Cloncurry State School STEM students

RevAero will conduct a major trial in the Whitsunday’s region in the beginning of 2024, bringing together all technology elements to showcase how first, middle, and last mile operations can be successfully achieved in complex uncontrolled airspace.

About the consortium

The RevAero mission of “Benefitting society through revolutionary advances in autonomous systems technologies” is firmly aligned with the purpose of the EATP program, exploring the utility of emerging aviation technologies to address community needs, particularly in regional Australia.

More information about the key players in the project:

Revolution Aerospace (RevAero) - As the consortium lead, the collective experience of the RevAero team in the autonomous systems sector, particularly Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UAS) and UAS Traffic Management (UTM), is fundamental to the deployment and scaling of emerging aviation technology across regional Australia. Since establishment in 2021, RevAero has a team of 20 dedicated engineers, researchers, and subject matter experts (SMEs) in autonomous systems. RevAero co-founders, Dr Terry Martin (CEO) and Mr Kristian Cruickshank (CTO) hold a wealth of experience leading and managing large-scale Emerging Aviation Technologies projects with governments and partners across the global.

Thales - Thales Australia is a trusted partner of the Australian Defence Force and is also present in commercial sectors ranging from air traffic management and ground transport systems to security systems and services. Thales Australia employs around 3,800 people directly and supports over 2,051 job along its Australian supply chain. In 2020 Thales Australia spent $657 million with 1,841 Australia suppliers, of which 82% are SMEs. Since 2018 Thales Australia has spent over $1.9 billion with local Australian businesses.

Thales Australia has a history of patient investment to build advanced in-country capability across manufacturing, critical systems and services. Close collaborative relationships with local customers, Australian SME suppliers and research institutions combined with technology transfer from our global business enables Thales to tailor high quality solutions for Australian and export markets, generating revenue of $1.6 billion in exports over the past 10 years.

Trusted Autonomous Systems- A leading autonomous and robotic cooperative research centre (CRC) in Australia facilitating trusted and effective cooperation between humans and machines.

The project will take place in the Whitsunday Coast, Melbourne and RevAero's headquarters in South-East Queensland.

For further information on the project, queries can be sent to eatp@revn.aero