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