Skypuzzler – Solving the puzzle in the sky

Project Information

Skypuzzler

Grant agreement ID: 101188110

DOI

10.3030/101188110

EC signature date 20 November 2024

Start date 1 September 2024

End date 31 August 2026

Funded under

• The European Innovation Council (EIC)

Total cost

No data

EU contribution

€ 2 483 665,63

Coordinated by

SKYPUZZLER APS
Denmark

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - Skypuzzler (Skypuzzler – Solving the puzzle in the sky)

Reporting period: 2024-09-01 to 2025-08-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The drone market is experiencing significant growth and transformation, driven by technological advancements in drone and battery technology, and a wide range of applications in, e.g. agriculture, construction, logistics, transportation, media, surveillance, and more. The market continues to evolve as new technologies, regulations, and applications emerge. This growth brings its own set of challenges, particularly ensuring safe and efficient airspace management to prevent collisions for autonomous and Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) flights. Existing Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM) systems lack the essential capability of automated tactical drone deconfliction. When drones encounter unforeseen obstacles during their flights, UTMs typically respond by postponing the flight or signalling for an emergency landing. Incorrect drone operations pose a huge risk to private citizens and the economy, raising concerns regarding safety and operational efficiency. E.g. There has been a substantial increase in reported near misses between drones and manned´ aircraft globally, with more than 2,600 potentially hazardous drone sightings near airports only in the US in 2019, and more than 500 such events have been reported in German airspace since 2018. As the drone industry begins to take off and become a mainstream means of transportation of goods and executor of various tasks, it is becoming increasingly important to ensure the safety of ordinary citizens, operational services of drone operators and UTM providers, as well as business continuity and economic viability of these businesses. This is possible only through the integration of automated tactical drone deconfliction technologies into the current infrastructure, as this capability plays a pivotal role in averting incidents of emergency landings, collisions, operation delays etc. while ensuring safer and more efficient drone operations. Integrating advanced services for tactical deconfliction for drones into UTM systems is a crucial objective, as it directly leads to unlocking the full potential of the drone industry. By fostering efficient drone Air Traffic Control (ATC) the number of drones in the air is projected to scale with up to 97%.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Over the past year Skypuzzler has been busy at work realising its vision for the future of the drone industry. During this time in the EIC Skypuzzler project. Work has focused on a range of activities.
Firstly, our work has focused on the modelling of drone related factors, where we have undertaken activities for modelling of physical properties and payload implications of different drones, as well as weather implications and environmental effects on different drones. These models have been crucial for us to get right, as These models will enable precise levels of safety and reliability of drone operations by informing the development of an algorithm that can adapt to various environmental conditions and drone payloads in comparison to the capabilities of the drone in question.
In addition, work has also revolved around upgrading and enhancing Skypuzzler’s core algorithm. Focus here has been on optimising flight path computation, e.g. enhancing efficiency and speed of calculations. Also, a focus has been on runtime optimisation of our core algorithm to ensure that it can handle a complex list of hyperparameters used for the calculation of safe and reliable flight paths in increasingly complex airspace, while also keeping resource-use at a minimum.
Furthermore, to support the continuous development of our iDATC solution we are also performing various continuous integration, testing and product development activities, including: the integration of updated models into our system, to allow and enable both tactical and strategic deconfliction.
To ensure that the work we do in the Skypuzzler project is of the highest quality we have adopted a quality assurance practice supported by our already implemented, and ISO 9001/14001/27001 certified, Quality, Environmental, and Information Security Management System (QEISMS). By applying our QEISMS we can define and implement comprehensive and secure test protocols, and internal test frameworks capable of comparing simulated deconflicted flight paths with similar physical ones. This means we can align and verify different types of tests and ultimately ensure the validity of the system.
Regarding procedures for DevOps and IT support, our focus has been on optimising our product development system functionality, including performance and user experience through the deployment of continuous integration pipelines, allowing us to constantly verify the functionality and security of our applications to improve time-efficiency for code changes and testing. Furthermore, activities have also included load-balancing for multiple users/clients to ensure that our server capacity is not exceeded thereby ensuring a better user experience.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

From an SDG point of view the Skypuzzler project has the potential to revolutionise the drone industry, and by doing so, create worldwide impact with multiple social, economic, and environmental benefits, and contributing to the consecution of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), e.g.:
• SDG 3 - Good Health and well-being. Our integrated Digital Air Traffic Control (iDATC) will directly support the transportation of medical supplies and assisting emergency response operations.
• SDG 8 – Decent work and economic growth: Enabling other drone companies such as drone operators and Unmanned Traffic Management service providers to scale up operations will help to create new jobs and support economic growth by enabling new industries and services, such as drone delivery and aerial surveying.
• SDG 9 – Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure: Our solution will improve elevate infrastructure by enabling more efficient and cost-effective inspections of ageing and decaying buildings.
• SDG 11 – Sustainable cities and communities: Through Skypuzzler’s iDATC solution it will become possible to complete more transportation in less time. As it currently is, cities are responsible for a significant portion of environmental impacts, with medium and heavy-duty freight transport accounting for approximately 22% of pollutant gas emissions in the E.U. According to the World Economic Forum, the number of last-mile delivery vehicles on our roads will grow by 36%, increasing emissions by 30% in the next decade.
• SDG 13 – Climate Action: Reducing the carbon footprint of traditional transportation methods. The Skypuzzler solution will maximise the number of drones circulating in the airspace, these drones have the potential to replace other means of traffic and reduce 84% of greenhouse gas emissions per parcel delivered.
• SDG 15 – Life on Land: Drones can be used to identify, monitor, photograph, and track wildlife populations, helping to preserve and protect endangered animals and learn more about their migratory patterns and needs for protection.

Drone management