Airbus UpNext: Developing New Technology to Assist Pilots, Part 2 of 2

“It’s the idea of many people at Airbus, of collective intelligence. It’s to continuously improve the safety of our planes, the in-flight safety of our planes. We’re going to have more and more planes in our airspace, and on the ground too, so how can we ensure that we always have the best planes, the safest planes.”

“Safety is already at an excellent level today, but we’re always looking to go one step further. And it’s true that today, during the taxiing phases for example, you’ll see that incidents happen quite occasionally, but we aim to prevent them by adding safety nets. Thus, with protections against possible collisions we might have tomorrow between a plane and an obstacle that could be a luggage cart at the airport, for example. Or preventing runway incursion, that is, entering a runway without realizing that an aircraft is landing or taking off. So, these are things we want to develop.”

The team is testing many new technologies, such as 4D radar and LiDAR, a GPS system that’s accurate within one centimeter, and 5G and 6G communication systems. To test these technologies, the team is using a “flying truck,” a specially designed electric vehicle outfitted with an A350 virtual cockpit in the front and complex testing equipment in the back. The vehicle is a unique testing platform that allows the team to conduct realistic flight simulations and evaluate the performance of these technologies in a controlled environment. Jonathan explains why they decided to use a “flying truck.”

To determine which technological advances will be of the best assistance, the Optimate team is working closely with airline pilots. This collaboration is crucial as it ensures that the technologies being developed are not only innovative but also practical and beneficial for the pilots who will be using them, thereby enhancing the safety and efficiency of air travel.

Jonathan is optimistic about the future of air travel. He believes that, through technological advancements, we can make aircraft even safer and more efficient in the future. “I’d like my daughters to be able to continue to use the plane. And to use it in an environmentally friendly way. Because it’s all very well to use planes, but we also have to make sure that our Earth can continue too. So, we have to make every effort to ensure that it’s as sustainable as possible, uses as little fuel as possible, is as optimized as possible and as safe as possible.”