New solutions for airspace security

Following the successful launch of the UAM Ideas Exchange, the next concrete step is now underway: THI and SDT are launching a three-year research and development partnership to further the scientific development of a new generation of optical airspace detection systems for lower airspace.

The technological basis of the project is the Sphere-500 technology platform, developed and patented by SDT Industrial Technology. Inspired by the compound eye of a dragonfly, the system employs a novel bionic approach to provide continuous 360° optical surveillance of the airspace. Instead of conventional radar or LiDAR systems, Sphere-500 processes data from numerous high-resolution sensors using specially developed algorithms to produce a consistent digital situational picture.

The aim is not only to reliably detect flying objects, but also to classify them unambiguously, track them continuously and robustly analyse even complex scenarios – such as those involving multiple drones operating simultaneously.

The demand for high-performance technologies is growing steadily. Small drones, autonomous flight systems and, in future, drone swarms are fundamentally changing lower airspace. This creates a need for new technological approaches that enable comprehensive and continuous monitoring of this airspace.

Professor Christian Seidel is the scientific lead for the project on behalf of THI. Dr Boris Linschitz, Managing Director of SDT Industrial Technology and a member of the Sphere-500 development team, is responsible for the technological development on the company’s side. The scientific work is supported by PhD student Edwin Deisling.

As part of the collaboration, THI is investigating the physical, algorithmic and systems engineering fundamentals of the technology under realistic conditions and further developing selected methods from a scientific perspective. SDT is contributing the technological system architecture, the bionically inspired approach and the underlying portfolio of patents and intellectual property rights to the project.

The research has a deliberately dual focus, addressing both civil applications and requirements in the fields of safety and security. The long-term aim is to develop a new generation of intelligent optical airspace detection systems that can be integrated into existing safety, control and traffic management systems.

“We are investigating how bionic perception principles can be translated into high-performance technical systems and what opportunities this presents for the future surveillance of lower airspace,” says Professor Christian Seidel.

Dr Boris Linschitz adds: “Industrial leadership arises where research and engineering are jointly translated into real-world technological systems. Collaboration between academia and industry lays the foundation for developing marketable solutions with international competitiveness from innovative ideas.”

Over the next three years, sensor technology, algorithms and system architecture will be further developed and validated under real-world conditions. The aim of the collaboration is to lay the scientific foundations for a new generation of optical airspace surveillance and to translate these into industrial applications.