Successful premiere of the UAM Ideas Exchange

The new online format of the Urban Air Mobility (UAM) Initiative Ingolstadt paves the way for a promising high-tech cooperation between Technische Hochschule Ingolstadt (THI) and SDT Industrial Technology.

Each eye consists of thousands of individual facets that together create a seamless 360-degree field of vision and detect movement with almost 100 per cent accuracy (©SDT).

Sphere-500 – the technical realisation of this natural principle: The optoelectronic 360° system translates the structure of the dragonfly’s eye into state-of-the-art sensor technology, achieving near-complete motion detection across the entire airspace (©SDT).

With the newly launched online cooperation platform "UAM Ideas Exchange", the UAM Initiative Ingolstadt has achieved success in terms of knowledge transfer between business and science at its very first event. The event aims to connect companies or companies with science as easily as possible so that new impulses, ideas, and collaborations can emerge. Two companies present their technologies, opportunities, and requirements at a time, after which there is the opportunity to exchange ideas and make contacts with the participants.

SDT Industrial Technology presented its optoelectronic high technology to a total of 28 participants at the first UAM Ideas Exchange Sphere-500, a patented 360° detection system based on the function of the dragonfly eye. It works completely passively, without actively emitting signals or sending signals to flying objects, and overcomes key limitations of conventional radar or LiDAR technologies. This technology thus contributes to secure airspace surveillance, drone defence, and the integration of unmanned and manned systems. Inspired by this impulse from the "UAM Idea Exchange", the THI's Institut AImotion Bavaria will be working together with SDT Industrial Technology in the future. Professor Dr Christian Seidel from AImotion Bavaria and the company believe that this cooperation could provide a significant technological boost for Ingolstadt and Bavaria. The AI-Institut AImotion Bavaria at Technische Hochschule Ingolstadt, which is funded by Hightech Agenda Bayern, focuses on the development of AI-based mobility of the future, such as autonomous aviation, AI-supported flight guidance, and the integration of unmanned systems into airspace. Current research projects include AI-supported image enhancement for helicopter landings in difficult visibility conditions and the development of autonomous flight controls based on reinforcement learning. Together with SDT's expertise, new solutions can be developed more quickly and tested in practice.

As part of the cooperation between THI and SDT, there are plans to fund a doctoral student for three years, share research and test infrastructure, and carry out joint R&D projects in the fields of drone detection, air traffic control, and UAS safety. In addition, funding will be applied for for pioneering technologies to further develop collision-free unmanned aerial systems (UAS). "By providing an exchange platform for the initiative's partners, the UAM Idea Exchange has triggered a process that is now leading to concrete plans for joint projects," explains Dr Boris Linschitz, General Director of SDT Industrial Technology. "The successful combination of industry, SMEs and applied research already demonstrates the value of networks such as the Ingolstadt UAM Initiative for Bavaria as a centre of innovation." The Ingolstadt UAM Initiative thus plays a central role in promoting innovative technologies and strengthening Bavaria as a business location in the field of urban air mobility.

The next dates of the UAM Ideas Exchange will be announced via the Ingolstadt.Business calendar: Ingolstadt_business

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