The EuroDRONE demonstration, along with several similar projects around the EU, aims to examine the applicability of different concepts, technologies and architectures, to promote the cooperation of the relevant stakeholders and to identify needs, problems, misconceptions that need to be addressed before U-Space can be successfully realized. The EuroDRONE UTM architecture is based on the DronSystems patent-pending UTM system, called DroNav, which is made of cloud software (DroNav) and hardware Mission Director (DronAssistant) to be installed on the drones to be used. DroNaV is a Highly Automated Air Traffic Management (ATM) System for Small UAVs Operating at Low Altitudes. As required by the SESAR call, EuroDRONE, based on the DroNaV architecture and capabilities, is designed for the SESAR call/requirements as a universal platform, connecting various stakeholders (operators, regulators, law enforcement agencies, product developers) and providing interoperability of different systems in a unified environment. Based on the requirements set in the SESAR U-Space Call, EuroDRONE covers multiple aspects of the U-Space, including U1, U2 and U3. The EuroDRONE objective is to develop, mature and qualify U-Space functionalities as provided by SESAR JU/CFP and test them in Greece with the support of the Hellenic National Civil Aviation Authority (ΥΠΑ/CAA) the largest logistics industrial actor in the south east of Europe, Hellenic Post (ΕΛΤΑ), two leading UAV/UTM SMEs from the UK and Spain DronSystems and Aslogic and two academic institutions with significant experience in testing UAVs autonomously in UTM related practical experiments, Cranfield University and University of Patras.

For more information refer to: http://www.aml.eurodrone.upatras.gr/

Metropolis 2 is a project that responds to SESAR-JU (Single European Sky ATM Research Joint Undertaking) necessity of providing concrete solutions to enable air traffic in high-density urban environments. As the european research market is drifting towards U3/U4 services, the project consolidates the results from U1/U2 services and provides a realistic foundation for future Urban Air Mobility (UAM). It is one of the few projects that is working with U4 services.

A main focus is given to develop solutions to strategic deconfliction, tactical deconfliction and dynamic capacity management. The project is being developed by a consortium of eight institutions with wide experience in U-Space research activities while the outcome concepts and results will contribute to enable safe and efficient U-Space operations in urban environments. Metropolis 2 lies within the EU-2020 Research and Innovation programme.

The new European Tactical UAV, specially designed for the effective border surveillance and reconnaissance of threats and high value targets, will be of Hellenic provenance. INTRACOM DEFENSE (IDE) signed with the European Commission, the Grant Agreement for the 9.7 million € funding of the LOTUS – Low Observable Tactical Unmanned System program, approved last July in the framework of EDIDP (European Defense Industrial Development Program).

The LOTUS – Low Observable Tactical Unmanned System employs a number of innovative characteristics, such as:

• Stealth properties, hiding it from enemy forces

• Stand-off operational capabilities

• Airworthiness and interoperability based on NATO standards

• Reliable communications

• Extensive adoption of Artificial Intelligence

• Cybersecurity and Expandability to support additional missions

Some of the platform’s advanced features cannot be incorporated in existing designs, providing LOTUS with a strong competitive advantage.

For more information refer to: https://www.intracomdefense.com/lotus-next-generation-tactical-uav-from-intracom-defensefor-isr-missions/

Autonomous Systems (AS), which unmanned swarm systems are part of, will make a significant and revolutionary social, economic, education and research impact immediately. Use of swarm technologies and techniques has the potential to represent more than an evolution for the military doctrine and for the implementation of military missions: they could extend the reach and access of operations, reduce risk to warfighters, provide increased capability across the battlespace. In the longer term, swarm technologies can significantly reduce the cost of acquisition and operations of defence systems while minimizing human risk. EuroSWARM has the ambitious goal to become the benchmark in the unmanned heterogeneous swarm systems for defence applications. The EuroSWARM project objectives are:

1. Develop the following key techniques for adaptive, informative, and reconfigurable operations of unmanned heterogeneous swarm systems: (a) Optimal task allocation and resource management (b) Sensor fusion (c) Cooperative guidance (d) Robust sensor network;
2. Integrate the developed techniques;
3. Validate the developed techniques based on simulations targeting specific military scenario;
4. Demonstrate the proposed solutions based on a small-scale demonstrator in both indoor and outdoor environments.

The main output of the project will result in a modular, scalable and flexible swarm architecture which, in combination with a low-cost demonstration based on COTS devices, will represent the first step for the progressive uptake of unmanned swarm technology and applications in the defence sector. The EuroSWARM autonomous swarm system of heterogeneous sensor, can become a pilot for large scale implementation of such technology for critical European and Global challenges such as border control, surveillance-security, and with a clear dual-use potential.

For more information refer to: http://www.aml.euroswarm.upatras.gr/

The Autonomous, Reconfigurable Swarms of Unmanned Vehicles for Defense Applications (ACHILLES) is an EDA Cat.B project funded by the Greek and German Ministries of Defense. The project kick-off in January 2023 and has a duration of 31 months. It enables the maturation and validation of swarm technologies, as well as airspace integration concepts for use in the defence sector in EU. This will be supported by simulation testing and flight demonstrators developed for the project.

ACHILLES is funded by the Hellenic and German Ministries of Defence under the umbrella of the European Defence Agency (EDA).

Capabilities and features under investigation:

• Interoperability with external and preexisting military systems
• Distributed communications
• Decision-making and swarming capabilities
• Guidance, Navigation, and Control methods
• Perception capabilities/ Sensor processing/ ISR/ Situational Awareness capabilities
• Integration into national airspace

For more information refer to: https://achilles.upatras.gr/

This proposal considers a multitude of agents to execute a different kind of tasks in a specific area (scenario/operation area). For this purpose, a variety of state-of-the-art techniques is going to be examined, including Machine Learning, Game Theory, Evolutionary Algorithms allowing the agents to perform dynamically changing tasks. The main technological challenge is to develop a cooperative system which can keep up with the needs of invader changing applications, forming specific coalitions, area monitoring even rearranging formations. Therefore, it consists a dynamic decision-making approach for swarm systems so that they will complete the required tasks, recover safely from faults and emergencies, and respond predictably to instructions at all time. Especially, this issue becomes more significant as the size of the unmanned swarm systems increases.  

This project will use and compare various artificial intelligence methodologies, focusing on game theory, machine learning and evolutionary algorithms which are to show a strong promise, for specific UAV swarm and space (satellite controls/formation flying) applications. 

The main research hypothesis to be tested in this project is that it should be possible to design efficient and effective decision making algorithms for swarm systems (in air or in space) by using artificial intelligence. The main objectives to test this research hypothesis is to develop decentralised or distributed online optimization algorithm(s) and network resilience for swarms are: 

Decision Making 

• Computationally efficient and scalable to be applicable to large-size swarms; 
• Adaptive to dynamic changes in the system, communication network and environment; 
• Robust to uncertainties with incomplete and corrupted information; 
• Capable to learn and improve using AI techniques. 

Autonomous Control for Autonomous Swarms 

• Analyse and manage topology of a swarm of UVS/satellites so that various levels of connectivity are maintained. 
• Propose an effective control strategy for a set of autonomous agents (UVS) or space assets (satellites) for various scenarios (e.g. control of a satellite based swarm, satellite based tracking, space traffic management) 

This project focused on decision making methods for swarm systems empowered by AI. Efficient collaboration among unmanned systems is essential for their successful operations, and the crucial factor enabling this is efficient real-time decision-making. The effectiveness of a swarm relies on the decentralized nature of the available sensing resources, and making sound decisions on how to utilize these resources is pivotal for maximizing operational advantages.
The project developed and tested decentralized, robust and efficient decision making algorithms in dynamic simulated environments. The algorithms were implemented in a swarm of quadcopters tasked with surveilling a given area of interest and detecting and tracking intruders.