AiRMOUR validation flights started – see the video

AiRMOUR executed the first set of the validation flights in Stavanger, Norway in September 2022. See the video to know what happened and to hear the thoughts of Kari Nessa Nordtun, Mayor of Stavanger and EMS doctor Robert Wilhelm Joseph on drones in Emergency Medical Services.

More information about the AiRMOUR validation flights

AiRMOUR plans to validate the research carried out in the project via real-life drone flights in Stavanger (Norway), Helsinki (Finland) and Kassel (Germany). The validations feature several use cases of life-saving services.

AiRMOUR is a research and innovation project focusing on the development of Urban Air Mobility. The aim of the three-year project is to meet the needs of Emergency Medical Services and provide guidance to municipalities on the opportunities of drone services. A total of 13 partners from six countries (Finland, Sweden, Norway, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands) are involved in the project, which is funded by the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme.

In the first half of the project, the AiRMOUR team has carried out research on potential medical use cases, looked for the place of such new drone services in the existing medical system and investigated potential air risks, among other things. Now, the project will proceed to validating the research in real-life drone flights organised from this autumn to spring 2023. The first flights will take place on 21 September in Stavanger, Norway, and continue later in the cities of Helsinki, Finland, and Kassel, Germany.

The AiRMOUR validation flights are planned to include two different drone types (Ehang 216 and Falcon L400) and transportations of both medical equipment and Emergency Medical Services personnel. The deliveries of personnel are most likely to happen by using test dummies. These kinds of new, innovative services are intended to be a useful addition to the existing medical system.

‘The aim of the validations is to progress from less demanding flights and circumstances to the most demanding ones, to increase the overall understanding on what is possible in the European regulatory framework for urban air mobility, with the current operational capabilities and user needs. The expectation is that we will gain a wealth of new state-of-the-art knowledge in terms of the social aspects (e.g. public acceptance, business viability) and also the technological aspects, such as e.g. air risks, ground risks, patient risks, airspace limitations and landing infrastructure – and much more, as determined within our AiRMOUR success criteria work to predate all of the validations,´ says the Coordinator of the AiRMOUR project, Principal Scientist, Doctor Petri Mononen from VTT, Technical Research Centre of Finland.

During the first AiRMOUR validation flights next week in Stavanger, the operator Ehang Scandinavia will fly a defibrillator over a lake to a person acting as a victim of a heart attack. In November, weather permitting, deliveries of other emergency medical products, such as an EpiPen, adrenaline or specialised medical equipment, will be tested in Helsinki. The final round will be held in Kassel, Germany, in spring 2023, focusing on the transport between medical facilities, i.e. ‘A-to-B flights.’ In Luxembourg, the validations will be carried out as a simulation.

‘Our early validations run primarily to gather a lot of data for further analysis – but very importantly, they also serve as benchmarks for the following ones in order to make sure that we are on the right track in terms of operational capabilities in conformance to the regulations,’ says Mononen.

According to Mononen, all the learnings from the early AiRMOUR validations will affect and improve the following ones. After all the data has been gathered from the validation operations, the project will move into the final analysis and reporting stage to produce the main scientific contributions.

‘The contributions will include meaningful guidance, do’s and don’ts for the rest of Europe to support the safe and effective emergence of urban air mobility,’ he says.

The AiRMOUR project

Dr. Petri Mononen
Principal Scientist, AiRMOUR Project Coordinator
VTT, Technical Research Centre of Finland
petri.mononen(at)vtt.fi, tel. +358 40 5155 808

The AiRMOUR validations in Stavanger

Terje Rygh
Project Manager, Stavanger Municipality
terje.rygh(at)stavanger.kommune.no

The AiRMOUR project has published a guidebook on Urban Air Mobility integration process for cities and regions. Any feedback to improve the content of the guidebook is welcome to enhance the final version expected in 2023.

The AiRMOUR guidebook is designed to help city and region decision makers to perceive when and how to invest in the development of Urban Air Mobility (UAM). This first version of the guidebook helps to understand the role a city or region should have if it wants to embrace the new capabilities of UAM and better understand this new type of domain. The guidebook is also relevant for other stakeholders in Europe, as it combines the four main points of view relevant to Urban Air Mobility: urban design and mobility, aviation safety, public acceptance and UAM integration process management. The second, more detailed version of the guidebook is expected in late 2023 to consolidate feedback and project proceedings to present the most relevant insights of the program.

The book is structured around thematic areas, for example citizen engagement, legal aspects or multimodality and is designed to answer the main concerns that have been highlighted by cities:

The book also covers low tech solutions that bring groundbreaking results and reminds cities of stakeholder groups that are too often forgotten.

See the AiRMOUR deliverable 6.2 ‘Guidebook for UAM integration’ (pdf)

Please send your feedback to [email protected]

For further information on the Guidebook, please contact:

Benoît Larrouturou, [email protected]

The AiRMOUR project organised an open call in spring to invite 10 cities and regions to join the development of Urban Air Mobility as Replicators. The Replicators have been selected.

The Replicators will bring their local UAM vision, strategy and activities forward by testing and validating the main outputs of AiRMOUR, such as the UAM GIS tool and UAM Guidebook. They also have the opportunity to use ready-made public acceptance surveys of AiRMOUR and to access prioritised the AiRMOUR training curriculum. In turn, Replicators will assist the AiRMOUR project in gaining a better understanding of how to integrate Urban Air Mobility into legal systems and policies throughout Europe.

In addition to the now selected, the Dubai Future Foundation and the City of Stockholm were identified as Replicators in the planning phase of the project.

‘This is a splendid opportunity for more in-depth cooperation between cities on the Urban Air Mobility topic. The additional validation of project outputs is of crucial importance to understand the effect of different boundary conditions on the scalability of UAM operations, use cases and tools. In turn, AiRMOUR’s documents, tools and trainings will give Replicator cities a running start to adopting UAM. They can use the outputs and lessons of the project to prepare for concrete Urban Air Mobility activities in their own jurisdiction’, says Project manager Renske Martijnse-Hartikka from Forum Virium Helsinki and adds: ‘The AiRMOUR project partners look forward to the cooperation and wish a warm welcome to all the Replicators!’

For further information, please contact:

Forum Virium Helsinki

Renske Martijnse-Hartikka, renske.martijnse-hartikka(at)forumvirium.fi

See the AiRMOUR project’s global reach on the Partners page

Is your city or region keen on stepping in the frontline of Urban Air Mobility development? Join the AiRMOUR Replicator City Group!

The AiRMOUR project invites 10 cities or regions to join the development of Urban Air Mobility (UAM) and prepare themselves for a future where drones will be commonplace in urban areas. Replicator cities will bring their local UAM vision, strategy and activities forward by testing and validating the main outputs of the project and assist in gaining a better understanding of how to integrate Urban Air Mobility into legal systems and policies throughout Europe.

There are several ways to contribute and they all will help the Replicator Cities to develop their own UAM activities. For example:

After the closing of Call for Replicators, AiRMOUR’s Executive Management Board will select 10 cities. The aim is that the cities chosen are predominantly European and represent a balanced geographical spread and population size. They do not have to have prior experience with UAM, but need to demonstrate their ambition by applying for the Replicator status by 31.3.2022 or briefly after.

Download the AiRMOUR Replicator City application form and instructions (Word and pdf)

For further information, please contact:

Forum Virium Helsinki

Project Manager Renske Martijnse-Hartikka, renske.martijnse-hartikka(at)forumvirium.fi

The AiRMOUR glossary explaining the key terms of Urban Air Mobility is now out.

The AiRMOUR project has published a glossary of Urban Air Mobility. The glossary includes ca. 50 key terms and it is part of the AiRMOUR deliverable 2.1 ‘Foresight analysis and UAM EMS integration process management’.

Other EU-funded UAM projects have contributed to the glossary, i.e. AMU-LED, CORUS-XUAM, FLYING FORWARD 2020, GOF 2.0, SAFIR-Med and TindAIR. Together with the AiRMOUR project, they form a group which has been working on #UAMExplained glossary and campaigning. The #UAMExplained group’s glossary is to be finalised and published in the form of a brochure in the first quarter of 2022.

The AiRMOUR project works across the domains of aviation, urban & regional planning and management and emergency & non-emergency medical services. The glossary helps different stakeholder groups to find shared terminology and understanding for the discussions of Urban Air Mobility.

See the AiRMOUR Urban Air Mobility glossary