In order to verify and validate the developed technologies and assess their cost-benefit in enabling the business models, three specific use cases will be analysed.
In each use case, open communication and interaction among the relevant prosumers – technology providers, UAM/seaplane/ small aircraft operators, infrastructure providers, civil aviation authorities, local/governmental authorities, etc. – and end-users will take place to engage them in activities for jointly identifying requirements, common interests and needs.
For each use case, we will design sound business models for new services (e.g., on-demand multimodal passenger transport operation that seamlessly combine UAM, seaplanes or small aircraft, and also drones when used for freight, disaster management, etc.) and identify how the developed technologies and services could enter the market.
USE CASE # 1 – GREECE
Environmentally sustainable transport solutions at water airports in Ionian Islands
The Greek use case will focus on the evaluation of Di-PEGASUS transformative technologies in water airports.
Seaplanes constitute a novel form of air travel that can bring about environmentally sustainable transport solutions due to reduced carbon footprint and environmental impact compared to other forms of air travel, while it provides the benefits of air travel without the need for extensive infrastructure. Operating at multiple locations and with increased flexibility, the seaplane is an unrivalled transportation mechanism.
Nevertheless, water airports and seaplane networks in Greece are facing several challenges. Indeed, complexity of the environment with multiple point-to-point nodes, extreme weather conditions, increased travel costs, and fleet dependency are affecting local demand between water airports, and require the optimization of route analysis and operations optimisation for scheduling, dispatching and allocation.
USE CASE # 2 – ITALY
Delivery of goods through drones and swarms in the Emilia Romagna Region
The Italian use case will be developed in Emilia-Romagna, a region leader in several sectors, food, car manufacturers, mechatronics, and data management. In the last two years, the region was one of the main targets of contract logistics due to the explosion of e-commerce in almost all the region’s cities.
This use case aims to explore the delivery of goods with UASs or swarms, to make more efficient and fast transport of goods and reduce the use of car-based services for those urgent deliveries from suburban to urban areas, which is often the reason for the low load factor of vans.
Moreover, thanks to specific timetables and routes, it will be possible to explore solutions with autonomous drones.
USE CASE # 3 – FRANCE
Paris Region AAM (Advanced Air Mobility) Alliance
In 2020 Paris Region, ADP Group (Paris Airports operator) and RATP (the French public urban transport operator) launched a French UAM initiative called «Paris Region AAM (Advanced Air Mobility) Alliance», creating an industrial and academic ecosystem around the eVTOL sector and a community covering the full spectrum of activities related to UAM use cases: air services operators, ground / urban infrastructure manufacturers and operators, aircraft manufacturers, technology providers, academic partners and institutional.
That community will offer its expertise to Di-PEGASUS within the French Use Case, to review the activities from each pillar.
