Fraunhofer Institute of Optronics, System Technologies and Image Exploitation IOSB 
Short description of the project
The steadily growing volume of passenger and freight traffic - especially in urban areas - is increasingly pushing the existing infrastructure to the limits of its capacity. Autonomous and connected driving is considered a promising approach to optimise traffic flow, but it raises safety-related questions due to the complexity and the multitude of different road users. In the lighthouse project ALBACOPTER®, six Fraunhofer institutes are therefore developing a scalable, flying experimental platform with the VTOL (Vertical Take-Off and Landing) capability of a multicopter and the aerodynamic advantages of a glider, which is to be approved for test and demonstration flights.
Contribution of Fraunhofer IOSB
With its competences from the departments Systems for Measurement, Control and Diagnosis (MRD) and Interoperability and Assistance Systems (IAS), Fraunhofer IOSB is involved in particular in the topics of flight monitoring, function diagnostics, trajectory planning and remote control, as well as in the creation of a Digital Twin of the ALBACOPTER® for "Front Loading" based on a modular simulation platform.
Project goals
Following successful validation of the system concept on economically viable scales, an innovation platform will be created in both the real and virtual worlds for experimental testing of the flight vehicle concept. This project would provide Fraunhofer for the first time with an experimental flying device, including a Digital Twin, which can be used not only to test a wide range of high-tech developments for Urban Air Mobility, but also to present them to the public.