Drones and urban air mobility (UAM) are gaining momentum, and the sector is expected to grow rapidly in the next two decades. Public acceptance is key to the adoption of this novel mode of transportation. ImAFUSA, a recently launched SESAR JU research and innovation project, will quantify a variety of understudied factors that influence citizens’ perception of UAM and deliver a framework that will help Local Authorities and other U-space stakeholders and users with the delivery of a socially acceptable and beneficial UAM deployment in cities.
Bringing together 8 renowned project partners supported by an Advisory Board of experts, the ImAFUSA initiative will facilitate the flow and co-creation of knowledge between higher education (HEI), innovative SMEs, Local Authorities and National Aviation Authorities and produce 10 innovative tools.
ImAFUSA is pioneering the creation of an integrated assessment framework to quantify innovative performance indicators to get insights into three key areas that influence societal acceptance of UAM:
- Environmental impact: Tackling issues such as noise impact, visual pollution, and air quality head-on.
- Safety: Ensuring that UAM becomes a synonym for safety, instilling confidence in every citizen.
- Socioeconomic impact: Making UAM accessible, affordable, and contributing to economic development while optimising public space use and connectivity.
The project will contribute to the designation of sustainable urban air mobility indicators (SUAMI) empowering stakeholders to make more informed, responsible, sustainable and socially accepted decisions.
To do that, ImAFUSA will also be engaging directly with citizens through three immersive UAM experiences in Athens, Greece. Collecting valuable data on sound levels, visual pollution, safety perceptions, and overall UAM acceptance, the project is on the pulse of public sentiment. The indicators developed will be further validated through a cutting-edge simulation environment, mimicking real-world U-space scenarios of varying volumes and configurations.
The project partners are proud to be part of this ambitious human-centred project and contribute to an era where UAM enhances sustainable mobility, elevates business performance, connects citizens, and triggers economic activity in urban and peri-urban areas.
The ImAFUSA project started in September 2023 and the kick-off meeting took place in October 2023. ImAFUSA ́s developments benefit a variety of stakeholders including Local Authorities, policymakers, U-space service providers, ATM/UTM planners and operators, drone manufacturers, environmental agencies and citizens above all.
