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During July, our colleagues from KTH Royal Institute of Technology visited the University of São Paolo, in São Carlos, for a research and teaching visit!
We had the chance to gain some insights into Advanced and Urban Air Mobility in Brazil, and you will find our findings below.
Brazil’s Agência National de Aviação Civil – ANAC – drafted a document in 2023 discussing the challenges and advantages of UAM/AAM from an “ecosystem” perspective with points of view of manufacturers, certification, and operations. Many of the points raised by ANAC were also discussed by José Alexandre Tavares Guerreiro Fregnani of Instituto Tecnológico de Aeronáutica (ITA) in his video lecture.
Both ANAC and Prof. Fregnani defined three use cases:
Urban taxi and Airport Shuttle, with a range between 15km and 50km.
Metropolitan transport, with a range of 50km to 250km.
These are interesting cases, as they cover large operational areas, and fit the study cases of São Paolo and Rio de Janeiro, two of the largest cities in Brazil, both suffering from heavy traffic.
What was most interesting in the document by ANAC is that the agency highlighted two often underestimated – by the public perception – challenges of using eVTOL (electrically-powered vehicles): The need to have an appropriately sized power network and a network of charging stations just like those being developed for electric cars and certification, which directly relates to safety for operators and users.
In particular the second challenge highlighted – among many others – is of fundamental interests for the ImAFUSA consortium of researchers as it directly impact societal acceptance.
Author: Raffaello Mariani
Editor: Kyriaki Daskaloudi