Project PORTAL

Project dates: 1 July 2022 – 30 June 2024

About the project

Project PORTAL is a disruptive system-of-systems approach to infrastructure technology for vertiports and aims to develop the technology needed to safely deploy landing locations at scale.

The focus of the project is to deliver efficiency and scalability arising from detailed design optimisation of vertiport systems that offer high throughput flight capacity in a modular format. Safety and resilience are provided by precise monitoring and control, not just of air vehicle movements but of all the associated ground handling operations in the immediate air and ground environments.

Please Note: Funding available is the grant value awarded by Innovate UK.

Project activities

SLiNK-TECH, leading the project, will further develop their existing situational awareness and vertiport management capability, and integrate advanced sensing technology, innovative guidance, and secure-by-design communications. The project will be further supported with research into the airspace operational logic, supporting data analytics and flight test facilities through the University of Bristol’s Robotics Flight Lab.

Benefits

By leveraging automation to manage drone traffic through on-ground situational awareness and connectivity, locations can reduce specialist staff, and in-turn, reduce operational costs. PORTAL aims to make it easy for any business to become a drone capable business, and will be able to serve new bespoke vertiports or be retro-fitted for installations in areas such as car parks or roof tops.

To find out more about the project, please contact Innovate UK Business Connect’s Knowledge Transfer Manager for Aviation.

Project partners

• SLiNK-TECH
• ANGOKA
• Auriga Aerospace
• Cambridge Sensoriis
• R4DAR Technologies
• Snowdonia Aerospace
• University of Bristol