📋 Tender Overview
Funding
European
European Union
Duration
01/2024
-
12/2026
Status Ongoing
Geo-spatial type Urban
Total project cost €2 830 510
EU Contribution €2 192 362
Project website
https://gaussianproject.eu/en/
Project Acronym GAUSSIAN
STRIA Roadmaps
Connected and automated transport (CAT)
Transport mode
Airborne icon
Transport policies
Safety/Security
Transport sectors
Passenger transport, Freight transport
Overview
Call for proposal HORIZON-EUSPA-2022-SPACE
Link to CORDIS
CORDIS ID: 101129480
Background & Policy context
Recent advancements in batteries, electric propulsion systems and related technologies have spurred a breakthrough in urban air mobility and avionics, leading to the initial development of electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft. However, this progress has not been without challenges. Despite the ecological and safety benefits, these aircraft would require innovative solutions for position, navigation and timing (PNT) systems. In this context, the EU-funded GAUSSIAN project aims to address this challenge by leveraging global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) to power PNT modules. Through this initiative, the project seeks to demonstrate the potential of integrating GNSS platforms and Galileo E1 signals to enhance safety and efficiency in urban air mobility and avionics.
In recent years, there has been a vibrating interest in Urban Air Mobility (UAM) with attention on advancements in batteries, distributed electric propulsion, and all technologies that are leading to the development of a new class of aircraft, commonly referred to as electric Vertical TakeOff and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft. These are expected to be safer, quieter, greener, and less expensive to operate and maintain than existing vertical takeoff and landing aircraft. They promise to be much less complex than legacy helicopters (of comparable size and carrying capability), but the reduced complexity of the aeronautical structure does not imply simpler avionics for flight control, navigation, and vehicle management, which will have to address an integration problem. This touches diverse Position Navigation and Time (PNT) technologies and the low-level data fusion between Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) and Inertial Navigation Systems (INS) is a solution, especially if new features of GNSS signals are exploited.
Objectives
GAUSSIAN addresses the problem of safety and security of UAM applications that rely on PNT modules powered by EGNSS. Specifically, GAUSSIAN wants to demonstrate the value of the authenticated Galileo E1 signals combined to integrated GNSS/INS platforms to have (i) greater robustness against spoofing attempts and (ii) better continuity and availability of PNT data in constrained environments. GAUSSIAN wants to mitigate some security risks and concerns which originate from real needs of flight operators, leveraging advances in existing PNT technologies. The project also includes the application of t
