In November, RTCA Special Committee 213 and EUROCAE Working Group 79 hosted a workshop on the support that Enhanced Vision Systems (EVS) could provide to the Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) actors.

This hybrid event, attended by 55 experts from industry, R&D and regulator entities (EASA and FAA), offered an opportunity to present the current concepts of operation for EVS, in support of manned aviation, and the associated regulatory assumptions and requirements. The complex requirements around certifying and using vision systems were presented to help the AAM community understand the challenges and benefits of planning to install EVS in their systems.

The AAM concept covers the existing Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), the Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS), and the emerging Vertical Take Off and Landing (VTOL) vehicles, soon to be certified. The progressive integration of these new concepts in the aviation environment, first with a pilot onboard or remotely piloted, then fully automated, would benefit from an extended use of vision systems, for which new regulations and supporting industry standards will be needed. As is often the case, regulations for traditional manned aviation applications need adjustments for adaptation to the new technologies entering operations.

This event allowed both communities to exchange views about respective needs, expectations, and constraints. One outcome of the workshop, was that a better description of the AAM concept of operations, with a notion of missions, applications and operational requirements, was needed. This was reinforced during the International Civil Aviation Organization RPAS Symposium that was held the following week.

Further discussions will be needed to better identify synergies and see how WG-79/SC-213 will be able to support this emerging new aviation.