The SNA (Air Navigation Systems) group from the ITACA Institute at the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) played a prominent role in the 25th edition of the Integrated Communication, Navigation, and Surveillance Conference (ICNS), held from April 8 to 10 in Brussels, Belgium.
This international event, one of the most important in the field of aviation and air traffic management, served as a platform to showcase the group’s research excellence in technologies applied to U-space and Air Traffic Management (ATM).
Researchers Sandra Amarillo and Álex Sanchis Marín were honored with “Best Paper” awards in their respective technical sessions, in recognition of the scientific quality and innovation of their proposals. These achievements consolidate the SNA group as one of the leading European references in emerging technologies for urban air mobility and the safe integration of drones into airspace.
“These international recognitions reflect the high scientific and technological level of the SNA group and its commitment to the development of innovative solutions for a safer, smarter, and more sustainable air navigation system”, highlighted Juan Vicente Balbastre, head of the group.
Awarded Research Projects
Sandra Amarillo’s research, titled “Proposal of UAS Strategic Conflict Detection concept with a centralised service in multi-USSP environment using an octree data structure,” proposes a new approach to the strategic management of conflicts between unmanned aircraft. It is based on a centralized service and is designed for environments where multiple U-space service providers (USSPs) operate.
Her work employs an octree-type data structure to organize airspace hierarchically and efficiently, allowing for the detection and prediction of potential conflicts at a strategic level before they become hazardous situations. This methodology opens new avenues to ensure the safety and efficiency of drone traffic in complex urban environments.
The study is part of the SPIRIT-UCS project, funded by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities – State Research Agency (MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033) and the European Social Fund Plus (FSE+), under reference PID2022-141829OB-I00.
Álex Sanchis Marín, in turn, presented his work titled “Realistic Trajectory Generation in Simulated Environments for U-space systems assessment,” a tool for generating realistic trajectories that simulate the behavior of unmanned aircraft in complex urban scenarios.
His research is part of the CREATE U-Space project, funded by the Ministry of Innovation, Universities, Science and Digital Society of the Generalitat Valenciana (reference CIAICO/2022/044).
Finally, Denis Andrés Maigualema Quimbita also presented the potential of his study, titled “Positioning of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in Urban Environments Using 5G Networks: A Hybrid Approach Based on Multilateration and Machine Learning,” which explores a hybrid approach to the precise positioning of drones in urban environments. It combines traditional multilateration techniques with machine learning algorithms using signals from 5G networks.
His proposal offers a robust solution to the limitations of GPS in dense urban areas, improving the accuracy, reliability, and availability of positioning data—essential factor for ensuring safe and autonomous operations in urban airspace. This work is also part of the SPIRIT-UCS project.