Project PORTAL
In July 2022, Project PORTAL was accepted as one of 17 winning projects, onto the Future Flight challenge at UK Research and Innovation. The challenge, delivered by Innovate UK, is providing funding to develop and show integrated aviation systems and new technologies. (Future Flight challenge announces phase three winners – UKRI).
SLiNK-TECH (SLiNK) is leading Project PORTAL, in a consortium of seven organisations and we will be supported by Innovate UK funding until the project ends, in December 2024. As leaders of the project’s consortium, the funding will enable us to further develop our existing situational awareness and vertiport management capability, and integrate advanced sensing, navigation and communications technology from our consortium partners.
As part of the Future Flight challenge, we are working closely with the UK flight regulator, Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), through their Regulatory Sandbox programme and are involved with standards efforts (ASTM, BSI) to ensure PORTAL is suitable to the current and future requirements for the future of flight.
You can find out more about our Project PORTAL partners here.
What is PORTAL?
PORTAL stands for Permanent OR Temporary Automated Launch (and Landing).
The PORTAL system is cost-effective, modular and environmentally friendly resilient vertiport, providing integrated flight management at any location. PORTAL provides the essential infrastructure required to safely deploy and operate a vertiport for any size eVTOL, from small UAS to large air-taxi.
PORTAL scans the air, scans the ground and then commands known vehicles where to land.
Read more about PORTAL here.
How does PORTAL enable future flight?
PORTAL provides automated launch and landing at any location.
It is a disruptive system-of-systems approach to vertiport infrastructure. We provide the technology needed to safely setup drone and passenger eVTOL locations at scale.
Using PORTAL automation technology, any business can safely manage high traffic drone landings through on-ground situational awareness and connectivity. Businesses will not need to hire specialist staff, and in-turn, reduce operational costs without sacrificing safety.
With PORTAL, any business can become a drone capable business.
By offering 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.
PORTAL will be tested at several trials throughout the FFC3 by two operators: University of Bristol’s Robotics Flight Lab and Auriga Aerospace. The trials will take place predominantly at two locations: University of Bristol’s Fenswood facility and Snowdonia Aerospace Centre in Llanbedr.
Read more about PORTAL here.
The PORTAL Timeline
MVP Kick-off
FFC3 Begins
PORTAL Trials
at SAC
PORTAL Party
Drone Demo
Future Flight
Project complete
UK 1st
R&D Vertiport
at SAC
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
2026
FFC2 Delivered
MVP Flight Trials