The Innovative Air Mobility Lab (IAM Lab) develops and validates new aircraft concepts. The infrastructure has several facilities:
- Flying Robots Lab. Ample space for indoor flight tests with a precise positioning system. It has a configurable wind profile generator to test adverse weather conditions. It is a pioneering infrastructure in Europe that achieves high test accuracy.
- Electric propulsion test bench (motor, driver and propeller set), up to 3m propellers, equipped with up to 165 kW of power supply, which allows testing aircraft propulsion systems up to 1 tonne, and even testing aircraft of this weight at take-off, as well as bi-directional testing of battery systems.
Laboratory
Main infrastructure:
Aduna Headquarters – Polígono industrial Erribera, 18A
Offices and minor laboratory equipment:
Innovative test facilities for a new Air Mobility that add value to businesses and society
The Innovative Air Mobility Lab has been created to develop, test and validate new aircraft concepts (eVTOL, UAS) and new advanced control technology and algorithms, in the framework of Innovative Air Mobility (IAM) and aerial robotics.
The facilities are equipped with:
Flying Robots Lab
An indoor drone flight test facility, in 20m x 20m and 10m high area, with no satellite positioning, using a vision-based positioning system, with millimetre-precision, made up of 30 cameras. It includes a command post, and a Drone ground control station.
It also includes a Wind Profile Generator (WindShape®) to test aircraft in adverse weather conditions using configurable fans that simulate wind flows up to 16 m/s.
Propulsion test bench
It enables the characterisation of the aircraft propulsion system (engine+driver+propeller) and simulation of ground effect at distances between 1 and 5m. Suitable for electric propulsion systems made up of engine/variator/propeller up to 3kN thrust, 300 Nm torque and 3m propeller diameters, which meets the needs for testing propulsion, from drones under 25 kg to aircraft up to 1 tonne.
It has configurable, regenerative, bi-directional DC power supply systems (165 kW; 400/800 V) capable of functioning as an Energy Storage System or Battery Emulator. They enable the testing of eVTOL aircraft up to 1 tonne (air taxi) in indoor flight.
Other equipment
The IAM Lab also includes other equipment to simulate missions before they are tested, increase the power capabilities and have more variety and range of measurements to record as a result of the tests: Vehicle dynamics simulation equipment; Yokogawa WT1806 power analyser; PXIe-1082; DSpace platform; Yokogawa DLM2054 oscilloscope and other power supplies.
Why choose TECNALIA’s Innovative Air Mobility Laboratory?
It is essential for a technological centre such as TECNALIA to have cutting-edge, pioneering equipment for testing components, systems and unmanned aircraft in the air mobility sector. In TECNALIA’s laboratory, it is not only the infrastructure that is important; it also offers you:
- A comprehensive service: from the moment you contact TECNALIA until the results are delivered, covering all stages of UAS development, from the conceptualisation of the aircraft for customised applications, to design, calculation and simulations (structural, thermal, CFD, noise), modelling and simulation of the flight control algorithm, software implementation, sizing and integration of other systems (propulsion, avionics, C2 links, mission computer, communications, …), obtaining flight permits and operation of the aircraft.
- Advice at all stages of development. You will be able to agree product’s traceability with our engineers.
- Explaining and assessing the results: As well as results, TECNALIA also gives you all the details so that you can have a complete overview of the test performed.
Who can we help?
- Aeronautics and drone companies in the field of urban aerial mobility and aerial robotics.
- Startups focusing on various drone applications, such as infrastructure inspection and maintenance, agriculture, logistics, firefighting, security and other issues.
Accreditations and Recognition
Registration
The IAM Lab has the following accreditations and operational authorisations granted by AESA (Spanish Aviation Safety Agency) and DGAC-France to validate outdoor drones and UAS:
- TECNALIA is accredited as a UAS operator, AESA registration number: ESPemji566syxxsj
- Flight permits granted by AESA to fly the UMILES CONCEPT 2 air taxi (specific category, SAIL II level) in:
- ATLAS (Jaén). Operational authorisation No.ESP-OA-00017/000.
- CIAR (Lugo). Operational authorisation No. ESP-OA-00017/001.
- Quinta La Muñoza (Madrid). Operational authorisation No. ESP-OA-00017/002.
- Flight permit granted by DGAC (France) to fly the UMILES CONCEPT 2 air taxi (specific category, SAIL II level) in:
- Esperce Test site (LF-R-62). Confirmation No: FRA-CBO-2022TCNL001/000.
- Within the open category, the IAM Lab operates the privately built (R&D) eVTOL called FLYFREE 1.2.
Recognition
- 25th ENAIRE Foundation Awards. 2020. 1st Prize for Innovation in the Drone Sector.
- CIUDAD AWARDS 2019. 1st edition. OPEN HOUSE MADRID. Best Mobility Project.
Permisos de vuelo concedidos por AESA para aerotaxi UMILES CONCEPT 2 (categoría específica, nivel SAIL II)
