Imagine a vehicle that glides just a few feet above the water, acting like a mix between a boat and a plane. It uses a cushion of air to move much faster than a ship but uses far less energy than a traditional aircraft. This project makes these vehicles electric and self-driving so they can move cargo and people without a pilot.
Traditional inter-island transport is split between slow, high-capacity ships and fast, expensive, polluting airplanes. There is a gap for a transport method that is both fast and energy-efficient.
The project is developing a fully electrical unmanned WIG vehicle (UWV) featuring AI-driven flight control and a zero-emission power network.
If you are a courier service dealing with slow ship speeds and high plane costs — this project developed an Unmanned WIG Vehicle that combines speed and energy efficiency. It allows for faster delivery of goods across archipelagos using zero-emission power.
If you are a ferry operator dealing with high fuel costs and carbon emissions — this project developed a fully electrical unmanned aircraft system. This allows for the movement of people across inland waterways with reduced acoustic noise and zero carbon footprint.
If you are a hardware provider dealing with the need for integrated power systems — this project developed electrical propulsion networks integrating solar and hydrogen. This creates a new market for high-efficiency energy storage like supercapacitors in aviation.
Based on available project data, specific pricing or cost figures for the vehicles are not provided.
The project aims to lay the foundations for a new class of unmanned vehicles and analyze business scenarios to assess their viability for wide-range business applications.
Based on available project data, there are no specific details regarding patents or licensing agreements.
The project period runs from 2023-01-01 to 2026-12-31, suggesting the technology is currently in development.
The project focuses on on-board power management integrating solar and hydrogen energy sources with batteries and supercapacitors.
The consortium consists of 7 partners across 5 countries, showing a strong academic lean with 4 universities and 1 research center. However, there is a significant industrial presence with 2 SMEs, resulting in a 29% industry ratio, which suggests a focus on translating research into commercial aviation business models.
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