Project Bluebird is looking at how artificial intelligence could reduce the environmental impact of aviation.
UK researchers have produced a computer model of air traffic control in which all flight movements are directed by artificial intelligence rather than human beings. Their “digital twin” representation of airspace over England is the initial output of a £15mn project to determine the role that AI could play in advising and eventually replacing human air traffic controllers.
Dubbed Project Bluebird, the research is a partnership between National Air Traffic Services, the company responsible for UK air traffic control, the Alan Turing Institute, a national body for data science and AI, and Exeter university, with government funding through UK Research and Innovation, a state agency. Its first results were presented at the British Science Festival in Exeter.
Reasons for involving AI in air traffic control include the prospect of directing aircraft along more fuel-efficient routes to reduce the environmental impact of aviation, as well as cutting delays and congestion, particularly at busy airports such as London’s Heathrow.