Sir Airffic GoKnow the words and the news and papers become much easier.
Technology terms
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Physical AI | AI that acts in the real world: the brain of robots, self-driving cars and drones |
| Vision AI (computer vision) | AI that recognises what is in photos and video |
| Object detection | Finding objects in an image and boxing them |
| SLAM | Building a map while locating yourself in it |
| VIO | Combining camera and IMU to calculate your own motion |
| IMU | A small device measuring acceleration and rotation: the drone's inner ear |
| GNSS | Satellite positioning systems such as GPS |
| LiDAR | A sensor that measures distance with lasers and maps surroundings in 3D |
| mmWave radar | A sensor that measures distance and speed with radio waves; robust to weather |
| Sensor fusion | Combining several sensors so their weaknesses cancel out |
| Edge AI | Running AI on the device itself; robust to network delay |
| Reinforcement learning | Learning good actions through repeated trial and error |
| Foundation model | A large AI trained on vast data that can do many tasks |
| VLM | AI that understands images and language together |
| Swarm | Many drones communicating and moving as a group |
Operations and regulation terms
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| BVLOS | Flying beyond the operator's visual line of sight |
| DAA | Detecting other aircraft and avoiding collisions |
| UTM | Traffic management for drones: air traffic control for the low sky |
| U-space | Europe's airspace management framework for drones |
| Level 4 | Japan's category for BVLOS flight over people, created in 2022 |
| Part 107 | US rules for commercial small drones (2016) |
| Part 108 | US proposed rules to allow routine BVLOS (proposed 2025) |
| Remote ID | Drones broadcasting their identity by radio |
| C-UAS | Technology to detect and handle unwanted drones |
| DFR | Drone as First Responder: a drone reaches an emergency before officers |
| NDAA | US defense budget law, including limits on buying Chinese drones |
| Blue UAS | Pentagon-vetted list of drones cleared for use |
| Airspace OS | The sky-wide brain that flies many aircraft safely at once (Airffic's term) |