Airbus at Vivatech: How quantum sensing and AI can transform flying

euronews (in English)

Airbus at Vivatech: How quantum sensing and AI can transform flying  Airbus is testing radar, lidar, cameras and AI to help aircraft detect obstacles and give pilots better situational awareness. Euronews Next spoke to the head of their Optimate demonstrator project.  READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2026/06/19/airbus-at-vivatech-how-quantum-sensing-and-ai-can-transform-flying  Euronews Next is a future-focused news section covering global innovation, science and technology with a European perspective. Our dedicated team of journalists aims to educate and inspire today’s leaders by providing them with analysis and insights into the people and organisations shaping our future

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00:00We're looking at smart automation technologies, so mainly three pillars.

00:06First one is to protect, as I was saying, to protect the trajectory.

00:10So on ground is what? It's a bit what you have on your car.

00:13If you have an obstacle, to stop.

00:15A bit more complex because we have big wings.

00:18But we believe that with the current technologies, radar, lidar, cameras, AI,

00:23we can overcome those issues and now protect the trajectory.

00:30That is for on ground, but also in flight.

00:32With climate change, we start to have more severe storms, for example,

00:37and we want to protect our aircraft against all those evolutions.

00:42That is the first pillar.

00:44Second pillar is to optimize, assist pilots to take the best decision,

00:50but not only pilots, air traffic control, airlines as well,

00:54to find the best ways to optimize, burn the less fuel as possible,

01:00and so to be the more efficient as possible.

01:03To do so, we use also AI.

01:05A bit like, again, in your car, you've got some ways,

01:08or Google, a way to help you to find the best way.

01:11We don't use the map anymore.

01:13We want to do that for the overall ecosystems,

01:15to find a digital way to communicate, to collaborate.

01:19That is the second pillar.

01:20And the third one, it's also very important,

01:24it's to help on very strong conditions,

01:26like heavy rain, fog, where the visibility,

01:30our eyes, our own sensors are not able to see,

01:32to help the pilots to automatize, for example, on ground,

01:37the direction where they go,

01:39to give what we have in flight on ground.

01:41That are the main three pillars we are looking at.

01:43To do it, we do it with new technologies.

01:47So two years ago, we were there with Optimates,

01:49with a truck, what we call an aircraft on wheel,

01:53to test all the brand new functions that we don't know

01:56if it will work or not.

01:58Now, we test it during the last two years,

02:01and we start to have a glance of what we need to put

02:03in our current and future aircraft.

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