DipNovel Chapter 76: The Core of the Low-Altitude Economy
Chapter 76: The Core of the Low-Altitude Economy
In the context of the low-altitude economy, "low-altitude" refers to airspace below 1000 meters under normal circumstances, and below 3000 meters under special circumstances.
The economy refers to a new economic form that is centered on low-altitude manufacturing, low-altitude operation, low-altitude infrastructure and information services, and low-altitude supporting industries, and is expected to reach trillions of dollars in the future.
Although the current market is less than 8000 billion yuan, and although there are currently no other inexpensive civilian aircraft besides drones, the potential for profit is clear.
Therefore, not long before Guo Yi revealed it, the low-altitude economy had already become a strategic emerging industry as stipulated in law.
Subsequently, several first-tier cities were designated as key pilot cities for eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft) nationwide, taking the lead in opening up airspace, building takeoff and landing networks, and exploring commercial operations.
A certain delta city aims to become the "world's leading city for low-altitude economy" and plans to build more than 1200 take-off and landing points by the end of 2026, covering scenarios such as logistics and passenger commuting.
Tongcheng, a famous city, took the lead in implementing a low-altitude "reporting system" nationwide, simplifying flight approval and promoting the "report and fly immediately" policy.
Many other cities are also demonstrating and applying drones in areas such as logistics, low-altitude tourism, and emergency rescue, gradually opening up the channel from technology trials to large-scale promotion.
However, no matter how actively those cities cooperate in promoting the low-altitude economy, one problem remains unsolved: inexpensive civilian manned aircraft.
However, with flying cars and jetpacks, this problem was easily solved.
Therefore, at present, apart from continuously improving the details and various miscellaneous minor issues, there are no other problems with the low-altitude economy.
Therefore, Guo Yi asked in bewilderment: "Chief, isn't the core problem of the low-altitude economy the lack of inexpensive civilian aircraft?"
Hasn't this already been resolved?
The remaining problems are either irrelevant to me or beyond my understanding. What else is there that I need to solve?
"The core issue for the low-altitude economy right now is not cheap civilian aircraft, but the low-altitude control system."
The chief shook his head slightly and explained earnestly, "Although the importance of the low-altitude economy to our economy has decreased considerably, local governments have already invested some funds in it and have achieved certain results."
Furthermore, the most critical issue of low-cost civilian aircraft has been resolved. Therefore, rather than terminating the low-altitude economy at this time, it would be better to fully implement it in the shortest possible time and at the lowest cost.
To implement the low-altitude economy as quickly and cost-effectively as possible, the most critical issue needs to be addressed: a unified standard low-altitude control system that can cover the entire country without requiring a large number of new facilities.
At the same time, in order not to affect the Heavenly Court's plans, the number of positions required for that control system must be kept to a minimum, and a large amount of human resources cannot be invested in it.
"We want a unified national standard, full coverage, and high intelligence, without needing to add a lot of new related facilities. Chief, you really know how to make demands."
Guo Yi grumbled with a headache, then pondered for a moment and asked, "Chief, the manpower problem is easy to solve. Just copy the document, make a few minor modifications, and I can minimize the manpower requirements of the control system."
However, this would expose our strong artificial intelligence capabilities.
Regarding new facilities, if we can integrate our existing radar monitoring, optical tracking, satellite positioning, and IoT sensing equipment, we should not need to add a large number of new facilities.
However, some of these facilities are military facilities. If they are hastily incorporated into the civilian low-altitude airspace control system, it may lead to the leakage of classified information and disrupt the military's daily duty and combat readiness scheduling.
Furthermore, the division of permissions is also a tricky issue.
In addition, there is another headache: old monitoring equipment of different specifications and from different eras has different signal frequency bands and data formats, and it is troublesome to unify and connect them into a smart system.
However, if only civilian monitoring equipment is integrated, blind spots will appear in some remote airspace and border areas, making it impossible to achieve true nationwide coverage without blind spots.
Therefore, you'll need to make a choice; I can't do both.
"Given our current situation, even if strong artificial intelligence is exposed, it won't have any negative impact on us, so let's do as you say."
The chief first determined a solution to the manpower problem, then considered the issue of integrating facilities, and asked, "If you are allowed to integrate existing facilities, can you guarantee that classified information will not be leaked, and address compatibility issues?"
"Nothing is absolute. I can only say that I will do my best to ensure that classified information is not leaked."
As for compatibility and adaptation issues, that's just a matter of time, not a technical problem.
"Your assurance is enough."
The chief nodded slightly and asked again, "How long will it take you to complete the control system?"
"Chief, you don't want me to start doing it now, do you?"
Guo Yi's eyes widened, and he said dejectedly, "Have you forgotten that I also have to review the teaching materials?"
If you want me to start working on the management system now, then I definitely won't be able to finish reviewing all the teaching materials before the end of the year.
"With your technical skills, do you really need that much time?"
"Chief, you don't think that simply copying the document and solving the issues of secrecy and integration will solve the control system problem, do you?"
Guo Yi was speechless for a moment, then smiled wryly and said, "Those two problems are just the simplest ones in the control system. The real trouble is the control system itself."
After summarizing, Guo Yi explained each point in detail: "First of all, this is not a small system in a certain city or province, but a unified national low-altitude airspace control system."
That means I need to overturn all the previous fragmented local structures and rebuild a set of nationally applicable airspace rules, flight standards, scheduling logic, and so on.
This involves a considerable amount of work and will take a long time.
Secondly, the variety of aircraft being connected is too great, which also takes a lot of time.
Various types of drones, eVTOLs, flying cars, jetpacks, and new low-altitude equipment that may emerge in the future may all have completely different flight speeds, altitudes, control logics, emergency mechanisms, and so on.
Some are fast, some are slow; some take off and land vertically, some require taxiing; some are fully automatic, some are manually controlled, and so on.
To have an AI system that can be uniformly scheduled, automatically avoid obstacles, and intelligently managed, while also being free of conflicts and accidents, seems like an enormous undertaking.
Another issue is the dynamic scheduling of airspace.
Low altitude is not high altitude. Not only are there no fixed flight routes, but the weather, terrain, buildings, and even the flow of people in the air are constantly changing.
Therefore, the control system needs to achieve real-time 3D modeling, real-time airspace status updates, real-time optimal route planning, and also automatically predict flight risks and automatically handle various emergencies such as deviations, malfunctions, intrusions, and congestion.
This is also a time-consuming and labor-intensive task.
The most crucial aspects are military-civilian compatibility and security separation.
To ensure no leaks, I had to build a two-layer data isolation architecture, including desensitizing and diverting military data, publicly scheduling civilian data, and physical isolation in special airspace.
The core, most complex, and computationally intensive aspect of the entire system lies in achieving both seamless civilian flight operations and zero leakage of military information, while ensuring that the two systems operate in parallel without interference.
After explaining, Guo Yi spread his hands and asked, "So, either I give up reviewing the teaching materials and focus on developing the control system, or I wait until I finish reviewing the teaching materials before developing the control system. You choose."