The Detroit Smart Parking Lab (DSPL) has expanded its innovation ecosystem to support advanced aerial mobility (AAM) deployments, providing capacity and resources for testing and evaluation of drone cargo operations, rooftop deployments, sensor integrations and data-driven flight applications in a real-world urban environment.
With new rooftop flight support capabilities including precision weather monitoring and unmanned aircraft system traffic management (UTM), the DSPL enables safe, reliable and scalable urban air deployment capabilities.
Our Capabilities
Rooftop Flight Space
The rooftop test area provides a controlled urban environment ideal for:
- Drone takeoff/landing
- Autonomous flight testing
- Delivery and sensor payload evaluation
- Navigation and positioning verification
Integrated Urban Mobility Testing
The DSPL enables aerial mobility technologies to integrate with other emerging urban mobility platforms, including:
- Curbside pickup and delivery workflows
- Rooftop-to-indoor logistics
- Multimodal research combining drones with autonomous vehicles (
Advanced Weather & Airspace Intelligence
The DSPL features a state-of-the-art TruWeather intelligence system that includes:
- Hyperlocal wind and turbulence monitoring
- Real-time atmospheric data
- Predictive condition modeling
Airspace Link tools include:
- Controlled/uncontrolled airspace overlays
- Obstacle and ground risk mapping
- Optional integration with DSPL’s AV/EV datasets
What We’re Doing — and Why
Detroit has always been a leader in next-generation mobility. The DSPL’s expansion into aerial mobility helps organizations explore:
- Safety and reliability in dense urban environments
- Complimentary autonomous system requirements
- Rooftop logistics and delivery workflows
- Infrastructure needed for future urban air mobility
How We Can Help You
The DSPL provides:
- A configurable urban test site
- Technical support and experiment design
- Partnerships across industry, academia, and government
- Support accessing state innovation grant programs
This supports companies developing hardware, autonomy systems, logistics workflows, and advanced weather models.
Contact
To schedule a scoping call or begin testing advanced aerial mobility solutions at the DSPL, reach out through the DSPL contact page or email the project team.