Focus on benefits to society of drones
Yesterday a drone day with seminars and a drone demonstration flight was carried out at Norrköping Airport to show the benefits to society of drones. The drone day was a part of a major European initiative and Östergötland is one of six locations in Europe to carry out this demonstration of drone services in the urban environment.
On the subject of drone flights, seminars were arranged with participants who included LFV, Linköping University (LiU), Independent Business Group (IBG), the Swedish Transport Agency and Norrköping Airport. Project results were presented, as was the latest research on Urban Air Mobility (UAM) and possible ways forward for the introduction of advanced drone flights in Sweden and Europe were discussed.
– In just a few years we will see drones in the air when we look out of our windows, predicts programme chief Billy Josefsson, LFV. Today's demonstration flight was one part of the operational concept for Europe. We are going to see services of benefit to society, emergency service activities, and urban air mobility expand as a result of the new regulations. LFV has been commissioned by the Swedish government to install a technical support system for information sharing and awarding permits for the lower airspace which will then become part of the infrastructure.
Society has a lot to gain. Developing airspace is a sustainable and cost-effective way of creating mobility. In this way society can reduce costs and environmental impact by supplementing ground infrastructure with infrastructure in the air. The municipalities will also be able to provide services to society over longer distances.
– During the course of the project we have learnt much, including how the airspace above the cities will be important parts of the planning of green transport in the future. The technology is now already in place and a number of stakeholders will become established. But permits, flight infrastructure and collaboration with societal functions will be crucial to which cities become locations for the first drone transport nodes, says Jesper Low, CEO at A2M Advanced Air Mobility, IBG.
Environmental and security aspects were prioritised in this work. Charting the risks and making continual flight safety assessments have been important elements.
– The drone area has been developed radically over the last decade. From being primarily a technology used for research and military applications, drones have developed a wider range of uses, for practical purposes and for pleasure. Linköping University and LFV have been carrying out joint research for more than ten years. We see this demonstration flight as the next step in the development and a good example of a successful collaboration between business, research and the public sector, says Martin Rantzer, Head of the Department of Science and Technology at Campus Norrköping, Linköping University.
For more information, please contact:
LFV: Billy Josefsson, programansvarig, 070-8192331, billy.josefsson@lfv.se
LiU: Per Johannesson, coordinator LiU, 0733566204, per.johannesson@liu.se
IBG: Jesper Low, VD A2M Advanced Air Mobility, 0704606615, j.low@ibg-sweden.com
About CORUS –XUAM project
CORUS-XUAM is a two-year, very large-scale demonstration (VLD) project that will demonstrate how U-space services and solutions can support integrated Urban Air Mobility (UAM) flight operations. The project is part of the EU framework programme for research and innovation (SESAR), the Joint Undertaking Horizon 2020 programme. In Sweden, the project is being implemented by LFV, Linköping University and the Independent Business Group (IBG).
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