Europe conducts first drone-based traffic management test and Nokia UTM solution

Dutch Twente Airport has become europe's first testing facility for traffic management based on unmanned aerial vehicles, in which this communications provider collaborates to develop and test it in the vicinity of urban areas.

The Finnish multinational Nokia will support Europe's first test facility dedicated to the use of unmanned aerial vehicles for traffic management in smart cities. These facilities are located at Twente Airport, in the vicinity of Enschede (Holland), will allow this company to develop and conduct field tests of its UTM Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Traffic Management system (UAV Traffic Management), for the use of drones in the vicinity of urban areas, People, Etc.

To do this, Nokia has signed a memorandum (Mou) with the Municipality of Enschede, the local administration of the province of Overijssel, Unmanned Systems Center B. Ⅴ. and Area Development Twente, in order to carry out the design and provision of the infrastructure to test and develop such a system at Twente Airport, with commercial demonstrations and simulations of real-life applications.

Nokia's UTM solution will provide flight automation functionalities and control of areas where it is not allowed, as well as non-direct line-of-sight operation capabilities, that will be vital to safely operate UAVs in densely populated cities and remote rural areas.

Nokia's technology builds on its expertise in LTE and 5G development and computing functionality at the MEC Mobile Network Frontier (Mobile Edge Computing), to ensure extremely low latency and high reliability required for UAV traffic management.

The drones will be equipped with a Nokia UTM modem (consisting of an LTE modem, a GPS transceiver and other telemetry modules), in combination with the computing and processing power of the company's AirFrame platform, to monitor airspace and flight paths.

These systems can exchange telemetry data and dynamically establish areas where their flight is not allowed and thus ensure safe operation close to other civil airspace users..

A smartphone app from Nokia's UTM solution, operating with the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Traffic Management interface, provide drone operators with flight permits, Information of the areas in which your flight is not allowed, as well as on local regulations, All in real time.

Also, Nokia's UTM platform can be adapted to the individual regulatory requirements of different countries, with the possibility of providing the basis for the global standardization of these systems.

During the inaugural session held at Space 53, the test area of Twente Airport, Visitors were able to see a wide range of demonstrations on the use of UAVs in agricultural applications, in search and rescue activities, and public safety and protection of airports against birds.

For Thorsten Robrecht, Head of Nokia Advanced Mobile Network Solutions, "Unmanned aerial vehicles are becoming a common tool in numerous industrial sectors., strengthening safety, inspection and maintenance activities, among others. It is critical that these vehicles operate safely and flawlessly in complex, real-world environments.. This requires much more than having a smart drone.; You need an intelligent traffic control system that has been thoroughly tested and is fully developed.".

So far, Nokia is the only communications supplier currently building this system, ensures this responsible, "And we are working with regulatory agencies to perform the necessary standardization procedures.".

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