Innovative UAS-technology can not only be the basis of sustainably successful business models. Commercially operated Drones are also being used more and more frequently for the benefit of the general public - as was recently the case with the forest fires in the Harz Mountains.
Controlled from the control center of Bosch Sicherheitssysteme GmbH in Berlin, Ceptor multicopters from UAV DACH member Globe UAV GmbH were used to inspect the forest areas around the Brocken, the highest massif in the Harz Mountains, almost 270 kilometers southwest of the German capital. Special sensors from Dryad Networks GmbH had previously been placed in the affected areas. Due to their sensitivity to hydrogen, carbon monoxide and other gases, these sensors can detect fires at an early stage. In close coordination between the emergency services at the situation center in Wernigerode-Schierke and the UAS operator in Berlin, the exact areas of an approximately 10,000 square meter area to be flown over were defined. In this way, sources of fire and pockets of embers could be efficiently detected and their exact positions transmitted to the emergency services on the ground. The technology used for drone control and image transmission was developed entirely by Globe UAV.
Around 130 kilometers to the east, near Oranienbaum in Saxony-Anhalt, a Vector drone from UAV DACH member Quantum Systems - equipped with a MACS camera (Modular Aerial Camera Systems) developed at the German Aerospace Center's Institute of Optical Sensor Systems - was used at around the same time to fly over an area also affected by forest fires in order to detect any remaining pockets of embers.
Examples such as these show that the innovation potential of unmanned aviation is not only economically sustainable, but also for the benefit of all. The Unmanned Aviation Association is therefore committed to contributing to the growth of the European drone economy by creating an enabling environment.