Telespazio, a joint venture between Leonardo (67%) and Thales (33%), hosted the final event of the S-EDGE (Satellite, Drones and 5G for Law Enforcement Applications) project at the Fucino Space Centre, which was co-financed by the European Space Agency with the objective of developing support services for law enforcement agencies through the use of drones, 5G connectivity, satellite technologies and artificial intelligence.
The project, which was headed by Telespazio in collaboration with the Politecnico di Torino, ADPM Drones, e-GEOS, TIM and SEIKEY, involved the design, development, verification and validation of an integrated platform for the end-to-end management of drone missions, in order to acquire and provide real-time video images of areas of interest for law enforcement agencies.
The platform can be used to perform both regular patrols in automatic mode and on-demand missions, plan drone missions, identify the flight paths of least risk, manage the execution of the flights and display the position of the drone and the video acquired in real time, even in BVLOS mode, or rather at a distance beyond the remote pilot’s visual line of sight with the drone.
The end-to-end management of the service and the satellite assets are key factors of this solution. In fact, the route is planned using high resolution digital surface models (DSM); the drones or their hangars are equipped with communication boxes that use satellite communication as a back-up if the 5G/LTE connection is lost; the navigation services provide precise positioning.
The final event of the S-EDGE project concluded with a flight demonstration between the antennas of the Space Centre located in the region of Abruzzo.
“This project shows how the integration of advanced technology with drones, 5G connectivity and satellite technologies can be an added value for law enforcement agencies and civil protection, helping them ensure the safety of the citizens”, declared Paolo Minciacchi, manager of Telespazio’s Geo Information Business Line.
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