Test-bed UAV for Surveil-lance of Environment and Environmental Technology
| Reference number | |
| Coordinator | RISE Research Institutes of Sweden AB - SICS EAST SWEDISH ICT AB |
| Funding from Vinnova | SEK 10 192 231 |
| Project duration | November 2016 - December 2020 |
| Status | Completed |
Purpose and goal
The UAV test bed in Västervik was established as the 40 x 60 km area has unique conditions for test operations with Unmanned Aerial Vessels (UAV). The airspace is relatively empty and lacks civilian or military restricted areas. The geography contains all common terrain types (except alpine terrain) and activities such as agriculture, forestry and aquaculture. Blue light operations on land and at sea with UAVs have been tested and shown great advantages. We are now developing Unmanned Traffic Management services (UTM) in the area together with Telecom and autonomous vehicle industry.
Expected effects and result
In addition to supporting ca. 50 different UAV projects, the test bed has identified bottlenecks causing that UAV development is lagging behind in Sweden in spite of god physical test and other possibilities. The authorities´ way of dealing with outdated regulations is a factor that has prevented development in the industry. We try to meet this in the test bed by developing new mobile technology - including Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM) - to operate, control and communicate safely with self-driving UAVs and other vehicles for important, valuable and, sometimes, life-saving tasks.
Planned approach and implementation
The design and implementation are characterised by the difference between the authorities´ stated policy and the practice subsequently generated. It is also about how higher research and education is organized with lack of coordination and concentration of forces between research councils and institutes in Sweden. Many companies work in short term without the visions that made Sweden a pioneering country with mobile telephony and other technologies. This requires triple-helix organisation between authorities - universities - companies not really seen today in the UAV industry.