Aerialtronics condemns dangerous use of UAV and asks drone pilots to “fly responsibly”

Aerialtronics pushes forward the agenda of safe flight operations for small commercial UAVs and RPAS, developing a novel Collision Avoidance System (CAS), while implementing its Intelligent Transport System (ITS) and “virtual fence” technology as well as adhering to the “Know Before You Fly Drones” campaign.

Two days ago, a small UAV flew dangerously over the Atatürk Airport in Istanbul contravening all safety regulations and putting lives at risk. A quick look at the video shot during this “stunt” shows the reckless behaviour of the irresponsible drone pilot:

This event follows a series of near misses involving small UAVs, or remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS), flying close to commercial aircraft. In the USA, 25 cases have been registered in only a few months, while in Europe, a small consumer drone flew within 20ft of a 180-seat Airbus A320 as it landed at London’s Heathrow Airport.

At Aerialtronics we condemn such behaviour that puts lives at stake, damages the public image of unmanned aerial operations and frustrates the collective efforts of leading manufacturers and operators aiming at safe UAV operation as well as reinforcing the image of UAS as a beneficial innovation for the public. That’s why we say to everyone at the controls of a RPAS: fly responsibly.

Expressing with strength our credo regarding corporate social responsibility applied to unmanned aerial operations, is not the only thing we do at Aerialtronics. We translate our philosophy into leading technical innovation and best practices to provide effective solutions to reduce the dangers related to human error with unmanned flight operations.

This is why Aerialtronics has set itself ahead of the market by developing a new advance system that can lower the risk of pilot error with its Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) and the Collision Avoidance System (CAS) on their Altura unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The ITS was initially created by NXP in cooperation with the automotive industry to aid communication between vehicles, systems and key infrastructures. This technology provides a “virtual sensor”, which allows a vehicle to communicate with other vehicles (by means of the Cooperative Awareness Messages — CAM) as well as infrastructures (by means of the Distributed Environmental Notification Message — DENM).

The CAM vehicle-to-vehicle communication prevents UAVs from crashing into others, while the DENM vehicle-to-structure messaging anticipates a closed or crowded airspace. Put together, these systems allow UAVs to build a “mental map” of the surrounding traffic and fixed obstacles, preventing collisions and improving safety. Aerialtronics and NXP have worked side-by-side on implementing the Intelligent Transport System on the Altura UAVs, resulting in the new Collision Avoidance System (CAS). The CAS allows quick realtime scanning of the Altura multirotor surroundings, detecting and tracking all obstacles within a safe distance. Following detection and classification of the obstacle, the CAS will automatically adjust the
drone’s position to prevent a collision. By connecting ITS data to CAS, Altura UAVs will be capable of foreseeing danger and, ultimately, making airspace safer and more accessible. The system is expected to be operational this year.