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Industry News


                                                                                                                                 The trial is being described by the CAA as             Public safety agencies will be able to access the
                                                                                                                                 helping to inform future policy development            nationwide drone network by simply requesting
                                                                                                                                 and regulations that will allow drones to operate      a drone flight, similar to Swisscom Broadcast’s
                                                                                                                                 more easily and be integrated with other               ride-sharing service.
                                                                                                                                 airspace users.
                                                                                                                                                                                        Nokia and Swisscom are working closely with
                                                                                                                                 Amazon aims to conduct its trials within seven         regulatory bodies to ensure that all operators
                                                                                                                                 miles of one of its fulfilment centres using its       comply with regulatory frameworks, most
                                                                                                                                 MK30 drone which can carry packages weighing           notably with regard to spectrum and aviation
                                                                                                                                 up to 4.8lbs.                                          safety aspects.

                                                                                                                                 Other participants in the trial include Airspection,   The project is noted for its integration of drones
                                                                                                                                 specialists in drone inspection of offshore wind       with docking stations, a ground control station,
                                                                                                                                 farms; the National Police Air Service, looking at     a payload with video and thermal cameras,
                                                                                                                                 the use of uncrewed aircraft in policing; NATS,        related software and service components.
                                                                                                                                 looking at inspection applications in the North
                                                                                                                                 Sea; Project Lifeline, piloting medical deliveries
                                                                                                                                 by drone; and Project SATE, looking at the co-
          ADVANCES IN DRONE                                                                                                      existence of drones and aircraft at Orkney
                                                                                                                                 Airport.
          DEPLOYMENT                                                                                                             Nokia selected to deliver
                                                                                                                                 Drones-as-a-Service in Switzerland

                                                                                                                                 Swisscom Broadcast has selected Nokia to
                                                                                                                                 supply a nationwide Drones-as-a-Service
                                                                                                                                 network in Switzerland. Some 300 Nokia Drone-
                                                                                                                                 in-a-Box units will be deployed enabling
                                                                                                                                 emergency response, perimeter protection and
                                                                                                                                 infrastructure inspection.
          Wireless Technology to                                not have to retain sight of drones as they are                   This Nokia Drone Networks project follows Nokia’s
          recharge Drones in Flight                             flown.                                                           Citymesh deployment in Belgium and will
          The University of Texas at Dallas is                  Amazon intends that its Prime Air service will be                support Switzerland’s public safety and Industry
          pioneering wireless technology to transfer            in a position to deliver small packages within                   4.0 development. In particular, it utilises mission-
          electromagnetic waves to and from long                an hour of being ordered, possibly as early as                   critical industrial edge computing (MXIE) with the
          distances, potentially allowing drones, or            Christmas.                                                       support of 3GPP technologies for beyond visual
          unmanned aerial vehicles, to recharge without                                                                          line of sight autonomous operations.
                                                                The trials will gather key safety data, including
          needing to recharge at power stations.                                                                                 Drones will be operated remotely gathering
                                                                how drones detect and avoid other aircraft,
          This ‘power beaming’  is seen as being ‘a             by monitoring the electronic signals that they                   relevant information within the first minutes
          significant advance in wireless recharging’ which     transmit so as to be visible to other airspace                   following an emergency, providing first                Reference for each of the above: Tyler, N., ‘A Revolution in Drone
          is currently limited to the transfer of power via     users and air traffic control.                                   responders with critical operational awareness.        Deployment’, New Electronics, Vol.57, Issue 10, October 2024, p.18-20.
          low frequency electromagnetic waves over very
          short distances.
          A major challenge of power beaming has been
          trying to prevent electromagnetic waves from
          scattering and to address this the research team
          has devised a system of transmitters or smaller                                                                                                                                   Visit our
          antennas, known as phased-array antennas,
          to effectively steer the electromagnetic waves                                                                                                                                   website!
          along a targeted path. Telemetry is then used
          to track the movements of a UAV in real-time                                                                                                                                     Why not head down to our
          to ensure that the signal moves in the intended                                                                                                                                    website and read more
          direction.
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          Packages by Drone in UK
                                                                                                                                                                                              from around the web...
          Amazon has been selected by the Civil Aviation
          Authority to take part in a trial of beyond visual                                                                                                                              institutionofelectronics.ac.uk
          line of sight drone flights in which operators do



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