5G and the Drone Ecosystem
5G drone innovation and the enabling 5G U-space infrastructure in the Nordic and Baltic region.
Cellular technology has been driving innovation in different sectors and industries. Drone technology can be identified for its cross sectoral application both in civilian and commercial scenarios. Essential to this process is the full integration of unmanned traffic into the shared airspace. As the use of drones for public applications is becoming increasingly popular, the implementation of a safe U-space becomes even more urgent. The move to 5G contributes to the drones ecosystem and the technical infrastructure developments necessary for drones to reach their potential.
There is considerable demand among the aerial regulatory authorities and the commercial drone industry to find a solution to the challenges of rising drone numbers, increased data transfer and flying beyond the visual line of sight. Improved 5G standards could be an advantage meeting many requirements due to a high data capability, low latency and enabling support to a large number of devices.
Mapping 5G drone technology projects
There are several projects focusing on 5G drone technology and infrastructure in the Nordic and Baltic countries. This map shows drone initiatives in the region, tap on the red dots to learn more about each project.
In this story map we will introduce a selection of these projects.
Nobody has any doubt that drones will emerge in the healthcare sector, [...] what they said from the hospital, is they never experienced such a high desire from the clinicians to introduce a new technology, like these. I mean everybody was on board.
-Kjeld Jensen, SDU UAS Centre & project leader of HealthDrone
HealthDrones in Denmark
The previous quote refers to the HealthDrones Project. A three-year innovation project (2019-2022) funded by Innovation Fund Denmark. The aim is to integrate drones into the Danish healthcare system.
The HealthDrones project developed and tested drones to transport patient samples, medicine and medical equipment between hospital units, medical practices and home-visiting nurses. In the long term, drones could also transport persons, such as highly specialized doctors.
Drones in health care are expected to reduce transport and waiting times for patients, for example by speeding up the delivery times of samples to be analysed, and direct delivery of special medicines. This is particularly expected to have a significant impact in rural and remote areas.
Partners
The Health Drones project had a total budget exceeding DKK 30 million, of which DKK 14 million were granted from the Danish Innovation Fund. The following video demonstrates the main goals and ambitions of the project.
Health Drones at University of Southern Denmark
"Doctors, nurses, they all see the value of this, especially getting to more rural areas of the country, bringing healthcare closer to where people live [...] We foresee that the house-visiting nurses, they will have a drone on the roof box on their car."
-Kjeld Jensen, SDU UAS Centre & project leader of HealthDrones
The test flights
The flight tests were carried out in the airspace above UAS Denmark, Denmark´s national drone test center. On May 2022, the drone successfully flew from Odense University Hospital in Svendborg to the island of Æro, a 50km flight in an uncontrolled airspace. The drone was sent off by Danish Minister of Transport, Trine Bramse and was fully remote controlled from Holo headquarters in Copenhagen.
The test flights were done in cooperation with U-space Fyn.
Collaborating with Naviair, Unifly and the Danish Transport Authority Health Drones developed a method to fly the drones without shutting down the airspace.
The airspace
The route is considered complex due to its implementing U-space functions, and covering two urban environments, an environmental protection zone, two airfields and a helipad. The test drone had a payload capacity of 3 kg which was sufficient for blood samples, medicine and other minor hospital cargo.
Health Drones Challenges
A major challenge to drone developments is lower airspace communication that allows drones to share the airspace with manned aircraft and military traffic. A number of projects have emerged regarding 5G and the unmanned airspace (UAS) ecosystem in the Nordic and Baltic countries.
European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) defines U-space as a set of services, provided in a digital and automated manner, inside a volume of airspace. The new U-space will enable a safe integration of drones and manned aircraft in Europe from 2023. EASA has published an illustration of the U-space in the European airspace.
Flying itself: we are not interested in high bandwith, we are not interested in all the nice parameters for 5G. We are only interested in maintaining the current and keep the connection at all cost. I mean, this is what we need.
-Kjeld Jensen, SDU UAS Centre & project leader of HealthDrone
GENIUS DK
5G Enabled Communication Infrastructure for Unmanned Aerial Systems (GENIUS)
GENIUS is a Grand Solutions research project funded by Innovation Fund Denmark. The aim is to develop a novel 5G UAS network by building upon and shaping the current 5G roll-out. The UAS ecosystem needs to be enhanced for a 3D coverage of the lower airspace and secure a safe and reliable U-space where drones can safely share the airspace with manned aviation beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) of the pilot.
With a total budget of €3.2 million, GENIUS is focused on establishing the communication infrastructure that is able to meet the U-space requirements. Lack of communication infrastructure is one of the main barriers to a broader use of drones in Denmark and the EU. Drone innovation has a major potential to strengthen productivity, competitiveness, and the green transition in Denmark and overcoming this main barrier is vital for future developments in the field.
The primary objective of GENIUS is to realise a 5G infrastructure which we identified in the Health[Drones] project that we desperately need. That said, what we do in GENIUS is essentially for all drones. It's not only for healthcare.
-Kjeld Jensen, SDU UAS Centre & project leader of HealthDrone
Collaboration with state-owned infrastructure
Naviair is a state-owned company that has been designated by the Danish Civil Aviation and Railway Authority to provide air navigation services, including drone traffic. The drone unit; Naviair UTM , was established in 2019 and received a DKK 25 million grant from the Danish state for the first three years of operation.
Naviair is a vital player in the GENIUS project. It is responsible for handling the connection between 5G and the automatic traffic management system for the U-space establishment of GENIUS. Naviair is currently working on constructing a Danish UTM (Unmanned aircraft system Traffic Management) platform, a necessary infrastructure for drones to operate outside the pilot´s line of sight.
5G is expected to be central in creating a live image of the traffic situation in the air, because 5G has the potential to offer the reliable data connection between the flying drones and the UTM platform.
In 29 September 2022, Naviair launched the UTM Flight Tracker app that gives airspace users the possibility to test tracking with a 3G/4G/5G connection on a smartphone. This background picture is a screenshot from the Flight Tracker web-map.
Trafikstyrelsen, the Danish Civil Aviation and Railway Authority, has published an official site for rules, requirements and legislation for drones in Denmark.
Similar efforts to provide a 5G UTM development infrastructure are in progress throughout the European Union.
5G!Drones
Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Vertical Applications’ Trials Leveraging Advanced 5G Facilities
One such effort, now completed, was 5G!Drones. This EU Horizon 2020 project aimed to combine the UAV (Unmanned Aviation Vehicles) verticals and the 5G networks to demonstrate the possibilities of 5G in challenging use-cases, including UAV traffic management.
The consortium was made of 21 European partners across academia and industry, led by University of Oulu, Finland. With a budget of €12.9M the project conducted four use-cases reflecting UAV applications covering both civilian and commercial scenarios advanced by 5G.
The consortium developed UAV enablers to support these use-cases. The project published a detailed list with descriptions of these enablers for each use-case application.
In order to enable a wide induction of UAVs it´s basically vital to build a reliable wireless network that supports a massive use of them.
-Jussi Haapola, University of Oulu, 5G!Drones project coordinator
Collaboration between Estonia and Finland
The project called for a collaboration between the Estonian partners CAFA tech and Hepta, and the Finnish partners Nokia and Robots.expert conducting physical tests in Aalto and Oulu in Finland.
The two 5G trial sites in Finland were at Aalto University and Oulo University. At the Aalto University final tests, the logistic scenario was conducted by CAFA tech. A fully automatic logistics flight over 5G standalone network teleoperating THE Cafa 5G cellular drone connected to Frequentis & Droneradar UTM systems, making the drone visible for other airtraffic stakeholders and manned and unmanned aviation operators. The drone, carrying a small medical parcel, was controlled over the software and the Aalto University team conducted the 5G IoT data collection throughout the flight. The partners participated both on site and remotely in the trials, and successfully acted as a single 5G!Drones team.
5G!Drones Final Trials at Aalto University, Helsinki, August 2022 - short version
At Oulo University the project collaborated with Nokia to measure the location data in a non-GPS environment over a 5G test network and Cafa tech conducted a 3D mapping tests.
Furthermore, they conducted tests with a fully automated police drone flight using a video analyse and a drone mass surveillance platform, controlled over 5G standalone network and applying the UTM scenario. The police created a restricted area and parameters to detect a particular item.
Project Learnings
One of the key learnings from the participating mobile companies was to understand the challenges of UAV operators and aerial regulations to support new 5G network functions.
The regulatory changes have changed back and forth and are even changing the day after tomorrow [...] we have always had to bear in mind what are the current regulations, and also what are the regulations to come by the end of the project.
-Jussi Haapola, University of Oulu, 5G!Drones project coordinator
Nordic Baltic Knowledge sharing
Many of the participants in 5G!Drones were relatively small and young companies and an important part of the project was the establishment of contacts, networks and sharing of knowledge between the different drone stakeholders and service providers. The UAV industrial partners gained insights into the possibilities of 5G for UAV systems operators.
The broad network of partners and collaborators included the MOSA!C lab . The Lab invited first grade students to the 5G!Drones demo in Aalto University, Finland to stimulate passion for science and engineering among the future generation.
The value of 5G partnerships
Improving mobile network connectivity offers new opportunities for drone technology developments and drone solutions. Mobile network service providers play a central role in any 5G collaboration efforts through their active participation in diverse research projects of all scales. Essential to this process is the full integration of unmanned traffic into the shared airspace.
The implementation of U-space at national and European level and the integration of drones into the common airspace is enabled by strong collaboration between national and European research bodies, businesses and public service providers. Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSP) in the Nordic and Baltic countries are enrolled in several projects focusing on diverse 5G solutions for drones, collaborating with different national and international stakeholders and institutions.
There is real value of a mobile network because you can manage and pilot the drone through the mobile network and also do the identification and all the traffic management through the mobile network as well.
-Elīna Lidere, LMT Innovations Ecosystems Lead
LMT (Latvian Mobile Telephone) is one example of a mobile service provider actively collaborating in Nordic, Baltic and European drone innovation projects based on 5G solutions. The following projects demonstrate the crucial nature of 5G provider partnerships.
5G urban airspace
Mobile networks play a fundamental role in the integration of drones to the shared airspace by providing communication services within the aviation ecosystem.
The SESAR 3 project GOF 2.0 Integrated Urban Airspace is a pan-EU project working on overcoming communication barriers for unmanned aerial vehicles. The SESAR 3 Joint Undertaking (JU) is an European partnership between private and public sector partners including the EU, Eurocontrol and over 50 other organisations in the aviation value chain. The partnership collaborates closely with EASA and Eurocae, space and military communities and other relevant regulatory bodies and stakeholders.
The GOF 2.0 consortium includes the Estonian Air Navigation Services (EANS, Lennuliiklusteeninduse Aktsiaselts), Fintraffic Air Navigation Services, Naviair the ANSP of Denmark, and LFV - ANSP of Sweden. Furthermore, Latvijas Gaisa Satiksme ( LGS ), the national air navigation service provider of Latvia, collaborates with the project through LMT, the cellular network provider for the project demonstrations in Latvia.
Mobile networks facilitating the integration of drones
Telecommunication companies such as LMT offer the important infrastructure for the establishment of a reliable and safe national U-space. This video explains how 5G mobile network supports the integration of drones into the common airspace with manned aviation. The video shows a demonstration of the GOF 2.0 Integrated Urban Airspace Validation during a road show and testing in Riga.
Here, LMT as an external partner to the project, focuses on the role of cellular networks and 5G coverage in achieving the integration of UAVs.
The purpose of the Roadshow was to demonstrate the scalability of the GOF2.0 architecture, by operating a subset of the planned scenarios in several countries of selected advisory board members (Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Sweden, Latvia). Local CNS data was integrated and local aircraft operators were invited to integrate to the GOF2.0 environment and participate in the flight trials.
GOF 2.0 Roadshow in Riga | LMT Innovations
Cellular networks facilitating the integration of drones
LMT is also actively working on several other collaborative projects, providing 5G and developing technologies advanced by the implementation of the 5G connection.
Together with Riga Technical University, the AI-powered Search & Rescue drones are under development as a solution to time-sensitive topics such as forest fires, rescue missions and detecting pollution in water. The drones are equipped with sensors to enable the collection and processing of large amount of data through edge computing and delivery through a mobile network connection. LMT has developed a Mission Management System , a centralised system that encompasses software, data delivery network, and end-user devices and/or sensors.
High-definition video solutions are implemented though mobile edge computing, allowing the drones to perform tasks in a variety of environments. The system has been tested in several missions, including in forest fires in Latvia with the goal of safely providing faster data collection and analysis to first responders and forest fire suppression teams, enabled by 5G mobile network.
I think the computer vision is something really very huge also for 5G, there will be lots and lots of solutions from which every one of us will benefit. In the future it could be used for anything to monitor - because with the computer vision you can actually see in many cases better than the humans can see.
-Elīna Lidere, LMT Innovations Ecosystems Lead
Collaboration between cellular and aviation communities
LMT is a founding member of Aerial Connectivity Joint Activity ( ACJA ) which is a collaborating initiative focusing on promoting interchange and understanding between the aviation and cellular communities. The decision-making bodies of ACJA are senior representatives of GSMA (Groupe Speciale Mobile, a global organisation formed in 1982 by the Confederation of European Posts and Telecommunications) and GUTMA (Global UTM Association).
The main goal of ACJA is to educate and unite stakeholders from the cellular and aviation industries to encourage collaboration on Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM), and to ensure that the standards of both ecosystems are coordinated and met in the process.
5G for drone innovation
Takeaways from the Nordic and Baltic countries
The value of 5G for drone innovation lies within communication. The operator can rely on 5G to communicate with the drone, and many of the U-space ecosystems currently in development are built on 5G mobile network. The U-space is necessary for safety of airspace users and an absolute prerequisite for further drone innovation.
Plenty of fascinating drone innovations are found in the Nordic and Baltic countries. This story map has only lightly covered a few notable projects to showcase the potential of 5G for the future of drones.
The scope of these projects vary in size but all of them depend greatly on collaboration between different actors and stakeholders. This is particularly true for projects focusing on the development and construction of the drone ecosystem, where national level institutions, telecommunication providers and research bodies work together on a solution for the future of safely shared airspace.
Supporting cellular network and technology providers to collaborate with stakeholder industries and ecosystems is a crucial factor for unlocking the potential of 5G. As we learnt through the example of LMT (Latvian Mobile Telephone), network providers play a central role in enabling diverse 5G innovation projects, from constructing the UAT management systems to developing the connected drone-led functions of multiple capabilities.
