On October 19, during the SESAR Comp4Drones research event in Spain, Latvian telecoms company LMT reports a demonstration piloting a drone located in Latvia from a 3500+ km distance. This was an attempt to explore future business possibilities for cellular network-connected drone technologies, as well as for network infrastructure providers.
A mobile network was used as a communication channel for cross-country drone piloting, while AirborneRF was responsible for network coverage forecasting and remote route validation.
The purpose of the demonstration was to test remote drone flights in areas where network coverage has not previously been measured on-site, instead relying on fully remote network forecasts. Such demonstrations are an attempt to explore future business possibilities for cellular network-connected drone technologies, as well as for network infrastructure providers, since these drones will become new equipment to use this infrastructure.
“Before the Comp4Drones demonstration in Spain, LMT had done extensive network measurements and compared the actual coverage data with the forecasted, validating the reliability and availability of the network in very-low airspace (up to 120m). What we see from the findings is that the existing network configuration is sufficient for today’s needs, but the work on network capabilities must be continued as the number of drones and BVLOS flights will increase,” said Gints Jakovels, Innovation Lead at LMT.
LMT previously successfully demonstrated drone flights BVLOS on the mobile network. For the first time in the region, such a demonstration was conducted in 2019 during the 5G Techritory forum in Riga, when a drone located 30 kilometers away in Ādaži was piloted remotely and switched from one base station to another en route.
The Comp4Drones project brings together a consortium of 51 partners from 8 countries.
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