The experimental safety systems have been further developed and tested in recent years at the Twente Safety Campus, located at Technology Base: a realistic, controlled and fully shielded environment. In this living lab, various bodies work on solutions to safety issues.

New drone techniques extensively tested

Martijn Zagwijn, project leader UIVER: ‘Thanks to extensive testing in the living lab, the automatic drone is already being used for surveillance in several places, and we are also on the eve of the final step for the other safety applications: the actual application of this technology by the end users, the emergency and security services. I am extremely proud that this has been achieved with all cooperating agencies and that today we have been able to demonstrate the application of drone technology at a fire, traffic accident, industrial estate surveillance and hazardous materials detection.’

Automatic drones already successfully deployed for security Technology Base

In collaboration with partners Mapture.AI and the Twente Safety Campus and with help from drone innovation cluster Space53, Drone Flight Company has realised a permanent form of surveillance with automatic drones on and around Technology Base and Twente Airport.

Roel van der Wal, director Drone Flight Company: ‘We started the project with regular flights, i.e. with a pilot keeping the drone in sight. In order to actually conduct day and night surveillance with an automatic drone, additional permits were needed. In cooperation with our partners Mapture.AI and the Twente Safety Campus and the lobby of Space53, we eventually managed to remotely control drones day and night and use them to carry out surveillances on and around Technology Base.’

Jan Schuring, director of Technology Base is very pleased with the results. ‘Ultimately, we at Technology Base have the vision that manned and unmanned aviation go hand in hand. The surveillance on and around Technology Base and Twente Airport to secure aircraft and monitor our vast terrain illustrates how far we have come. Thanks to efforts from Space53 and the business community, we are leading the way here in Twente in integrating drones into manned airspace.’

Regional security provider RJ Safety & Security is also pleased. ‘Because the camera images are streamed live to our control room, we can act immediately in practice and keep an eye on the situation in the meantime. Through liveview, the police can also watch and respond immediately if required.’

Systems from Mapture.AI are now installed at Rijkswaterstaat and, like at Technology Base, water supply company Vitens will also start deploying automated drones to monitor certain areas remotely.

Deployment from Glanerbrug

‘Together with current partners and other interested parties, we will continue testing in the living lab environment at Technology Base. After all, drone technology does not stand still. The ultimate goal is to have a covering network of drone technology in which bodies such as municipalities and, for example, environmental services also join. To this end, the first step will be realised in the coming months with the installation of an automatic drone platform at the fire station in Glanerbrug, which will also deploy this drone technology in the operational field of the fire brigade. In addition, testing new technologies will always be necessary and this is of course perfectly possible in our living lab environment,’ says Martijn Zagwijn.

Partners

Within UIVER, end-users, engineers and researchers work together. RJ Safety & Security, East Netherlands Police, Twente Fire Department and Ambulance Oost have stepped in as end-users. Drone technology works with sensors and ‘triggers’, a specialism of Robor Electronics. Incaa Computers provides the ICT facilities and connections. Finally, several experts from Saxion University of Applied Sciences, University of Twente, Drone Flight Company and Safety Region Twente are involved in this project. In cooperation with the partners, Technology Base and the Twente Safety Campus have set up the drone test site on their premises.