They make the first massive and simultaneous drone flight in Valencia in Europe

The Polytechnic University of Valencia on Tuesday carried out the first massive and simultaneous flight of drones in Europe, controlled and controlled in real time over an area of ​​15 square kilometers, and introduced an innovative platform that helps prevent collisions in space. aerial. These tests, which are part of the European project BUBBLES, coordinated by UPV’s ITACA Institute, seek to ensure the safe integration of drones into compliance with new European airspace management regulations that will take effect next year. .

In total, fourteen drones were flying at the same time, all of them operated by the BUBBLES platform, allowing them to control and observe in real time the flight zone, a 15 km2 area between the cities of Valencia between Puchol and El. Puig. Although the tests were conducted in rural areas, due to current regulations, this scenario will be representative of aircraft operations in any urban environment in Europe in the coming years, reports UPV.

Each drone carried out flights simultaneously with simulations of real applications: traffic surveillance, naval rescue, search and rescue, freight transport, precision agriculture, industrial inspection. During the flight of the aircraft, the BUBBLES platform detected possible conflicts due to loss of separation, sending signals to the participating pilots so that they would not collide.

The European regulation governing the delivery of U-space services was approved in April 2021 and will be fully operational in January 2023, and from that day on, drones in Europe must comply with this regulation to ensure safe and efficient operations, explains Juan Vicente Balbastre. , ITACA UPV Researcher and BUBBLES Project Coordinator. Thus, the tests carried out by the university want to predetermine this scenario, and they are also “with the highest density of drones flying at the same time all of them that have been done in Europe so far,” the researcher adds.

Balbaster explains that what BUBBLES does is generate safety bubbles around each drone, based on algorithms that calculate real-time collision risk. In the event that this risk exists, the platform could offer evasive maneuvering to pilots, given their position, as well as the position of aircraft known to be in tactical conflict, said Israel Quintanilla. Chairman of the UPV Drone Commission and also a member of the UPV team on the BUBBLES project.

The purpose of this exercise was to validate the separation management in these areas – the helicopters, which will be the take-off and landing areas for aircraft to transport a variety of goods and passengers to cities.

The tests carried out this morning also mimicked the use of a helicopter, from which nine drones took off on different missions and landed again along a vertical corridor controlled by small radar antennas. “The purpose of these exercises was to validate the separation management in these areas – the helicopters, which will be the take-offs and landing areas for the transportation of a variety of goods and passengers in the cities,” Quintanilla explained.

Representatives from Valencia Local Police and Fire Department, Benidorm Local Police, Pegasus Civil Guard Team, Valencian Security and Emergency Response Agency (AVSRE), Specialized Sector Companies (ASD Aircraft, UAV Works, AsDrón’s own Spain).

The project also involves the Institute of Automation and Industrial tics (ai2) and the Department of Cartographic Engineering, Geodesy and Photogrammetry, and the BUBBLES consortium was completed by Coimbra University, Università degli Studi di Roma La Sapienza, a European organization. For Air Navigation Safety (EUROCONTROL) and Indra, a world leader in air traffic management.