Vodafone today announced the commencement of trials of the world’s first air traffic control drone tracking and safety technology. It uses the 4G IoT technology to protect aircraft from any unexpected accidents as well as prevent any unintentional or criminal drone incursions at sensitive locations such as airports, prisons, and hospitals.
The company says that the regular drones are too small to be tracked by conventional radar and also present a serious risk to pilots worldwide, particularly in the immediate vicinity of airfields and airports. Since the usage of drone in criminal activities is a possibility, additional security and intelligence services are increasingly concerned about the wrong usage of them.
The Vodafone IoT drone tracking and safety technology trials support the objectives of the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), with whom Vodafone has collaborated. EASA currently is said to developing new pan-European rules to regulate the operation of drones.
The Vodafone’s RPS technology uses a 4G modem and SIM embedded within each drone to enable real-time tracking of each drone within 50 meters, control by the operator to reduce the risk of accidental incursions, protective geofencing, emergency remote control intervention, SIM-based e-identification and owner registration. The 4G mobile networks offer strong end-to-end encryption over-the-air from SIM to the base station.
The company is aiming to make the drone tracking and safety technology available for commercial use from 2019.