In a stunning demonstration of the effectiveness of a commercialized UTM system, a 6 year old child wearing a red coat lost in a park 20 times the size of a football stadium was located in just 3 minutes.
The leading Japanese commercial drone service company has successfully brought a commercialized UTM system to South Korea for the first time. Terra Drone Co., Ltd., has partnered with LG U+, a South Korean cellular carrier owned by LG Corporation, on the project.
LG U+ is just one of the worldwide telecommunication companies, like Verizon in the U.S., going all out with drone partnerships. “CEO Kwon Young Soo announced that LG U+ began “U+ Smart Drone UTM System,” which enables a drone to fly safely for disaster monitoring and logistic transport in BVLOS (beyond visual line of sight) and at night,” says a company announcement. “LG U + is one of Korea’s three major telecommunication companies and has just made a full-scale entry into the commercial drone business to lead the 5G era. Besides, they demonstrated an autonomous drone of taking off in a remote location carrying out duties at the destination and returning to control center on its own.”
The new UTM system can identify the position of a drone flying beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS.) Operators can connect to the UTM system via PC, tablet or mobile device. Perhaps most importantly, the system allows the “world’s first real time viewing of FHD high quality images taken by drone through IPTV,” says the announcement.
The real time demonstration involving the lost child showed operators remotely operating the drone – from a distance of up to 100 km. The system also allows multiple people to monitor the drone or make flight plans for multiple drones. The system also assesses conditions like radio wave condition, flight speed, battery levels and weather data, in addition to showing latitude and longitude of the drone flight path.
“There are no other solutions than a drone to scan a wide area like Uwawa-Kyo Park in such a short time, which is about 20 times of a football stadium. We believe that the use of the UTM system will greatly contribute to society ” said LG U+ Director of Operations Kwon Yeon Hoon.
Miriam McNabb is the Editor-in-Chief of DRONELIFE and CEO of JobForDrones, a professional drone services marketplace, and a fascinated observer of the emerging drone industry and the regulatory environment for drones. Miriam has penned over 3,000 articles focused on the commercial drone space and is an international speaker and recognized figure in the industry. Miriam has a degree from the University of Chicago and over 20 years of experience in high tech sales and marketing for new technologies.
For drone industry consulting or writing, Email Miriam.
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