A consortium led by BT will develop the UK’s first commercial drone corridor in Reading next summer, using a five-mile (8km) flight path to experiment on the different uses for unmanned drones.
The experiment will see drones share open and unrestricted airspace with other commercial aircraft, including planes, while being operated beyond the pilots’ line of sight, something that is currently prohibited.
BT and partners, including Altitude Angel – a company that has developed an air traffic control system for unmanned drones – will support different projects contributing to the corridor test.
Drones could contribute to a range of industrial sectors
Officially known as Project XCelerate, the experiment will see flight trials “demonstrate key industry use cases across healthcare, emergency services and infrastructure to illustrate how drone deliveries and inspection can bring countless benefits to businesses, the public sector and UK citizens” said BT.
“As drone numbers continue to rise, there is an urgent need to safely integrate commercial drones into global airspace alongside manned aviation,” said Gerry McQuade, the chief executive of BT’s Enterprise unit.
“In showing how drones can deliver improved, potentially life-saving services to the public, we’re aiming to accelerate the adoption of fully automated drones in unrestricted UK airspace in a safe and responsible way,” Mr McQuade added.
The consortium will explore how drones could be used to assist the emergency services during traffic accidents and search-and-rescue missions.
Next-generation 3D mapping techniques from the SkyBound Rescuer project team will be used for forensics purposes to assist the police when responding to road collisions, and to help locate people when looking for missing people.
The technology aims to speeding up responders and potentially improve survival chances for those involved, while also reducing the overall costs of responding to those incidents.
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Drones trialled to deliver medical supplies
A notable service not covered by the BT announcement is the package delivery system often touted by Amazon.
However, a similar project from the company Skyports will deploy automated drones for urgently needed medical deliveries, helping the healthcare and pharmaceutical sectors.
Skyports is already involved in a scheme using drones to deliver coronavirus test kits and medical supplies to a Scottish island during the pandemic.
Drones will also be used for key infrastructure inspection, assessing damage or maintenance requirements for critical national infrastructure within the utilities, telecoms and transport sectors.