The "Connected Drones" project of DFS Deutsche Flugsicherung GmbH and Deutsche Telekom was awarded the German Mobility Prize 2018 as a beacon project for sustainable mobility. The aim of the project is the safe and fair integration of drones into air traffic.
DFS and Telekom are among the ten winners of the German Mobility Prize, which was awarded for the third time this year. As part of the competition, the initiative "Germany - Land of Ideas" and the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure will award prizes for groundbreaking projects on the main topic of sustainability in the competition year 2018. Connected drones" is an innovative digital solution designed to make mobility more sustainable.
A top-class jury of experts chaired by Steffen Bilger, MdB, Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister of Transport and Digital Infrastructure, selected the ten prizewinning projects of the competition. Around 250 start-ups, companies, associations and research institutions across Germany applied for the nationwide award with their projects.
Tested in Dortmund an Horneburg
Connected Drones is an innovative solution for the safe and fair integration of drones into the air traffic system based on mobile radio. This UAS Traffic Management System (UTM) enables the use of unmanned aircraft systems out of sight of the control unit and thus opens up the possibility for a variety of deployment scenarios in commercial environments as well as for authorities and organizations with security tasks.
Drones Connected" has already been tested in several field trials, among others in the search for persons with the Dortmund Fire Department and the DLRG (German Life Saving Society) in Horneburg an der Elbe. In a current field test, a UTM-guided drone covered a gas route and thus expanded the spectrum of possible applications.
"This joint project with Deutsche Telekom combines two very important topics: Firstly, safety, our core task, where we must not allow any compromises. On the other hand, the idea of turning drones into flying smartphones and thus enabling their safe and fair integration into air transport," said Prof. Klaus-Dieter Scheurle, CEO of DFS.
"I am delighted that the Mobility Award recognizes this commitment and once again demonstrates the importance of the new unmanned aeronautical technology.
"More than bandwidth and drones"
"The networks of the future are much more than bandwidth and drones are a prime example of this. It is about the reliability of the networks, their response times, i.e. latency, and the speed at which objects can move within these networks without disconnecting. With the connection of drones, we are already demonstrating our technical capabilities. And we are laying the foundation for future applications in industry, research and retail," says Tim Höttges, CEO of Deutsche Telekom AG.
About Deutsche Telekom: Deutsche Telekom at a glance
DFS Deutsche Flugsicherung GmbH is a state-owned company under private law with around 5,400 employees (as at 31 December 2017). DFS ensures a safe and punctual flight. The approximately 2,000 air traffic controllers operate up to 10,000 flights through German airspace every day, and around three million every year. This makes Germany the busiest country in Europe. The company operates control centres in Langen, Bremen, Karlsruhe and Munich as well as towers at the 16 international airports in Germany. The subsidiary DFS Aviation Services GmbH markets air navigation services and products and is responsible for air traffic control at nine German regional airports and London-Gatwick and Edinburgh airports. www.dfs.de
