5 June 2022
SAFIR-Med operational and executive events in April and June 2022
The SAFIR-Med partners organised a series of flights at Droneport large scale BVLOS test center (St Truiden, Belgium), during the first part 2022, to de-risk their joint flight setup. It was also at Droneport that the aviation and medical worlds were brought together at an operational level, for the first time during the project. In June 2022, a medical drone landed at the Antwerp Port (Belgium), in front of 150 aviation and healthcare executives. Indeed, the SAFIR-Med executive conference took place in the beautiful Antwerp Port House, bringing demand and supply top executives together with key European and national authorities. During the event, results were demonstrated, making use of so-called U-space-services applicable to both urban air mobility as well as rural environment, while the technologies of the SAFIR-Med project and its medical partners were showcased in the 24 booths installed in the Antwerp Port House atrium.
Preceding both conferences, during the first half of 2022, SAFIR-Med performed a series of trials to demonstrate, consolidate and validate innovative procedures to manage several drones at the same time with U-space value chain actors: air traffic service provider (ANSP), U-space service provider (USSP), operator command and control center (C2C) and finally safety pilots who supervise drone missions from an additional safety perspective.
During the panel discussions held, various solutions were identified to develop usage of unmanned aerial systems, supporting the healthcare industry and U-space implementation at large. Foreseeing a future high level of automation, allowed by technology development and the new U-space regulatory environment, the demonstration focused on sharing the necessary flow of data between operational actors, ensuring safe and efficient drone flights. Solutions elaborated within SAFIR-Med project allowed successful management of simultaneous drone flights with very different platforms running over the same Command and Control Center (C2C). The experience gained regarding prioritization of specific flights are of utmost importance for our next steps in medical operations.
During the event, the SAFIR-Med partners proposed operational and technical solutions to implement U-space in support of medical operations, while the Belgian, Dutch and international level Healthcare actors present, had the opportunity to express their expectations. Therefore, it was a great opportunity to confront requests and proposed solutions, promoting reflection on how to build a solid and sustainable business model to make medical drones a reality.
See more details on the event here.