WP4 – Large-scale monitoring use-cases

The GENIUS project addressed two distinct use cases that exemplify the challenges in deploying autonomous Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) drone technology for monitoring.

The first one was monitoring and surveillance work at sea- and airports. Here, drones can serve as a valuable tool for security, area management, condition documentation, rental area calculation, and facility inspection at seaports and airports.

The second use case was governmental monitoring of natural environments, which, in Denmark, is overseen by the National Monitoring Program for the Aquatic Environment and Nature (NOVANA). In GENIUS, we wanted to develop the necessary 5G UAS technology for fully automated drone operations for both of these contexts. However, the use cases have varying requirements for 5G infrastructure due to their different operational environments. This was investigated in work package 4.

Key findings and outcomes from WP 4

  • Successful airport monitoring: Will be demonstrated at the project workshop on the 21st of March 2024. This served as a proof of concept.
  • Seaport monitoring discontinued: Due to Lorenz Technology’s bankruptcy and their later acquisition by DroneVolt, the company exited the GENIUS project. The planned seaport monitoring use case could therefore not be demonstrated.
  • Field trip to the Wadden Sea: In collaboration with the Danish Environmental Protection Agency, we went to the Wadden Sea to test drones on-site.   
  • Developed a drone-in-a-trailer solution: To ease the transportation and deployment of drones for environmental monitoring, we developed a drone trailer capable of acting as landing pad for drones in the natural terrain.

Future opportunities

  • Further development of both use cases based on project results (environmental monitoring short term, seaport/airport longer term).