A look around the UAS boom industry at interaerial SOLUTIONS

“The geoindustry has brought the breakthrough for the widespread use of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS),” says Uwe Nortmann, Managing Director of the German-language Association for Unmanned Aircraft Systems, UAV DACH. It is therefore only right that INTERGEO, as an industry trade fair for the geocommunity, has established its interaerial SOLUTIONS topic platform as the leading trade fair for the UAS community. Manufacturers, hardware and software suppliers and service providers are meeting in Hamburg from 11 to 13 October 2016 at interaerial SOLUTIONS to showcase what the market has to offer.

The industry is really booming. The dynamic nature of the market is also evident at interaerial SOLUTIONS. This still emerging young market is on the move, with young players moving into new areas of application.

Clear legal framework
According to Nortmann, the positive trend is primarily the result of the fact that the German Federal Government has finally addressed the legal framework of commercial UAV use. The most important regulation aims to permit automated systems in the future that are no longer flown using line of sight. The pilots would then pilot their UAVs from stationary or mobile ground units. Tim Hoesmann, a lawyer from Berlin and speaker at the interaerial SOLUTIONS forum, expects that a clear legal context for the commercial use of unmanned aerial systems will be in place by the end of the legislative period. Other changes will affect the training of pilots, compulsory marking of UAS, the handling of flight permits and safety regulations.

State-level solutions can only introduce the pioneer phase of UAS, however. European and international guidelines and standards will be needed to provide a real breakthrough for the industry. Uniform, standardised European and international solutions must first be created to enable cross-border UAV traffic. The platform for applications that build on this is currently being established.

Surveying, planning, monitoring
Large-scale surveying work, monitoring vegetation around line routes and road networks, real-time surveillance of rail networks to prevent theft, surveying shifts in excavation spoil in open-cast mines, checking the progress of construction sites and the monitoring of sensitive security areas – all of these areas will really take off once the legal framework promotes cost-effective value creation.

Companies are using interaerial SOLUTIONS to present their UAS solutions. Topcon, for example, will be showcasing UAS solutions integrated into its mapping portfolio. The solutions provider aims to demonstrate in this way how the UAS technology can make processes even more productive. “We will bring our tradition of highly precise surveying into UAS areas of application. The new tools are extremely innovative and flexible – from surveying and air surveillance to large-scale mapping and investigations,” says Jon Skelton, Manager of Professional Services at Topcon Europe Positioning.

interaerial SOLUTIONS puts UAS solutions centre stage
UAV DACH is impressed by interaerial SOLUTIONS as a UAS communications platform. “interaerial SOLUTIONS is extremely well integrated into current developments in the UAS industry. The trade fair is an important step to further establishing unmanned aerial systems and their applications in civil use,” says the Managing Director of UAV DACH.

Around 90 companies will be showcasing their products and solutions at interaerial SOLUTIONS from 11 to 13 October 2016. In the specialist forum, more than 40 speakers will talk about law and safety in practice and projects in the young UAV industry, and visitors will be treated to more than ten presentations a day in the Outdoor Flight Zone.

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