https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/s...ries-20d5vbsz0
Sky ‘corridor’ to enable mass drone deliveries
The world’s first commercial “flight corridor” for drones will be established by the end of the year, paving the way for airborne parcel delivery services.
The Times has learnt that a five-mile long aerial highway will be created south of Reading, Berkshire, that will allow drones to be operated beyond a pilot’s line of sight, a manoeuvre usually banned under existing regulations.
The corridor, a third of a mile wide, will be monitored by a new air traffic control system for small unmanned devices. The system will feed automated instructions to drones to ensure they maintain a safe distance from others in the area or change their flight path to avoid a collision. It will operate in normal airspace shared with conventional aircraft including helicopters, light aircraft and commercial jets.
Subject to approval from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) it is expected to be active by next year and would be the first large-scale trial of its kind.
Altitude Angel, an aviation technology company based in Reading, said that drones flying in the controlled area could be used to deliver small parcels, carry medical supplies, blood or tissue samples and survey infrastructure.
Their technology will remove a barrier that prevents the mass deployment of drones. At present drones have to be flown within a pilot’s visual range, typically up to 1,600ft. They also have to observe a maximum altitude of 400ft to avoid aircraft and must keep away from built-up areas. Drone flights beyond line of sight are allowed only in specific cases.
However, the Altitude Angel system will create a corridor that monitors drones at all times and allows them to be freely flown. Masts installed within the corridor will use radar and multiple tracking sensors to create the air traffic control system. Drones will be registered with the company, allowing them to be tracked and monitored. The platform will automatically keep drones apart and detect those at risk of a collision. Instructions such as “change flight path, hold, return or land” will be sent via the drone operator. The system will intervene if the request is not followed.
Other drones not registered with the system but still operating within the zone will be mapped and monitored, alongside other aircraft, with co-ordinates fed to the “compliant” drones to ensure they avoid collision. Initially two drones will use the zone simultaneously to test the system, travelling in either direction on a linear “motorway”. Numbers will be gradually increased to ultimately create four drone lanes in either direction and two or three highways at different altitudes.
The trial would run indefinitely, the company said, before the system was expanded across the country. The CAA is assessing its application to run the Reading trial and the company expects to get approval soon.
Richard Parker, founder and chief executive of Altitude Angel, said: “The size of this step cannot be underestimated. Beyond visual line of sight automated flight in unrestricted airspace is a very significant barrier to overcome in order to realise the vision of mass-commercial drone usage.”