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Deutsche Telekom Supports Pilot Drone Project with Campus Network in Siegen

Deutsche Telekom Supports Pilot Drone Project with Campus Network in Siegen Image Credit: Telekom

The university city of Siegen and Deutsche Telekom want to make drone flights for medical logistic purposes possible in the future. They have entered into a partnership to provide the necessary mobile communications infrastructure. 

Deutsche Telekom will thus become a partner in the ongoing research project KODRONA (Cooperative drone technology for medical applications). The Bonn-based company is supplying a new type of campus network that enables the drones to be safely controlled remotely.

Drones for laboratory transport.

KODRONA is a pilot project in North Rhine-Westphalia that is investigating the use of unmanned drones in medical environments. The Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure has already funded the first phase of the project. Transport drones fly back and forth in urban airspace between the DRK children's hospital and the district hospital in Siegen. On an approximately 2.5 km long flight route, they transport medical laboratory samples of the young patients directly to the central laboratory. This way, the test results are available to the doctors much faster. The transport adapts to the current requirements. Currently, the laboratory samples are transported several times a day by taxi.

The tricky challenge: the drone pilots cannot see their aircraft directly. The rapid transport of the samples through the air is carried out outside their visual range. Up to now, the use of drones in the hospital environment has not even been generally permitted. And a permit is also required for the operation of drones outside of their visual range. This is to prevent collisions or dangerous approaches by a rescue helicopter. However, the new drone regulation of the EU opens up new possibilities in the future. For this reason, the Siegen project has already received special permission for the feasibility study from the relevant aviation authorities.

Technology to serve people

The pilot project in Siegen will now demonstrate how digital transport services for medical care can be set up and operated safely. Three hospitals, the University of Siegen and the city are working together with a drone manufacturer, a control room specialist and Deutsche Telekom on the innovative transport solution. The test operations is expected to commence at the beginning of 2021.

Author

Ray is a news editor at The Fast Mode, bringing with him more than 10 years of experience in the wireless industry.

For tips and feedback, email Ray at ray.sharma(at)thefastmode.com, or reach him on LinkedIn @raysharma10, Facebook @1RaySharma

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