Navigating Europe’s UAV Innovations: Public Safety
By Commercial UAV News Staff
Introduction
For years, public safety organizations and agencies in Europe have been using drones for their critical work. UAVs have proven invaluable for law enforcement, firefighting, search and rescue, and surveillance missions, and public safety professionals in countries throughout the continent are looking to expand their use.
UASolutions reported on the increased adoption of drones for public safety in Europe. Citing how drones are a “cost-effective, faster, and safer solution” for groups engaged in firefighting, search and rescue, airport security, and other critical operations, UASolutions said, “The European public safety drone market is expected to develop at a 12.1% compound annual growth rate” between 2023 and 2030. The group asserts that safety laws and technical standards contained in the European Union’s Drone Strategy 2.0 are leading to more significant deployment of drones for search and rescue, first aid, traffic accident reconstruction, and aid to firefighters.
Drilling down to individual countries, the “BOS-Drohnenumfrage 2024” (BOS Drone Survey 2024) found that 43% of Germany’s emergency services organizations already have drones “in their fixed repertoire of resources in an emergency,” and “50% activate UAS when a need is identified.”
The study, which was conducted by Droniq GmbH in conjunction with the Frankfurt am Main fire department and the Johanniter Rhein-Main, collected data from 221 participants. Of those participants, “85% reported that they regularly use drones,” which was an increase of 9% over the 2022 survey. Moreover, two-thirds of respondents who are “not currently using UAS are considering changing.”
This report will show how public safety organizations and agencies in Europe are adopting and adapting drone technology to bring added safety, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness to their operations.
Supporting Drones for Public Safety in Europe
As stated above, many European public safety groups have adopted drone technology, and many more will to follow in the coming years. Fortunately, organizational structures and aviation regulations in Europe are in place to help these organizations further embrace and expand their use of drones.
As explained in a blog post by AirHub, European public safety agencies are unlike similar groups in the US in that they “tend to be more centralized, resulting in larger, more cohesive drone teams.” This centralization, AirHub noted, “allows for more streamlined operations and better coordination among various branches of public safety, including law enforcement, fire departments, customs and border control, and search and rescue.”
Further enabling the adoption of UAVs by European public safety groups are continent-wide regulations focused on drone aviation. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has
developed a set of rules to govern all drone use, including public safety missions. These rules cover search and rescue, environmental monitoring, emergency response, and other operations.
Importantly, strict rules are in place to govern drone use by police personnel. In a review of drones used by law enforcement, Vector Robotics reported that “the use of drones by police forces is governed by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) regulations, which provide a framework ensuring that police drones are operated safely and with respect to privacy rights.” Under these rules, police drone pilots must undergo training and certification at “training centers accredited by national aviation authorities, following EASA guidelines.”
Moreover, EASA regulations require law enforcement to fly drones in accordance with “privacy laws, and with a full understanding of the ethical implications of drone usage in law enforcement.”
UAVs Across Europe: Public Safety
Over the past year, Commercial UAV News has published a series of articles highlighting innovative projects, products, and services related to Europe’s commercial drone sector. Below is a sampling of how European countries are leveraging uncrewed technology to improve public safety across the continent.
ITALY
Preventing tragedies in remote and inaccessible areas
In the summer of 2023, several people died in an avalanche on the “Queen of the Dolomites” – the Marmolada mountain peak in northeastern Italy. Due to the region’s difficult terrain and the remoteness of many areas, emergency response methods are insufficient and present various challenges. These include limited or non-existent visual aids, slow response during natural calamities, and inefficient methods for searching for missing people in and around woods and forests.
To prevent similar tragedies in remote and inaccessible areas, rescue fighters in the area received assistance from DroneBase, a FlytBase partner, to operate FlytBase-powered autonomous drone docking stations in mountainous regions. This also gave them a green light for operations from ENAC - The Italian Civil Aviation Authority.
The inclusion of FlytBase’s docking stations provides rescue teams with enhanced visual reference and increased terrain accessibility and allows them to perform frequent and repeatable search missions. This leads to several benefits, such as improved efficiency and effectiveness, as well as an increase in the safety of the emergency response teams by reducing the need for them to enter potentially dangerous areas.
UNITED KINGDOM
Faster response times for firefighters
One of the world’s largest firefighting and rescue organizations, the London Fire Brigade (LFB), has turned to drone mapping and GIS, based on ESRI software, to improve response times and asset management.
As reported in Heliguy, LFB has been testing ways to turn “DJI drone photogrammetry data into 2D orthomosaics and 3D models.” At the same time, the organization has trialed drone mapping for live incidents and HazMat incidents, and it sees potential for drone mapping to aid in fire safety and fire engineering. As an LFB official stated, “Combining drones and drone mapping software - and the information and the accuracy they give you - is a game changer.”
THE NETHERLANDS
Decision Support system aids first responders
Drone-enabled “Decision Support” innovations are helping firefighters in the Netherlands gather crucial data about incidents and perform their jobs in a more safe and effective manner.
These innovations were developed by Robbert Heinecke, national manager at Team Digital Exploration (TDE). As explained by drone maker Flyability, TDE “is a specialized unit that is part of the fire brigade in the Netherlands who are trained to gather information quickly and effectively.” The team uses Flyability’s Elios 3 drones to “support first responders on the scene by collecting information and effectively sharing this with the responders.”
The Elios 3 drones gather data from inside structures, including “buildings where there is a fire or structural damage that makes it critical to operate as safely as possible.” Then, TDE analyzes “data from the site and provides critical information to first responders.” In the aftermath of an incident, TDE sends drones over the impacted area “to gather data for 2D or 3D recreations and reporting.”
Heinecke developed his Decision Support system after working on a project with low-code application developer Mendix. According to Mendix, the Decision Support application can “break information silos and create new ways to support first responder decisions in on-the-ground situations.”
SPAIN
Improving beach protection
When people are struggling and drowning in the water, lifeguards must react as quickly as possible since a delay of seconds could be the difference between life and death. However, swimming to a person is difficult, and it requires other lifeguards on land to direct swimmers in the water. Motorboats and jet skis are faster but costlier alternatives. To tackle these issues, CEO Adrián Agudo and Product Manager Enrique Campos founded General Drones in 2015.
In 2022, 22 beaches across Spain already used GD’s technology during roughly 40 to 50 lifesaving incidents. Outfitted with a high-resolution camera and two folded life vests that inflate upon touching water, GD’s drones can reach speeds of 50 mph and monitor approximately 3.5 miles of shore. In the same year, one of these drones saved the life of a 14-year-old boy as he struggled against a powerful tide off a beach in Valencia.
“When we arrived, what we saw was a kid that was in very bad shape, with almost no energy to keep floating, so I sent over the life vest,” Miguel Angel Pedrero, a General Drones’ drone pilot, said. “Because of the heavy waves, it was a complicated maneuver, but we finally managed to give him the vest, and he could float until the lifeguards reached him by jet ski.”
In late 2023, the Valencia City Council launched a new pilot experience to use drones in surveillance and rescue on three beaches, Malva-rosa, Cabanyal, and El Perellonet. As a complement service to the one provided by the Red Cross for rescue and lifeguarding, drones will carry a life jacket as a first safety resource when notified of a possible incident.
BELGIUM
Providing security to massive events
Tomorrowland, one of the world’s largest electronic dance music festivals, hosts around 400,000 attendees from over 200 countries each July. Ensuring the safety and security of the Belgium-based event is no easy task, which is why the Police District of Rupel, responsible for security at Tomorrowland, partnered with SkeyDrone, a drone hardware and software developer.
“Even without considering the threat of drones carrying weapons or explosives, a small drone crashing into the crowd can trigger widespread panic and lead to many injuries,” Peter Muyshondt, Chief of Police Police District Rupel, stated. “Monitoring drone traffic is a new and challenging task for the police,” he said. Since we lack the necessary resources and expertise, we partnered with SkeyDrone as drone detection is a part of their core business.”
To address possible unauthorized crewed and uncrewed aviation, possession of drone equipment was prohibited in the area around the festival site, and a temporary no-fly zone was installed above the festival terrain and its surroundings. While only drones belonging to emergency services and the organization were allowed to fly in the area, SkeyDrone’s Drone Radar software detected a total of 104 drone flights in real time. Although many of those flight reports belonged to media and security drones, the system detected 23 unauthorized drones and helped the police confiscate 12 illegal drones by pinpointing the pilots’ locations. Violations of the air traffic regulations were documented through screenshots and reports and reported to the Belgian Civil Aviation Authority, resulting in fines of up to €8,000.
GERMANY
Digital twins save lives
Every minute counts in case of an emergency. In the regular day-to-day business of authorities and organizations with security tasks (BOS), efficient operational planning is decisive for saving human lives. That’s why engineering service providers develop optimized fire and disaster protection concepts that support BOS in their operational planning.
With a vision to make future cities safer and easier to plan through intelligent concepts, hhpberlin, a German fire protection pioneer, recognized the enormous potential that drones and digital twins bring to the table. However, the reason behind the need for digital twins isn’t for the typical construction project lifecycle or to perform inspections. Instead, hhpberlin uses them to plan and implement security concepts, providing emergency services and authorities with the local conditions in advance.
To start the company’s journey of generating digital twins for the approximately 20,000 buildings it is responsible for, hhpberlin used FlyNex, a drone mapping software, to capture the Berlin exhibition center. By collecting high-quality aerial photo data in a single 45-minute drone flight, hhpberlin could generate a digital twin with an accuracy of a few millimeters. With this information, BOS can quickly and reliably get a comprehensive picture of the situation in an emergency and derive targeted measures, saving time and human lives.
Conclusion
Europe’s public safety community has embraced uncrewed technology, and as systems become more advanced and citizens become more accepting of drones, more agencies and organizations across the continent are expected to adopt UAVs.
However, for Europe’s public safety groups to derive the full benefits of these systems, several issues must be addressed. Foremost is the advent of artificial intelligence (AI). As in all parts of the world, integrating AI into existing uncrewed systems holds the promise of greater efficiency and accuracy. Still, much work is needed around workflows, training, and regulation, and that may slow progress.
The European Union’s provisional agreement on the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act could profoundly impact the use of drones in public safety. As drone lawyer Richard Ryan discussed in Unmanned Airspace, the Act contains provisions around transparency and documentation, including bans on “untargeted scraping of facial images and emotion recognition.” Public safety agencies, particularly law enforcement organizations, must be sure to stay within the confines of these safety and privacy restrictions as they incorporate AI into their drone work. As Ryan stated, “This Act represents a significant step in ensuring the responsible development and use of AI in drones balancing innovation with fundamental rights and safety.”
Public safety officials must also address other concerns as they adopt and expand the use of drones. At the second COLLARIS Plenary Meeting, held in May 2024, leaders from Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Croatia, and Portugal discussed the many challenges of using uncrewed systems in emergency operations. They cited “not having enough personnel to fly drones, airspace coordination, the implementation of 2D/3D mapping, and BVLOS flights” as major concerns.
Participants also examined the problem of illegal drone flights in restricted areas, such as “private drones flying nearby during a rescue operation also using a drone.” At the event, the attendees issued “a call to address challenges like airspace management and regulatory improvement to ensure the potential of drones is fully realized in emergency response.”
Meet the Authors
JEREMIAH KARPOWICZ Editorial Director
SCOTT HOWE Staff Writer
JOÃO ANTUNES Staff Writer