Drone test site lined up in central Switzerland

Drones have many useful applications in the Alps Keystone / Christian Beutler

The newly formed Alpine Drone Consortium wants to create flight zones in the central Swiss canton of Uri to live test new drones in open terrain.

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The Alpine Drone Consortium aims to bridge the gap between drone testing under laboratory conditions and real-world applications. The cantons of Uri, Graubünden and Ticino are involved in the project, plus drone manufacturers, universities and businesses.

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Uri is particularly well-suited for such flight zones, Silvan Küng, co-director of the Innovation Transfer Network Central Switzerland (ITZ), told Swiss public broadcaster SRF. The canton is well-developed but sparsely populated – and topographically challenging. “If you can fly safely in alpine terrain, you can fly anywhere,” said Küng.

The consortium aims to provide support but will not conduct any drone test flights. “We want to develop test zones and ensure that these are accessible to businesses,” Küng added.

Potential drone applications in alpine regions include monitoring large infrastructure such as power lines or hydroelectric plants, as well as assessing debris flow risks.

Strict regulations

Consortium member, the Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF, says the use of drones is already commonplace. “Drones have revolutionized our work,” says Yves Bühler, head of the Alpine Remote Sensing Group at the SLF. “We can now, for example, collect data on rockfalls in steep cliff faces. We couldn’t do that before.”

Bühler sees the test operation planned by the consortium as a great opportunity. “If you think about artificial avalanche triggering, you need to be able to test a great deal. For that, you need a special area. That’s what we’re trying to build now.”

A major sticking point in this process are regulations for test flights, which are currently very restrictive. For safety reasons, it is difficult for drone manufacturers to obtain flight permits. “This presents us with major problems,” said Bühler.

Therefore, the consortium wants to discuss possible courses of action with the federal aviation authority.

Ultimately, the new Uri association aims to contribute to accelerating the development of commercial solutions – for companies as well as for the public sector.

Adapted from German by AI/mga

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