The physiognomy of the city makes it the perfect 'Urban Lab' to test freight transport operations
Benidorm reaffirms its commitment to technology and innovation and is a benchmark in the integration of drones in the urban environment
Today Benidorm has been the scene of a new demonstration of drone flight for its integration into the urban environment, tests that are part of the European Delorean project, whose purpose is to lay the foundations for more ecological, safe, and intelligent urban air mobility through the use of drones.
On this day, in which some flights have been carried out, there has also been a technical explanation in which details of the Delorean program have been detailed by its coordinator, Santiago Soley, general director of the company Pildo Labs.
The Councilor for Citizen Security, Lorenzo Martínez, stated at the end of it that "Benidorm shows once again that we are pioneers and at the forefront of technology." The councillor assured that "in a short period we will assess what we are doing, not only in the firm commitment to the use of drones in the local police but now for the integration of these aircraft in the urban environment." A program that goes hand in hand with the Polytechnic University of Valencia "and with very important partners".
Thus, the Delorean project of the European Union Agency for the Space Program (EUSPA) has funding from the European Union and arrived in Benidorm thanks to the Polytechnic University of Valencia. Outstanding institutions such as the Advanced Center for Aerospace Technologies (CATEC) and the companies Airbus, Correos, Geonumerics, Bauhaus Luftfahrt, and Pildo Labs participate in it. Benidorm, in turn, is also present as a partner through the Air Unit of the Local police.
Martínez revealed that all the technicians and managers of the program have certified that Benidorm "is the ideal place to test and become the perfect 'Urban Lab' to develop this technology" and has advanced that "from now on new projects will arrive to continue evolving these new technologies”. An urban laboratory that these days have been established on Avenida de Bélgica.
In this phase, the behavior of the improvements implemented in the Galileo system from those initial flights has been tested, improvements aimed at guaranteeing that the drones can fly in a completely safe way.
So far, the results obtained are "very good" and with the new legislation approved last month "operations in urban environments are already allowed", so "it is only necessary to equip and guarantee the security of these operations, something that the technology already allows”. However, the introduction of drone flights for the transport of goods or people "will be carried out first in non-urban environments and little by little it will be introduced in urban environments".
Santiago Soley, from Pildo Labs, for his part, detailed that what was done these days in Benidorm was intended to "prove how satellite navigation technology can provide an effective solution for the integration of drone navigation in urban environments" and has stressed that Benidorm is “the ideal place” due to the 'skyline' “that represents many large cities”.
Soley emphasized that the necessary technology "is already available and tested" and has indicated that "it is expected that in 2024 in Paris there will already be air taxis for people at the Olympic Games". Progress is also being made, in collaboration with Airbus, in the possibility of carrying out passenger transport "such as transferring passengers to the airport from Benidorm in a very short period."
