At the World ATM Congress in Madrid Unifly presented an e-Identification and tracking solution for drones. The device works in a completely independent fashion, with its own power source and sensors for position, altitude, temperature, pressure, speed and direction. As soon as the pilot attaches it to a drone, it is ready for use.
Koen Meuleman, co-founder of Unifly explains:
“Drones are becoming more and more a part of our daily lives. When a drone is observed, it is important to understand the pilot’s intentions, where it took off and who is controlling it. Both E-Identification and tracking provide this information.
Airborne equipment needs to be lightweight, robust, and able to withstand widely varying climatological conditions ranging from cold and heavy rainfall to blistering sunshine. This is why Unifly has developed a drone tracking and e-Identification product: the Unifly BLIP (broadcast location & identity platform). BLIP is tailored to the specific needs of UTM service providers and local authorities.”
From the moment BLIP senses vertical movement, it automatically starts sending tracking data over the LTE wireless broadband network to the UTM backbone. Additionally, BLIP broadcasts the drone’s e-identification, 3D location and take-off position over Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE).
This information can be accessed in real-time by relevant authorities through secured applications. This allows for example a police patrol to read out all details of drones flying within a distance of up to 200 metres of the patrol’s position. With this device Unifly is committed to providing the authorities and drone operators with a reliable, highly integrated, robust, efficient and easy to use tracking solution.
- High precision position data acquisition
- Communication with the UTM system over mobile broadband networks
- E-identification and location broadcasting
- Weatherproof, fully self-contained enclosure
- up to 4 hours endurance, wireless charging
In combination with the Unifly UTM platform, BLIP provides a complete solution for authorities and ANSPs to identify and track drone traffic in their area of responsibility, independent of the systems used by the drone operators.
Source: Press Release
Great. Just what we need — government tracking hobbyists.
Seems a bit large in size, and not exactly quickly integrated into or onto a system. Another system that appears to be proprietary. With something that large you will only be able to put it on larger drones, and that leaves out MILLIONS of DJI and other manufacturers products. DJI Already has a system written into their drones, all you have to do is fill out the form and enable the check box. This system does not seem to be compatible with it. While I understand that this system will integrate with UTM platforms, it again fails to address the Millions of drones out there already.