MOLIT Partners Up with 21 Organizations for Demonstration of Drones

A day when unmanned aerial vehicle (drone) can transport freights, fly towards bridges that are difficult for people to approach, and inspect safety of high voltage lines is not too far away.

Demonstration business that will examine possibility of new business model that will occur due to drones and verify preliminary safety will start on the 27th.
Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) will exchange MOU with 21 local governments and businesses at The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Namdaemun-ro regarding safe and smooth demonstration business. These businesses will finish educations for safety first and will start their first demonstrative flights sequentially at air spaces that are allocated by Korea Institute of Aviation Safety Technology starting from February.

With this business, MOLIT is planning to commercialize 8 promising industrial areas that will utilize drones by 2020 and has prepared 4 strategies and 12 tasks that it is trying to push for. 8 industrial areas are transportation of goods, protection of forest, coastal surveillance, investigation of South Korea, diagnosis of facilities’ safety, utilization of communication network, filming and leisure, and support of agriculture.

15 businesses will develop business models by 2017 at areas that they are allocated and implement verification tests that will prove possibilities of utilization. They will do basic tests during day-time and short-distance environment this year and will do intense tests during night-time and remote control environment starting from 2017. MOLIT is going to designate customers so that these business models will actually be introduced and is planning to process operating system.

 

CJ Korea Express Corporation, Hyundai Logics, Korean Air, Pusan National University, Korea Aerospace University, and Kyungpook National University will participate in transportation of goods and will demonstrate that their drones can carry kits for transporting freights and transport them to designated areas. Korea Forest Research Institute, Korean Air, UCONSYSTEM, KT, and AR Works will participate in surveillance of forest protection. UCONSYSTEM, Korean Air, Sungwoo Engineering, and Korea Land and Geospatial Informatix Corporation will participate in diagnosis of facilities’ safety while Korea Land and Geospatial Informatix Corporation, CJ Korea Express Corporation, UCONSYSTEM, and Kyungpook National University will participate in investigating South Korea. Pusan National University, CJ Korea Express Corporation, UCONSYSTEM, Korea Aerospace University, and KT will participate in coastal surveillance while Korean Air, KT, AR Works, Korea Aerospace University, Pusan National University, and Kyungpook National University will participate in utilization of communication network. Kyungpook National University, and Sungwoo Engineering will participate in leisure and agriculture.

Starting from 2018 when 2nd step of demonstration business starts, MOLIT will implement verification of complex management of public and private drone services for drone’s demonstration business for variety of businesses such as low-altitude transportation of goods and others.

MOLIT is going to introduce long-term flight approval system that will approve long-term flight of more than 3 months to businesses that have secured rights to control and safety system. It will also ease safety maintenance for drones for hobbies. It will ease standards for weights from 12kg to 25kg and reduce restricted areas of toys (less than 250g) that have lesser degree of danger. MOLIT is going to prepare a plan that will rationalize standards for safety by end of this year and supplement current system and continue to supplement safety management system, which is based on level of difficulty, through results from demonstration business.

It will also expand R&D for technologies that will verify level of safety to introduce and operate long-term high-performance drones and develop operating system for managing transportation. It will establish comprehensive flight test site for unmanned and manned aerial vehicles by 2018 and flight test centers for drones so that it can expand infrastructures and increase number of organizations that will teach standards for operating drones.

It will resolve inconvenience of approving flight that is dualized with military by establishing comprehensive web service of flight approval by end of this year and expand air spaces for super-light aerial devices other than 4 flight locations in metropolitan area.

MOLIT is going to hold trial performance and exhibition in April to expand bases for drones and open competition of drones in September. 

Followed by exchange of MOUs, briefing of politicies that introduce supports for vitalization of drones and safety education for participants will be held on the 27th.
“MOLIT is going to listen to difficulties so that new technologies and business models regarding drones can be freely created and actively support cases that industries really need so that drone business can become a new driving force for South Korea.”

Staff Reporter Joo, Moonjung | [email protected] (specializes in industrial economy)