The Zaragoza Fire Brigade Drone Unit carried out some training exercises this Saturday to test different communication and image recognition techniques in the search for missing persons. These tests are carried out under the European project “Flying Forward 2020”, in which Zaragoza participates with 12 partners from 6 European countries and 17 collaborating institutions.
The exercise is conducted in a limited area of ​​the water park and includes individual person search exercises that reproduce situations previously experienced by firefighters. However, on occasion, more advanced techniques have been used that will speed up the job and improve the chances of success.
Thus far, work has been done with two drones, which are coordinated with each other, sending live images via satellite to a Dutch company (Labelfuse) specializing in the use of artificial intelligence to identify people and objects. Are. This way, tracking of images begins, in real time, rather than waiting for them to be downloaded and reviewed by the people in charge of it.
In addition, the Zaragoza telecommunications company Teltronic has installed a specific communication system, the “Tetra system and a portable cell of private telephony”, which allows the images of the drones to be sent to the command post and from there to them. Ships from the Netherlands or anywhere else in the world. This last link uses the Starlink system, a satellite internet service being developed by Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
The act was attended by the Minister of Public Services and Mobility, Natalia Chueca, and the councilor of firefighters, Alfonso Mendoza, as well as those responsible for this municipal body.
The European project “Flying Forward 2020” (FF2020), in which Zaragoza City Council participates with a dozen key partners from six different countries, is one of the projects approved by the European Union in its call for research, development and funding . Innovation of the H2020 program “Towards Sustainable Urban Air Mobility”.
Zaragoza’s participation in this initiative positions the city at the forefront of the development of urban air mobility technology, which will be a protagonist in urban spaces for decades to come. The project has an endowment of 6,090,825 Euros, of which the European Union grants a subsidy of 5,999,575. Of these, 246,625 correspond to Euro Zaragoza.
“Flying Forward 2020” is led by Brainport Development NV (Netherlands) and has 12 partners from 6 European countries and 17 partner organizations.
