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For many years, autonomous drone deliveries, search and rescues and even 'air taxis' may have seemed like concepts plucked straight from science-fiction... but this week, huge steps were made towards making that a reality on Jersey's very own north coast. Express got the lowdown on the ground-breaking £3.7m trial...
Representatives from Ports of Jersey, Digital Jersey, Volant Autonomy, Skyports, Skylift, and several politicians gathered at Sorel yesterday, where drone trials had been taking place since Monday for the UK's Agile Integrated Airspace System programme (ALIAS).
The aim of the ALIAS programme is to ensure that drone operations are safe and adhere to aviation standards, with the key question being: is it possible for an uncrewed aircraft to safely navigate the airspace, changing its route when obstacles or dangers are identified?
The types of drones being tested are far from the usual 'hobby' drones one might see for sale in shops.
With a wingspan of 2.5m, the SkyLift VTOL drones being tested can travel up to 80km in one direction or 45km on a return trip with a cruise speed of 25 knots, Kris Smith, a remote pilot for Skyports, explained.
Video: Kris Smith, a remote pilot for Skyports, walked Express through the drone tech being trialled.
Running off a 12-volt battery, each drone is able to carry up to 3kg.
Should catastrophe hit, the drones are also fitted with a special parachute safety feature.
While normally it would be for a pilot to navigate any potential air obstacles, the test is trying to establish whether the drones could do that autonomously. The teams have therefore added some 'conflict' into their routes to see how the aircraft handle it.
"We've been flying deconflicted routes," Mr Smith explained, "And during the deconfliction flights, we have a manned aircraft, a Draken, coming through the airspace."
Mr Smith added: "The purpose of the demonstration is to show that we can actually have an integrated agile airspace whilst having multiple unmanned and manned aircraft in that same airspace."
Those flights have been monitored closely by teams watching the progress of each drone on a screen.
Watch: Behind the scenes of the ALIAS drone trials being carried out at Sorel.
The teams have also been keeping an eye on the weather – the drones' "wind limitation" is gusts of up to 12 metres per second, which were surpassed yesterday morning – and whether the bodies of the equipment have sustained any cracks or damage during each flight.
Project Lead Anthony Lawrenson, who described Ports of Jersey and Digital Jersey as having been "very supportive", explained that a lot of prep work was conducted in April, "in terms of getting the drones airborne and flying and co-ordinating them from different operators".
Pictured: Remote pilot Kris Smith conducts an inspection on the Rigitech Eiger II drone.
"The last two weeks have been about flying multiple drone operators but also, in the same piece of airspace with a live aircraft and proper crew, showing we can co-ordinate and safely separate these aircraft," he said.
Mr Lawrenson continued: "There's more work to be done here and I think [Jersey's] a fantastic test bed."
Mr Lawrenson previously explained that development of the technology could ultimately lead to uncrewed aircraft being used to improve connectivity between the Channel Islands, such as through the delivery of medical supplies and enhanced search-and-rescue operations.
Tony Moretta, CEO of Digital Jersey, further spelled out the potential.
He said ideas that may once have seemed like "science-fiction" are being enabled by projects like the one happening on Jersey's very own doorstep.
"China has already licenced air-taxis, which are drones that can carry people, and the rest of the world will follow," he explained.
He added: "We talk about our supply chain challenges here – and drones were used interestingly enough in covid, in lockdown, to get medical supplies over to the Isle of Wight from the UK mainland.
"So there are lots of applications [regarding] supply chains and we need to understand what is coming down the line."
Mr Lawrenson said that, from the island's perspective, "there is a choice at this juncture: that you can either be a consumer of this type of technology or you've got an opportunity here to actually turn Jersey and the region into a centre of excellence, develop the technology and find local use-cases for it."
The project has certainly put the island on the map, with global eyes – including NASA – and other major international agencies watching the project.
Several of the island's Ministers gathered at Sorel yesterday to see the programme in action – among them, Infrastructure Minister Andy Jehan, who described it as "really quite an exciting project".
Pictured: St John Constable Andy Jehan was among the officials invited to see the progress of the ALIAS drone trials.
Mr Jehan continued: "I was really interested to come and see what was happening up here.
"We've seen this kit here and just had a talk about what it does and it's really impressive. And it's great to see the different organisations working together and actually working with our Jersey agencies."
Economic Development Minister Kirsten Morel, whose Future Economy Programme seeks to enhance innovation locally, was unable to put an exact figure on how much the sector could mean for Jersey's future economy, but noted that the island could be a place for developing commercial ideas, with the intellectual property registered locally.
Pictured: Representatives from organisations involved in the ALIAS project showcased the trials to politicians at Sorel yesterday.
Economic Development Minister Kirsten Morel said: "For me, the really big prize is getting Jersey known as a place of innovation, technology and research.
"This brings a whole new element of technology and innovation and that's what I want Jersey to be known as, a place where you can come and trial things and then you get a name for the island in the tech sector."
He added: "These are huge industries. The potential benefits are enormous if we get known as a place where you can do this sort of research and development."
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