ZAL_YB-2017

ZAL GMBH ACHIEVEMENTS
WINDROVE PROJECT
WINDROVE –
HAMBURG′S NETWORK
FOR UNMANNED
URBAN FLYING
56 — 57
— URBAN AIR MOBILITY – metropolitan travel in the
third dimension – is changing and developing at a rapid
rate. As urban populations grow, cities have to find answers
to pressing questions about the future of metropolitan
life. One of those questions is how urban airspace
can be made accessible in a safe and fair way for
commercial application.
The WiNDroVe network's name comes from a German
acronym for ›Commercial Use of Drones in Metropolitan
Areas.‹ It was established to analyze and further develop
the framework for the commercial usage of so-called
Unmanned Aerial Systems – UAS. The aim of this
Hamburg initiative is twofold: to shine a light on the
opportunities and hurdles for drone-based air transport
in cities, and to open new, potentially commercial,
areas of application. Projects aren't only looking at the
technology; consideration is also given to society′s
needs and regulatory requirements in a major city. The
network's initiation phase is sponsored by the SME
innovation forum of the Federal Ministry of Education
and Research (BMBF), ›Innovationsforum Mittelstand.‹
Christina Grosse-Möller, ZAL Innovation and Project
Manager, is driving the project. ZAL′s role is to provide
a neutral platform and to coordinate networks that
cross organizational and cluster boundaries. In this
sense, Christina′s task is to tie together the shared
interests and problems of the extensive and diverse
drone community in Hamburg. Representatives of industry,
universities, and regulatory authorities gather
at ZAL for regular workshops and conferences, working
on possible application scenarios for UAS in the
metropolitan region. The potential applications are diverse,
including inspection and maintenance of major
infrastructure such as port bridges, buildings, and wind
turbines, film and photography, time-critical medical
and pharmaceutical transport, to name just a few.