Southampton pioneers drone coverage of Leixões

At the Port of Leixões, in Portugal, on-demand UAVs will aim to drive intelligent data analytics to create an environmental impact.

“Marine industry stakeholders will collaborate to create a new data value chain that build on low-cost drones and advanced data analytics to seamlessly connect surveyors, marine analysts and authorise,” explained the project’s technical lead professor Michael Boniface.

Mr Boniface, who is also technical director at the University of Southampton’s IT innovation centre, continued: “These drones are small enough to be launched by one person and cost less than €100,000 allowing them to be preconfigured for marine applications, such as scour and sediment transport analysis.”

Internet connected UAVs will send observations to geo-spatial environmental data fusion platform that prepares data for marine risk marine risk analysis which allows for rapid response impact analysis.

The trail conducted as part of research by the European Commission funded Sunrise Exposures project.

Mr Boniface continued: “By combining the drones with internet connectivity, geospatial data fusion, and linked data access, marine analysts will have the information they need for assessing threats such as marine accidents, extreme weather events and periodic degradation.”

To ensure the technology is developed to full effect, the consortium runs an Exposures Interest Group where potential end-users and other interested parties from the marine industry, government agencies and scientific community are able to learn more about the project.

Jonathan Williams, CEO of Marine Southeast, UK, said: “This revolutionary technology will create opportunity to address many challenges faced by industry operating in the blue economy.”

He concluded: “From port operations to marine aquaculture and offshore windfarms, Sunrise Exposures provides industry with ways to transform risks management for maintenance, crisis and regulatory compliance.”