D-Flight was engaged as a member of the jury in choosing the three winning projects that will offer their innovative ideas to the drone sector, opening the space for new collaborations of value added for the system in Italy and allow for an opening of the market also to new realities capable of having a positive impact in terms of innovation and technology.

To give space to individuals, companies and start-ups who have innovative ideas for the enhancement of the drone sector - declares Maurizio Paggetti, CEO of D-Flight and COO of ENAV - pushed D-Flight to embrace the initiative with conviction in consistency with what it is carrying out through the activities of its own platform, the construction of the Unmanned Space in Italy e the provision of value-added services for the safety of operations and sustainability of the sector, assets on which the whole institutional ecosystem I am sure will continue to work with cohesion and attention to the realities of the territory. The development of the world of drones it also passes through a strong social involvement, an essential element for ensure a full coexistence of these new means in the life of every day and to get the maximum benefit from development e innovation.

Basic training was carried out during the Living Lab, with the aim of giving the start of a pilot project with the use of satellite data a support of drone missions engaged in monitoring activities environmental. The missions focused on the real ones inspection needs of the Coreno Ausoni quarry area are and have been aimed at determining the optimal technologies of relief and data processing for monitoring mining activities.

The 3 companies that participated in the Workshop were selected by Lazio Innova through a special open innovation challenge: AIVIEWGROUP - NHAZCA - SORADIS .

At the end of the Demo Day NAHZCA took first place winning a cash prize of 7,500 euros. Second classified AIVIEWGROUP which was awarded 5,000 euros and third place in SORADIS with 2,500 euros.

The Demo Day, which took place at the ARPA LAZIO headquarters, was attended by among others: Nicola Tasco , President of Lazio Innova; Luigi Campitelli , Director of Active Spaces and Open Innovation by Lazio Innova; Rossana Cintoli , Technical Director, Arpa Lazio; Renato Baciocchi , Director of the Department of Civil Engineering and Computer Engineering, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Pier Francesco Cardillo, Head of CLEOS and Drone Application Market Exploitation of e-GEOS (ASI / Telespazio).

I servizi aerei urbani (Urban Air Mobility) realizzati con i droni in aree ad alta densità abitativa rappresentano una realtà in veloce evoluzione. La dimostrazione italiana del progetto CORUS-XUAM, svoltasi nei giorni 7-8-9 giugno 2022 nell’area di Grottaglie-Manduria, ha confermato che l’attuale stato di maturità tecnologica ed operativa dei sistemi per il coordinamento e l’interoperabilità del sistema nazionale di gestione dello spazio aereo e dello U-Space (lo spazio aereo dedicato ai droni) è già adeguato ad operare servizi di trasporto emergenziale con droni in aree periurbane e urbane.

Il progetto internazionale CORUS-XUAM, co-finanziato dalla SESAR Joint Undertaking tramite il programma Europeo Horizon 2020, coordinato da EUROCONTROL, ha come obiettivo quello di testare operazioni integrate di aeromobili manned e unmanned di differenti categorie attraverso l’utilizzo di servizi avanzati U-Space in ambienti urbani, extra-urbani e in spazi aerei in prossimità di aeroporti. Sono inoltre oggetto di studio le modalità per facilitare un’apposita interfaccia tra il mondo U-Space e quello dell’Air Traffic Management. Nell’ambito del progetto sono identificate differenti campagne dimostrative con ben sette paesi europei coinvolti: Italia, Belgio, Francia, Germania, Spagna, Svezia e Regno Unito.

L’obiettivo primario della dimostrazione italiana è quello di effettuare operazioni aeree di Urban Air Mobility, eseguite con Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) e velivoli pilotati all’interno dello U-Space. Quest’ultimo rappresenta un insieme di funzioni e processi digitali automatizzati in uno spazio aereo definito, finalizzati a garantire ai droni e agli altri operatori la piena integrazione nello spazio aereo in modo sicuro ed efficiente. Lo U-Space fornisce un quadro di riferimento per facilitare lo svolgimento di operazioni di volo di ogni tipo anche nel contesto urbano e sub-urbano.
La tipologia di operazione di Urban Air Mobility oggetto della dimostrazione è afferente al trasporto d’urgenza contestualizzato in uno scenario operativo e logistico variegato che coinvolge un aeroporto civile, un’aviosuperficie posizionata in luogo sub-urbano e un’area urbana.
Lo scenario rappresentato include un UAS cargo per il trasporto di un carico di natura medico/sanitaria da un hub centrale (nello scenario reale l’aeroporto e Test Bed di Grottaglie), fino ad un ‘drone porto’ (l’aviosuperficie sub-urbana, AEROTRE Aviosuperfice Manduria). In contemporanea, ed entro i limiti di sicurezza, sono state condotte altre operazioni UAS. I servizi U-Space, erogati dalla piattaforma di D-Flight, la società del Gruppo ENAV in partnership con Leonardo e Telespazio,e utilizzati da tutti i piloti di droni coinvolti, hanno permesso una gestione sicura delle varie operazioni, sia relativamente agli obblighi di autorizzazione al volo sia al tracciamento e monitoraggio degli gli UAS in volo.

All’arrivo dell’UAS cargo sull’aviosuperficie di Manduria, una parte del carico è stato predisposto per l’operazione di consegna finale su un drone di massa al decollo di circa 25 Kg, che lo ha trasportato, con una operazione cosiddetta in BVLOS (Beyond Visual Line Of Sight) cioè quando il velivolo opera fuori dal campo visivo del pilota dal ‘drone porto’ sub-urbano all’interno dell’area urbana di Manduria, nei pressi dell’ospedale (trasporto di ultimo miglio).

Durante le dimostrazioni è stato utilizzato il Drone Detection System di D-Flight, un sistema dotato di antenne e apparati, in grado di rilevare la presenza di droni “non collaborativi”, identificando numero di serie, nome del proprietario, posizione del pilota con relative coordinate di decollo, rotta di volo, posizione, direzione, altitudine e velocità.

Un altro elemento rilevante per la demo italiana di CORUS XUAM è l’attività di coordinamento tra l’ATM e lo U-Space per la gestione di operazioni particolari come quelle di emergenza (es. volo ambulanza), che decolla da uno spazio aereo controllato (aeroporto) e necessita di operare all’interno dello U-Space. Tale operazione è stata condotta attraverso il coordinamento tra ENAV, la società che gestisce il traffico aereo civile in Italia e l’Operational Support Desk di D-Flight. Quest’ultimo, operando di fatto sul sistema di D-Flight, riesce ad inviare le informazioni di interesse agli utenti U-Space, in maniera automatizzata.
Oltre ad ENAV e D-Flight, hanno partecipano alla dimostrazione anche i partner Pipistrel Vertical Solutions (Slovenia) operatore del UAS cargo, Techno Sky, società del Gruppo ENAV Italia con l’operatore UAS e il responsabile dell’operazione BVLOS di “last mile delivery”, il Distretto Tecnologico Aerospaziale – DTA (Italia) che ha coordinato l’attività logistica autorizzativa e sperimentale presso il test bed aeroportuale di Grottaglie, e NAIS – Nextant Applications and Innovative Solutions (Italia), che ha il compito di riportare i risultati delle validazioni degli aspetti di safety, accessibilità ed equità dello spazio aereo, cyber security, e human performance.

Per ENAV, la preparazione e conduzione della sperimentazione CORUS-XUAM ha permesso di affrontare l’accomodation dell’UAM valutando le sinergie necessarie tra il mondo ATM e quello U-Space per poter consentire l’impiego in modo sicuro dei mezzi a pilotaggio remoto anche in aree controllate dello spazio aereo.

Per D-Flight, la preparazione e conduzione della sperimentazione CORUS-XUAM ha permesso di maturare ulteriormente i servizi U-Space e raccogliere preziosi feedback per l’industrializzazione e certificazione come USSP – U-Space Service Provider. La comprovata esperienza in ambito ATM e U-Space acquisita da ENAV e D-Flight, permetterà al Gruppo ENAV di contribuire significativamente alla definizione del concetto operativo UAM europeo, dimostrandone l’applicabilità nel contesto italiano e assicurandone la corrispondenza con gli interessi nazionali e le strategie aziendali.

Per il DTA, il progetto CORUS-XUAM evidenzia che il Grottaglie Airport Test Bed è uno strumento per lo sviluppo di conoscenze innovative per l’automazione dei servizi di gestione del traffico aereo e dei servizi di Urban Air Mobility verso un sistema di trasporti sostenibile, è un volano per uno sviluppo tecnologico integrato e coordinato per le aziende nazionali ed europee, è un fattore di attrazione di investimenti e di sviluppo industriale in Puglia.

La mobilità aerea urbana rappresenta dunque uno dei sistemi più sostenibiliper il futuro dei trasporti e, come per la mobilità aerea tradizionale, le attività di ricerca, sviluppo e innovazione sono necessarie per maturare concetti e tecnologie abilitanti per la realizzazione del sistema di gestione dello spazio aereo urbano e sub-urbano.

D-Flight è stata in grado di monitorare infatti i movimenti dei droni, distinguendo i voli autorizzati da quelli non autorizzati e determinando, nell’occasione del GP di Formula 1, una pronta comunicazione alle forze dell’ordine per le eventuali azioni di sanzione e sequestro dei mezzi segnalati.

Nell’arco della manifestazione sono stati rilevati dai sistemi D-Flight 14 i droni in violazione della No Fly Zone, ben oltre peraltro l’altezza dei 120 mt stabiliti dalla normativa. Per alcuni di questi voli, le forze dell’ordine sono intervenute sul posto, fermando il pilota, la cui posizione era stata rilevata sempre grazie a D-Flight, sequestrando il mezzo e salvaguardando i ben 120.000 spettatori presenti solo nella giornata di domenica.

Questo sofisticato apparato consente di individuare con alta precisione anche i più piccoli monorotori in volo a chilometri di distanza e di conoscerne una serie di informazioni per valutarne l’eventuale pericolosità.

Il sistema, dotato di antenne e apparati, è stato in grado di rilevare informazioni di più droni intercettati: marca e modello, numero di serie, nome del proprietario, posizione del pilota con relative coordinate di decollo, rotta di volo, posizione, direzione, altitudine e velocità.

Installato nella sala Gestione Ordine e Sicurezza presidiata da un comando interforze sotto il coordinamento della Questura di Bologna ha visto la supervisione tecnica di Cristiano Baldoni, Head of Business System Integration di D-Flight, per una rapida e proficua collaborazione con tutti gli enti preposti alla sicurezza dell’evento.

L’intervento di ENAV e D-Flight con Autodromo di Imola e le Forze dell’Ordine impegnate nelle attività di controllo, ha avuto l’obiettivo di garantire con questi mezzi il corretto e sicuro svolgimento della manifestazione, a tutela di piloti, pubblico e mezzi, evitando rischi connessi ad eventuali elusioni della No Fly Zone istituita per l’occasione, mirando al raggiungimento dei massimi livelli di safety e permettendo una attenta attività di prevenzione per l’intera durata del Gran Premio.

Lo sviluppo dell’impiego dei droni, nella logistica, nel trasporto di strumenti medicali, nell’osservazione del territorio e delle infrastrutture critiche, fino al futuro prossimo della mobilità aerea urbana, rappresenta uno degli elementi cardine della transizione digitale ed ecologica.

D-Flight è impegnata in questo senso a sostenere l’impiego sicuro e consapevole di questi mezzi, garantendo una gamma di servizi utili a soddisfare la costante crescita del mondo unmanned.

L’attività di monitoraggio e controllo promossa ad Imola rappresenta l’inizio di un percorso più ampio e completo, volto a garantire il rispetto della normativa vigente e creare un sistema di regole certe alla base dell’evoluzione del settore.

Among the new assets, the publication of the ICD (Interface Control Document) of the D-Flight for Tracking and Networking e-identification, the situation awareness service with DOA (Drone Operation Area) and DOP (Drone Operation Plan) traces, whose implementation will significantly increase the degree of low-altitude airspace awareness and safety. It will be possible, in a non-obligatory and completely free form, to communicate the position / identity of the pilot and the same credentials relating to the UAS, through the UTM Box or directly from on-board software, through the GCS, to make thems visible to the UTM scenario, in full compliance with both privacy and principles of security.

D-Flight is already adpating its platform to the EASA Regulation. Starting from January 1st, 2021, each Italian SAPR operator will be assigned an European UAS Operator Code ( in addition to the Italian operator code already in force). It is the first official interoperability path between registers of UAS operators of the states of the European Union. That code is automatically assigned by the D-Flight system, according to an algorithm specified by EASA regulations, and may be used, in the future, to carry out operations in any country member of the EU.

The declaration as UAS operator and every declaration for operations in standard scenarios released on D-Flight will be recognized by all European states. D-Flight will equally recognize operators that are already registered in other EU countries.

This new possibility provides for the automated communication of information, relating to the operator and his drones, to the Authority of other EU Member States in compliance with the GDPR.

In addition to a series of improvements and bug removals, new backend functions for management, operation, maintenance and platform monitoring - the management of states and transitions operators and declarations has also been introduced, and a new product for upgrading the QR code from Basic to PRO will be available, for those who don't want to give up the most advanced services.

There are also optimizations as regards the geographical part, with the possibility of deactivating the ATM09 Layer for PRO users, and that of the Layer with land use and density. Some information about the Parks Layer has been updated for all users as well.

Finally, the Mobile d-Flight for Android has been activated. We chose the Android platform for the launch, but we're simultaneously working on the release of the iOS version too. Consultation of maps and other services guaranteed by the platform, are now within reach of smartphones and all mobile devices, for easy access and increasingly efficient use of the system.

We are proud of the services that D-Flight is offering and constantly implementing for its users - says AD Cristiano Baldoni – in a moment of objective difficulty for the aeronautical world and beyond, we are completing the objectives set by Europe, creating interoperability between member countries and we're permanently inserting new services on the platform, to facilitate their use and guarantee the safe flight of drones. We are pleased to make the D-Flight APP available, establishing a new frontier of remote operability and allowing a user friendly use of the platform. We identify the position of users with increasing accuracy thanks to a constant implementation of situation awareness, and we are in the field with new experiments to ensure a tactical level of coordination between unmanned and manned operations.

The event will be held in virtual mode through dedicated presentations and interviews. The interventions of the speakers can be followed through a web link that will allow to interact with the participants at the end of the presentations.

D-Flight, company of the ENAV GROUP, will be there as main partner of the event through numerous initiatives including a intervention of the CEO, Cristiano Baldoni, which will happen live on 1 December, inaugural day of the event.

The access to a custom Virtual Platform , the possibility of B2B and business meetings interaction through web links with potential customers and invited guests, will be an important one occasion of visibility and networking in which the strategic and operational objectives of the D-Flight company will be shared.

Between over 100 worldwide worldwide speaker and accredited delegates this year, representatives of the main companies and international organizations that will take part in the event which include NATS, Thales, Boeing, Airmap, EASA, Airbus, CANSO, ESA.

ADW website: https://www.amsterdamdroneweek.com/

Following the progressive release of increasingly detailed services for users, the portal now allows:

• to specialized or non-specialized UAS operators to report the presence on field of critical non-VLOS flight activities (OPEN), by activating the Drone Operation Area functionality (DOA), in compliance with known airspace reserves;
• to specialized UAS operators to report their flight intent for critical specialized operations, by activating the Drone Operation Plan (DOP) functionality. Such functionality involves, among other things, system validation of the planning with respect to some geo-spatial and regulatory constraints.

The same planning, in full respect of privacy, will be available for consultation via the D-Flight portal by other airspace users who, for operational reasons, have the need to operate in areas adjacent to the corresponding space-time window.

Operators will also be able to activate the functionality of tracking, through which it will be possible to show the position of the pilot / operator within the area affected by flight operations (DOA or DOP), in full respect of privacy. Tracking functionality will soon be available on the mobile app for Android and iOS devices.

D-Flight supervisors will own the complete “situation awareness "nationwide.

At the same time, in collaboration with ENAV, D-Flight is building the first operational coordination center and interface between UAS operators and the world of manned aviation. The presidium will be launched on an experimental basis as early as the first days of December.

Users of the airspace, such as HEMS operators or other institutional operators, will be able, upon request, to receive privileges to view the activities in progress or about to be activated, with the related detailed information.

Several updates have been added in the public section of the site, in particular our new "interactive guide" related to regulations, which allows the public to compare, through a set of configured questions, what is established for each case by the legislation.

The interactivity of the service allows the user, through a series of questions, including management of vehicle, type of mission or mass at take-off, to be accompanied in filling out a form increasingly more and more detailed, with several notices and links that can be useful to the planning of the type of mission required.

Not replacing the regulation in its entirety, but structured as a multiple choice decision tree, the D-Flight guide aims at providing support to users who, based on given answers, will receive a list of main reference articles and a summary downloadable in Pdf format, a real Ad Hoc guide to consult for their drone activities.

The new "Parks Layer" shows, in the cartography of the web-app, the perimeter of all national and regional nature reserves officially present in the National Cartographic Portal. Such areas are subject to the prohibition of take-off, landing and low-altitude overflight to all aircraft by virtue of state law n ° 42/1060 / R1 / 6-1-1 of 14-05-98. The Parks Layer contains and completes information of geoconsciousness offered to users on the basis of the sole aeronautical cartography (AIP 5.6.1) concerning space reserves aircraft represented there, maps to which access is allowed for the use of remotely piloted vehicles (RPAS) completely for free, only requesting accreditation at the site www.d-flight.it.

In the case of nature reserves, the ban on overflight derives from the need to adequately safeguard protected fauna and flora. Park managers have the right to get the ban on overflight with the attribution of a "Reserve of airspace", by submitting a specific application to ENAC. Because not all managers have the advantage of this opportunity, in some cases the volumes of the air reserve do not coincide with the boundaries of the natural reserve, generating misunderstandings on which D-Flight is placing great attention. The continuous updating of the cartography has a goal of clarity and simplification of activities for all users who use our services every day.

Lastly, there is the new possibility of purchasing online credit that can be spent on the platform, also with PayPal and Amex card.

Now Aerial and Aerial Street maps will show orthophotos, geometrically correct and geo-referenced photographs for a more uniform scale of representation, by rendering them equivalent in all respects to a map, with or without road references. The Road map will instead show vector images of streets, buildings and geography in a graphic way, like a political map.

The implementation and improvement of vectorial images of streets, buildings and geography, will make it easier to identify places of interest for missions through additional satellite images, in addition to the openstreetmaps already available on d-flight, also presenting an optimization of the map for night viewing, the strong>Dark.

With the new release of the platform, d-flight also introduces Layers, "Land Use” and "Census' which include data provided by the CORINE 2018 project (an European Commission program) and ISTAT data from the 2011 census which will support PRO Operators to carry out a preliminary analysis of the ground risk for the preparation of the SORA.

These new updates follow what has already been optimized for the Layout of the "User Profile" page and its simplification of accreditation.

In case of error notification once the details of the payment have been reported, please wait for the ENAC portal to work and try again later.

Through Drone Operation Area the operator can, in an optional and anonymous way, make his mission visible to all users by drawing, saving and activating the area in which he intends to carry out his VLOS OPEN mission, and also create new ones after saving or having canceled what previously set. This allows to quickly and accurately check compatibility between a VLOS flight area and the constraints of ATM09, the circular regulating flight operations of drones near airports and inside traffic areas airport, thus ensuring the correct planning of each mission.

Drone Operation Area therefore has a double meaning: in addition to allowing you to draw and save your mission with certainty, it is also able to make available to all logged users the panorama on the map of all missions in progress, so as to improve the picture of the traffic situation and ensure useful information for an easy stay on the d-flight portal, with the guarantee of a complete and safe view of the areas where you will operate.

To access Drone Operation Area, you must be an operator with an active QR code and a drone in a "ready to fly" status.

To facilitate the use of the Drone Operation Area, a video tutorial has been created, explaining in detail all of the useful steps for a correct and efficient use of the service. You can find the video on the useful links of the d-flight website.

Cristiano Baldoni , the d-flight CEO declares: Today is a particularly important day for all those who intend to use remotely piloted vehicles in complete safety. The Drone Operation Area is the first release that aims to progressively increase the knowledge and overall knowledge of the entire airspace, , which can be shared by all users. The visibility of remotely piloted vehicles is an essential prerequisite for enabling more complex operations, such as the BVLOS flight or the autonomous flight, in routine form and hopefully without the need to establish protected airspace reserves. For such reasons – Baldoni continues – the use Drone Operation Area represents a further step towards safety levels already guaranteed by the application of current regulations, and the common sense of citizens and professionals who use drones.