"Demonstration Project Launches for Searching Missing Persons and Managing High-Rise Structures Using 5G Drones"

5G Drone Representative Service Model ① Search and Patrol for Missing Persons
[Source: Ministry of Science and ICT]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seulgina Cho] A project to develop and demonstrate new drone services that integrate advanced information and communication technologies (ICT) such as drones, 5G mobile communication, artificial intelligence (AI), and big data is being actively promoted to secure a leading position in the future global drone service market.

On the 28th, the Ministry of Science and ICT announced that the consortium led by the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) was finally selected as a result of the evaluation for the DNA+Drone technology development project. The DNA+Drone technology development project, which will invest 48 billion KRW over five years starting this year, is a project aimed at creating new drone service models by combining data, 5G network, and AI technologies with drones in response to the rapidly expanding changes in the drone industry.

The selected consortium consists of ▲ three public research institutes including ETRI ▲ three universities including KAIST ▲ and 19 companies including telecom operators such as KT and LG Uplus, drone manufacturers, and AI specialized companies.

The consortium plans to build an open platform that uses 5G to analyze mission data acquired in real-time through AI learning and inference, and provides application services applying non-line-of-sight autonomous and swarm flight technologies.

In particular, over the next five years, the consortium will develop and demonstrate four service models: ▲ police drones (search and patrol for missing persons), ▲ water resource drones (monitoring localized floods and water pollution), ▲ smart farm drones (AI-based precision pest control and growth management), and ▲ structure drones (management of cell towers and high-rise structures).

By linking with data held by the National Geographic Information Institute (satellite, aerial, spatial), the consortium will secure data, promote sensor data modeling and standardization, apply small cell technology to overcome shadow areas, conduct drone operation demonstrations linked with the Aviation Safety Technology Institute (5G drone flight test site) and telecom networks, and simultaneously build a mission control platform for 5G drone operations.

Additionally, customized AI modules for each service model, distributed learning, edge AI for moving object recognition and tracking, and other next-generation AI technologies will be developed based on the Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information (KISTI) supercomputer high-performance accelerator system and applied to drones.

5G Drone Representative Service Model② High-rise Structure Management

The consortium plans to increase participation from demand organizations through competitive demonstrations among service models to ensure early commercialization, while also promoting pre-release of results through challenge competitions and proactive regulatory improvements through consultations with related ministries.

Ko Seogon, Director of Basic and Fundamental Research Policy at the Ministry of Science and ICT, stated, “To secure the future drone market, it is necessary to expand the domestic drone industry, which is mainly focused on aircraft manufacturing, into a high value-added service market, and especially the convergence with ICT such as 5G and AI is important.” He added, “We will fully support the ETRI consortium selected this time to become a strong partner that can serve as a catalyst for overcoming the crisis in the domestic drone industry and creating new growth momentum through innovative service model demonstrations.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.