The Approaching 'Drone Delivery'... Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Successfully Concludes Drone Demonstration Project

Officials from the Advanced Aviation Division of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport are conducting a drone delivery demonstration to prepare for the non-face-to-face era under the theme "Safe Drones That Make Our Lives Convenient" on the afternoon of the 19th at Sejong Lake Park in Sejong City.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] Drone services aimed at enhancing convenience in daily life, such as delivering food and ensuring safety on the way home, are gradually expanding.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on the 24th that it has successfully completed the 2020 drone demonstration support projects, including the 'Drone Demonstration Cities' to implement new drone services in urban areas and the 'Drone Regulatory Sandbox' to support the commercialization of excellent technologies.

The Drone Demonstration Cities project officially started in June in four cities: Busan, Jeju, Daejeon, and Goyang in Gyeonggi Province. It successfully proved the safety of drone services by completing a total of about 9,700 demonstration flights without a single safety accident.

By region, in Busan, a drone integrated operation solution responding to various urban management demands such as environment, safety, and disaster was developed, and immediate response was carried out through a joint drone operation center. In Jeju, the country’s first urban drone safety escort service was demonstrated, along with successful achievements such as non-landing flights along the 147 km coastline using solar-powered AI drones, building a radio wave map, and delivering automated external defibrillators (AED) to Hallasan Mountain using sword drones.

In Daejeon, an urban drone operation platform was established, conducting demonstrations of firefighting, security, river, safety, and document drones, with particular advancement in communication relay technology for drone takeoff and landing sites. In Goyang, safety escort services were conducted at eight locations within the city, and through 3D drone imaging of public facilities such as the sports complex and major roads, predictions for building maintenance timing and prevention of road damage expansion were achieved.

On the 11th of last month, a drone taxi began a pilot operation ahead of commercialization at Yeouido Hangang Park in Seoul. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

A total of 13 drone companies participated in the Drone Regulatory Sandbox project. Notably, Gryphon Dynamics, which completed the demonstration of drones for bridge inspection and is currently proceeding with delivery procedures, and 4S Mapper, which established a precision road photo production system for pothole and road surface inspection, showed remarkable results.

Additionally, Peace Square participated in drone delivery demonstrations at Sejong Lake Park and urban air mobility demonstrations in Yeouido Hangang Park, Seoul, while XDrone also succeeded in drone delivery demonstrations, raising expectations for the domestic drone delivery market. Gruzen actively responded to the demands of the National Police Agency, a key user, by developing a location estimation system that reacts to sounds such as whistles for rescuing stranded persons and mounting it on drones.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, together with the Korea Aviation Safety Technology Institute, held a final report meeting on June 16-17 at the Daejeon Convention Center to share the achievements of the 2020 Drone Demonstration Cities and Regulatory Sandbox projects. The meeting featured presentations of project results by operators, demonstration video screenings, and performance evaluations. A conference with invited drone experts and an exhibition of drone systems used in the demonstrations were also held. To prevent the spread of COVID-19, attendance was minimized, and local governments, demand institutions, and company representatives participated online to share project outcomes.

The Ministry plans to expand the number of drone demonstration cities from the current four to seven next year and significantly increase the support budget per site from 1 billion KRW to 1.5 billion KRW, actively supporting the acceleration of drone commercialization through demonstrations.

Kim Sang-do, Director of the Aviation Policy Office at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, said, "We hope that innovative drone technology will be used conveniently and safely not only in industry and administration but also in the daily lives of ordinary citizens," adding, "We will spare no effort to provide all necessary support so that the domestic drone industry can lead the global market based on technological competitiveness."

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