The dronePORT, a special site for unmanned aerial vehicles and mobile sensors, recently went into operation in Hamburg. For the city of Hamburg and the HHLA port and logistics company's control center, it's the first ground infrastructure of its kind in Europe. Progress is also being made on the hydrogen test field.
The dronePORT Hamburg was recently opened by the Hamburg Port Authority (HPA), the Hamburg Police, and Hamburg Aviation, and boasts a prominent presence. HHLASky,a subsidiary of the port and logistics company, has been ready to launch operations for some time. It provides both drones for inspecting the Port of Hamburg and its waterways, as well as the technology required for the automated control of the drones and the management of the drone fleet: the Integrated Control Center.
“Automation is the key to efficient drone operation”says Managing Director Matthias Gronstedt. “HHLA Sky’s Integrated Control Center makes beyond visual line of sight flights possible and drone operations safely scalable. We are delighted to be part of dronePORT.”
The Integrated Control Center has been known for some time from trade fair appearances and congress presentations as a highly automated process management and control center software, and its future framework has been eagerly anticipated. The Control Center enables drone flights over long distances and without visual line of sight to the pilot (Beyond Visual Line of Sight - BVLOS): for example, for inspections of infrastructure such as bridges, roads, and large areas. An operator in the control center monitors the flights and can intervene at any time. They are able to monitor multiple drone flights simultaneously. In total, more than 100 BVLOS-automated drone flights can be carried out concurrently via the Integrated Control Center.
H2 test field. Photos: HHLA
As part of the dronePORT opening, in addition to HHLA Sky, the HPA and the police, other partners including LSBG, Beagle Systems, Flynex, ZAL, HAW and EmQopter presented their products and projects (e.g. CITYAM, BLU-Space).
At the beginning of June, the first test field for hydrogen-powered port logistics and the associated hydrogen refueling station in the Port of Hamburg also went into operation. According to HHLA, the test field at the Container Terminal Tollerort (CTT) is a milestone in decarbonization. Together with its partner companies in the Clean Port & Logistics Cluster (CPL), HHLA is testing in operational practice how hydrogen can be reliably used to supply heavy-duty vehicles.
