Preventing and detecting crimes or dangerous situations for citizens, intervening quickly in emergencies, and supporting law enforcement using drones and the possibilities offered by 5G broadband connectivity and satellite technologies. This is S-EDGE (Satellite and 5G for Law Enforcement), a project that successfully concluded its final review on 15 December after flight tests on 10-11 November at Parco Dora in Turin.
The S-ESGE team during the trial in Turin
S-EDGE, in particular, successfully integrates the expertise developed by Telespazio with the innovative T-DROMES platform - designed to manage fleets of drones and cover each phase of a mission - together with the artificial intelligence-based data analysis capabilities offered by e-GEOS’s CLEOS platform, TIM’s 5G connectivity, SEIKEY’s drone operator experience and ADPM’s manufacturing capability. As part of the project, the Polytechnic University of Turin also contributed risk analyses.
Funded by ESA under the ARTES IAP programme, S-EDGE also fulfils the criteria of Sustainable Development Goal 16 of UN Agenda 2030 - Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions - which promotes peaceful and inclusive societies geared towards sustainable development, accountability and inclusiveness.
Technologically speaking, S-EDGE’s strength lies in its ability to integrate different technologies – such as the T-DROMES Drone As Service platform, 5G, satellite connections and artificial intelligence - to recognise dangerous actions or patterns or to create intelligent flight planning in potentially critical areas.
Indeed, with S-EDGE, drones – constantly connected through 5G or, in the case of poor reception, via satellite – can carry out automatic patrolling missions, both planned and ‘on demand’, day and night, in urban areas, such as parks, squares or boulevards, even large ones.
The ability to support numerous sensors on board the drone and the integration with high-precision positioning services allows S-EDGE to perform many potential missions, even in emergency contexts (fires, collapses, etc.) or natural disasters (earthquakes, floods, etc.).