The third AIRlabs Future Conference took place in Klagenfurt at Lake Wörth from 10. to 11. November 2022 under the motto “Unlimited take-off!”. There were no limits to the topics of the presentations either, and so a broad range of topics was covered by AIRlabs, from the current legal situation of drones, to avalanche blasting with the help of drones, to biodiversity monitoring from the air. In addition, there were also exciting international online contributions on the development of drone operations in other countries.

The first day started at the Hotel Seepark with an educational lecture by Prof. Dr Jens Bange from the University of Tübingen on atmospheric research using UAS. A main point was the influence of offshore wind farms on wind conditions in the North Sea. Commonalities were also highlighted, as the University of Tübingen, with its MASC-V, relies on a drone from ElevonX, as does the AIRlabs team.

This was followed by an exciting presentation by lawyer Dr Raphael Höfer on the current legal situation in Austria. Also during the other presentations, the participants repeatedly discussed what the legislation for drones looks like in other countries.

Before dinner, the guests had the opportunity to hear from Raed Kadri, Head of Ontario Vehicle Innovation Network (OVIN), about developments in the field of drones in Canada. In particular, research projects in the field of cross-border delivery of goods between Ontario and Michigan (USA) were highlighted, as well as the challenges that arise through this application of UAS.

The day was rounded off with a varied culinary menu, which was accompanied by a presentation by Philipp Knab on his experience with avalanche blasting via drones. This topic, which is particularly important for the Alpine region, was also the subject of much discussion at the individual tables.

For the next day, the conference participants gathered at the Lakeside Spitz event centre. The morning was dominated by presentations on the future of the 5G and 6G mobile communications standards. In the course of the presentations, it was also possible to visit the 5G Playground of the State of Carinthia, which can be reached within a few minutes’ walk. Various technical possibilities, which will shape so-called “smart cities” in the future, were demonstrated, such as the control of traffic flows by means of camera surveillance.

At the end of the conference, there were of course also presentations by the AIRlabs team about the successes that have been achieved in recent years. For example, via the Steinalpl restricted airspace it is now possible for the first time to use and test drones in the alpine region for research projects together with AIRlabs.

Funded by the Federal Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology (BMK) and the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) within the TAKE OFF aviation programme.

With the kind support of: