A CONSORTIUM led by Reading-based Altitude Angel has laid out plans for the world’s largest proposed network of drone “superhighways.”
The network, known as Project Skyway, would see the airspace between cities connected, creating drone “highways.”
Altitude Angel, a unified traffic management software provider based in Reading, has led the consortium as it has drawn up the project, designed to help businesses develop and grow by commercialising drone-based services.
Plans currently see Reading, Oxford, Milton Keynes, Cambridge, Coventry, and Rugby connected via airspace, forming drone-based links spanning 165 miles.
If the plans are approved, the scheme could stretch further outwards to Southampton and Ipswich.
Richard Parker, Altitude Angel, CEO and founder said: “This is the most ambitious transport project proposed for the country since the advent of the railway network in the 18th century.
“Britain is at the forefront of a second transport revolution– drones have the potential to transport goods in a way our ancestors could never have imagined but would have surely understood.
“Britain can lead the world in these innovative and life-saving technologies, we have the skills and ambition to open our skies to safe and secure drone and air-taxi flights.”
Altitude Angel has developed “detect and avoid” (DAA) techonolgy in a specially-built drone zone a few miles away from its headquarters in The Blade, Reading.
Current arrangements for drone corridors are subject to restitrictions, causing financial barriers to their use.
The proposed system, however, will allow fully automated drone flight, which means that specialist hardware will no longer be required for the drones that use it.
It will also provide a single-source point of reference for traffic and operational data, with both manned and unmanned monitoring.
If it goes ahead, Altitude Angel also hopes to be able to open a licensing agreement to other organisations who might make use of the technology.
Richard Parker said: “With the government’s support, using this technology as its foundation, we can create networks spanning the length and breadth of Britain.
“A super-highway-network-in-the-sky, providing a critical digital infrastructure which will, in-turn, enable the world’s first truly national drone economy.”
Plans are currently being considered, and are due to be decided upon in the coming weeks.
