Dronehub Klagenfurt, a research center for unmanned aerial systems at the University of Klagenfurt, has commissioned an impressive expansion of its testing infrastructure. With the opening of the Outdoor Drone System Arena (ODSA), considered the largest structure of its kind in the world, researchers now have a unique facility at their disposal to develop and test innovative drone technologies under real-world conditions.
The drone arena, an imposing structure with a footprint of over 1.000 square meters and tall steel columns, complements the existing indoor drone hall. It was specifically designed to investigate the autonomous flight characteristics of drone systems outdoors, simulating and measuring realistic conditions such as wind, cold, heat, fog, and especially GPS interference.
Testing technology under real-world conditions
The arena is equipped with a high-precision motion-capture camera system from Qualisys. This system serves as a "ground truth"—a reference base for accurate positioning—to precisely track autonomous flight activities and record the drones' trajectories down to the millimeter. The collected motion data is essential for validating and optimizing the developed algorithms.
Stephan Weiss, head of the Control of Networked Systems research group and initiator of the construction, explained the necessity of the new outdoor facility: “Because we assume that for many of our applications the drones will be used outdoors, such as in forests or disaster areas, it is important that we now also have an outdoor infrastructure available – with the usual influences of wind, cold, heat, fog, etc.” The ability to test algorithms in a realistic environment shaped by environmental influences is a crucial advantage, as the reliability of the drones in extreme or unpredictable scenarios is of paramount importance.
For the drone researchers, two containers with technical infrastructure and workspaces are also available on the arena grounds to evaluate the collected data directly on site and to maintain the systems.
Klagenfurt as an international research hub
The drone arena was realized by the Lakeside Science & Technology Park, on whose grounds it was built. Bernhard Lamprecht, Managing Director of Lakeside Park, sees the ODSA as an important asset for the technology hub: “The realization of the drone arena by Lakeside Park demonstrates how consistently we support pioneering technologies at this location. Our central aim is to provide excellent research with the space it needs to generate innovations with international appeal.” The arena is intended not only to serve university research, but also to offer companies the opportunity to further develop themselves in this forward-looking research and development field.
The construction of the ODSA was financed by the successful acquisition of funds from the Federal Ministry for Women, Science and Research and the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) by the research group Control of Networked Systems.
Focus on autonomous multi-drone systems
The research at the University of Klagenfurt, which has been ongoing since 2008 and is consolidated in the Dronehub, focuses on the development of highly advanced multi-drone systems. The vision is to create "drone swarms" capable of autonomously performing tasks similar to a flock of birds, coordinating themselves independently and exchanging data with each other without central control.
One of the biggest technological challenges facing researchers is camera-based navigation. This technology allows drones to orient themselves independently of external signals like GPS by creating a visual picture of their surroundings. This is particularly important for operations in areas where GPS signals are either unavailable (e.g., in deep canyons or caves) or disrupted (e.g., in disaster areas or during targeted sabotage).
Diverse applications of Klagenfurt technology
The drone technologies developed in Klagenfurt are used in a wide variety of sectors:
- Emergency and rescue services: The systems are being developed in cooperation with organizations such as the Red Cross and the fire brigade, in order to be able to act quickly and efficiently in search and rescue operations in difficult terrain or after disasters.
- Industry and infrastructure: Drones are used for the autonomous inspection and maintenance of industrial plants, ships (for shipping companies) or critical infrastructure.
- Geosciences and Agriculture: These systems are used in forest inventories to quickly record tree damage or stock quantities.
- Space research: The extreme requirements for autonomous navigation under GPS-independent conditions are even being tested in analog space missions, for example under Mars-like conditions.
The Klagenfurt Drone Hub brings together the expertise of four specialized research groups: Control of Networked Systems (Stephan Weiss, Jan Steinbrener, Yannick Morel), Mobile Systems (Christian Bettstetter), Pervasive Computing (Bernhard Rinner), and Multimedia Communication (Christian Timmerer). The new outdoor drone system arena is a strategic building block for further expanding the Drone Hub's leading role in research on autonomous, camera-based multi-drone systems and ensuring the practical applicability of this pioneering technology.