Belgium’s SENSE to use Nokia 5G connected drones
Nokia shared interesting news today regarding its recently announced 5G-connected drone-in-a-box solution. This cool solution was selected by Belgium’s Citymesh, which will now have the world’s first nationwide drone network.
The package includes 70 Drone-in-a-Box units that can provide 5G-connected drone services across Belgium. The idea is that in the event of a natural or man-made disaster, drones will be automatically dispatched to the scene and monitor it for 15 minutes to gather all the data first responders need to assess the situation.
The project is called SENSE and is based on pilot projects at the Fluvia Fire Department in Kortrijk, the Brussels Airport Company, the Port of Antwerp-Bruges and the City of Genk, which were supported by the Federal Public Service Economy.
The drones are equipped with high-resolution and AI-assisted thermal imaging technology, allowing the drones to take real-time aerial images of smoke plumes, fire parameters and the number or location of people. The data is then transmitted to control centres even before responders reach the site. The great thing about this system is that it can be managed remotely 24/7 from five centralized operations centres.
Nokia pointed out that Belgian emergency services receive more than two million calls a year, and that timely and accurate information about the event will improve the efficiency of first responders.
Now, all I want for Christmas is a Nokia drone 🙂
