The Department of Transport (DoT) in Abu Dhabi has launched the first of its kind service in the region, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), at Gitex Technology Week Exhibition, a major ICT event that opened in Dubai, UAE today (October 8).

DoT called this project “Gernas”, which refers to the Peregrine Falcon because of the similarities they share in relation to their speed, accuracy and consistency of capturing targets and getting results. Al Gernas UAVs will offer a new integrated approach to enhancing the processes of collecting real-time transport and traffic data.

DoT will be deploying as a start two models of Al Gernas UAV: Matric 600 and Inspire 2. Both models are equipped with the latest smart technologies and electro-sensors that enable the UAVs to identify the goal, collect data and offer required solutions to handle accidents and emergencies. These UAVs are able to specify the surrounding area of a certain goal within 360 degrees view with a range of 7 km from the mobile or static control center and each drone will fly for 40 minutes before replacing the UAV with another one if required.

Al Gernas project was licensed by the General Civil Aviation Authority to operate UAVs and received another permission to use them for this activity.

DoT stated that this smart project comes in line with the wise directions of the leadership to improve digital initiatives and enhance smart practices that fulfil future demands and position Abu Dhabi among developed cities in a way that assure safety and improve the quality of services offered to the society.

In addition, DoT said that Al Gernas aids in enabling modern technology to serve transportation needs in an innovative way as it practiced in the most developed countries in the use of technologies and its different applications. Al Gernas will enable the operators in the Traffic and Operation Control Centers to make speedy and accurate actions when managing incidents and traffic jams. Control Centers will be able to send UAVs to capture traffic accidents and collect the data required in a timely manner using thermographic cameras that are capable of working efficiently in low visibility and during bad weather conditions. UAVs will report directly to Traffic Management Center to make the required action.

The use of UAVs will help to increase the productivity, decrease operational costs and improve the best utilization of human and financial resources. DoT mentioned that including modern technologies and services that are based on innovation, supports attaining Abu Dhabi’s vision to achieve sustainable development in accordance with the Abu Dhabi plan.

Additional capabilities of Al Gernas include the counting of the number of vehicles at the intersections to analyze the traffic movement in a way that is highly more accurate than the past. This will supports the development plans and management of traffic on the roads and keep pace with developments in the Emirate in the various areas.

The services provided by this aircraft also include the monitoring parking usage by electronically reading the number plates of illegally parked vehicles or expired paid parking period and issue of penalty notice automatically via a link with the central parking management system, as well as monitoring the vehicles driving on bus only lanes and monitoring of public and school buses.

Moreover, Al Gernas can broadcast live data to the management centers about the traffic conditions or broken down vehicles on the road. The system is equipped with thermographic cameras and a wireless device to communicate with the operation room at the Intelligent Transport Systems Management Center. There are also optical panels to deal with high priority incidents as well as possibility of providing services to the other entities such as municipalities.

The mobile station, where the plane takes off, is equipped with smart control systems to operate the UAE in an integrated manner utilizing all its features and capabilities. It is also equipped with automatic flight control system and display screens receiving the live streaming from the aircraft which could be broadcasted directly to the ITS Management Centre or other stakeholders. The mobile station is also used to charge the UAV to ensure continuous operation and coverage.

This smart initiative included a professional training program, license and a certification of the UAE UAV pilots, as well aircraft assembly and programming, flight simulator and smart systems training. The program enabled the building of local capabilities and engineering competencies of using this technology in transport and traffic applications. – TradeArabia News Service