New South Wales (NSW) in Australia has begun beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) drone operations along a major motorway. Jenny Aitchison, Minister for Roads, announced the commencement in an Instagram reel.
The project, which has been in development for two years, now sees drones operate from Cowan to Calga along the M1 Highway, providing situational awareness and monitoring and aiding incident response for the Transport Management Centre (TMC). The drone leaves from the TMC and takes about 90 seconds to reach operational height and begin its mission along the M1. In a comment accompanying the reel, Aitchison said the drones can be flown over 50km from the TMC.
It is planned to expand the initiative to other areas. The drones could be deployed from the TMC to “anywhere in NSW with power and connection,” said Craig Moran, manager of the TMC.
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