
The University of Oulu in Finland is an international science university that creates innovation for the future, well-being, and knowledge through research and education. Founded in 1958, their community comprises 13.000 students and 2.900 employees and has established itself as one of the biggest and the most multidisciplinary universities in the country The university consists of eight faculties and many specialised research units. They are responsible for demonstrators 2 and 8.
Big public events expose high demand for terrestrial mobile communications. During such events as Race of Drones Oulu or Oulu Days, the load of the teleoperator's networks multiplies. The higher load of the mobile networks brings to the teleoperators additional challenges to ensure the quality of 5G communications required for many UAS missions associated with public safety, monitoring and observation, journalism, and missions of the hobbyists. Demonstrator 2 will show how existing 5G infrastructure can be improved to support UAS operations in an urban environment.
In the future, service UAS will provide services to city inhabitants, public organisations, and businesses. Multi-purpose heliports will be deployed to serve as UAS docking and charging stations. This demonstrator is to deploy one or two prototypes of those heliports, which may yet have limited functionality. The future heliports, though, will be equipped with a variety of modules that service drones can swap to achieve the best match for the requested mission. Furthermore, future heliports will be equipped with cargo bays or lockers able to fit cargo containers. A broad range of possible use-cases for services that might be made available through the service UAS were discussed with UAM Oulu stakeholders. Two those that are among the most demanding, are selected as use-cases for this demonstrator.