
More than 2.5 million privately and commercially used drones are underway in the USA alone. This figure is expected to increase to close to five million by 2020, according to a forecast made by Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty. However, this will be accompanied by safety risks. The Styrian start-up Drone Rescue Systems is developing parachute systems for drones which can already identify potential crashes at an early stage. The parachute is automatically opened in case of emergency, and the drone can land safely without material damage or personal injury. This system offers numerous advantages, especially for commercial use, and opens up new areas of application could not be exploited up until now due to strict safety regulations.
The special feature of this development is that the system can not only be fed with static parameters but learns to adapt itself to the particular requirements by means of algorithms. This means people no longer have to intervene, in light of the fact that the rescue system also works when the drone is no longer in sight. The start-up has been subsidized by the Business Incubation Center of the European Space Agency since the year 2017.