EXADRONE project - drone and flight platform

Innovation: Super-technological drones to be developed at ENEA Research Center of Brasimone

16 February 2023 Last Updated: 16 February 2023

High-tech drones, equipped with internet of things (IoT) systems, big data and innovative sensors for safety and environmental monitoring; an automation and control laboratory to design and test remotely piloted aircraft, a flight academy open to the public, one of the largest in Italy for training pilots in critical scenarios, but also a new range of technologically advanced sensors, are the outcomes of the EXADRONE project conducted by ENEA in collaboration with METAPROJECTS in the ENEA Brasimone Research Center (Municipality of Camugnano, Bologna) and co-funded by the Emilia-Romagna Region.

In particular, in the new automation and control laboratory, new generation LIDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) sensors were developed and tested on drones based on laser technologies developed by ENEA, useful for environmental monitoring and real-time water analysis but also sensors to monitor sites, nuclear installations and infrastructures of strategic importance like bridges, viaducts and dams.

Through new control algorithms and data management, this new range of sensors applied to drone technology allows to monitor in real-time possible presence of pollutants in surface waters, inspect bridges, viaducts and dams, detect critical issues or changes over time, monitor sites with possible radiological pollution, search for dispersed radioactive sources and inspect nuclear sites.

At the innovative automation and control laboratory, experts and specialized skilled professionals conduct mechatronic and electronic design activities, research and consultancy in product development, firmware and software applications, certification support for their marketing and tests on sensors and automation technologies, motion control and power electronics, miniaturized GPS, radio frequency and IoT localization systems, targeted at support applications for the Public Administration.

The Flight Academy, recognized by ENAC as a Recognized Entity (Recognized Entities-RE, pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2019/947) in the "SPECIFIC" category, is equipped with a 1,500 square meter school field with teaching areas, for 'theoretical and practical training and the qualification to fly drones for critical operations.

"Its 400 hectares area make the ENEA Brasimone Center an ideal place to operate in total safety, far from inhabited areas, and to host several authorized runways authorized by ENAC for flight operations", pointed out Mariano Tarantino, Head of the ENEA Nuclear Safety and Sustainability Division. “The airfield, with a wide range of critical training scenarios in Italy, carries out qualifying courses for drone pilots and specialization courses for professionals on photogrammetry, thermography and precision agriculture and for special missions authorized by ENAC".

EXADRONE is part of the initiatives to relaunch the ENEA Brasimone, a center of excellence globally for the development of advanced technologies for energy, health, the environment and the territory, specialized in nuclear safety, magnetic confinement fusion, liquid metal technology for new generation nuclear systems, prototyping of systems and components for energy applications, innovative technologies and materials. Projects in the medical sector have also been launched and training and logistical support is provided to the National Research Program in Antarctica.

The Research Center is located in the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines, between the Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany regions and collaborates with research institutions of leading technological countries (such as China, the United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, United States). The experimental infrastructures of its advanced technology park are visited by researchers, fellows, students and PhD students from international research institutions and universities.