Austria’s Schiebel Group (Stand F68), the Netherlands Aerospace Centre (NLR), the Netherlands Coastguard and the Royal Netherlands Air Force recently tested a new airborne detect-and-avoid system fitted to Schiebel’s Camcopter S-100 unmanned helicopter.

During a flight demonstration held at De Kooy Airfield in Den Helder, the Netherlands, in December, Schiebel supplied an S-100 fitted with the NLR-developed AirScout detect-and-avoid system. A Coastguard Dornier Do-228 fixed-wing turboprop and an RNAF Alouette helicopter acted as “intruder” aircraft for the system to detect. The air force also provided ATC services.

“Several scenarios were successfully executed where the Camcopter S-100 ‘unexpectedly’ encountered an intruder aircraft. The system then determined in real time the corrective action to ensure the necessary separation from intruder aircraft,” Schiebel said.

The demonstration was conducted under the ATM Innovative RPAS Integration for Coastguard Applications (AIRICA) project, which is funded through the EU’s Single European Sky ATM Research (Sesar) program. The project focuses on integrating remotely piloted aircraft systems into the airspace for Netherlands Coastguard applications.

“In the future, we hope to use unmanned systems for our search and rescue operations,” said Edwin van der Pol, Coastguard head of operations. “These trials are important to achieve regulations for bringing RPAS into non-segregated airspace.”