Conference DRONTEX 2024 on the potential of drones, but also the related threats

On 16 and 17 October 2024, the national cultural heritage site of Elektrárňa Piešťany has hosted the third annual international conference of DRONTEX 2024, organised by the Mám Dron Association. ERA and its Slovak subsidiary R-SYS were among the participants.

In two days, 37 speakers from 11 countries presented news in unmanned aerial systems, development and use of drones in industry and services, as well as the risks and threats associated with the technology. For the first time, the event was held in a hybrid format and apart from 200 guests in the room, the programme was being streamed and watched by a similar number of viewers online. There were present the experts on unmanned traffic management from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), Eurocontrol, the European Commission and the Air Navigation Services of the Czech Republic.

The current trend in use of unmanned aerial technologies are operations beyond the visual line of sight (BVLOS), as confirmed by speakers presenting on the possibilities of monitoring of energy systems, underground and confined spaces, as well as the use of drones in space exploration, to create digital twins, or for light show events.

One block of the programme dealt with research and development of unmanned aerial systems. Scientists from various education institutions from Denmark, Sweden and Germany introduced their projects on use of drones in research of climate change, atmospheric measurements, or advanced BVLOS operations. It also focused on the use of AI in security application, utilization of drones in monitoring of public gatherings and events.

As part of the conference there was an exhibition of UAVs and related systems and applications, manufactured by the conference´s partners, including R-SYS.