Bringing new technologies to market readiness is a challenging undertaking. In addition to a good idea, the right expertise, and sufficient funding, adequate testing areas are also essential. Together with TU Braunschweig, the German Aerospace Center (DLR) has created the Flybots drone testing facility for this purpose. The facility's core in Braunschweig includes a wind tunnel, a mobile drone detector, and a drone cage for practical UAS testing.

Thanks in part to its research airport, Braunschweig has a long tradition of innovation and testing in aviation and space travel. And in terms of unmanned aerial vehicles, the city of 250,000 inhabitants in Lower Saxony aims to play an essential role in future developments.

With the recently officially opened collaborative test field Flybots, a facility has been established at the Technical University and on the DLR premises to test essential components of individual uncrewed flight systems and entire drone swarms in practice. Additionally, the National Testing Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems in Cochstedt, which is only about 100 kilometers away, enables more comprehensive testing campaigns to be planned and carried out without significant additional effort.

Round test area

Even though the ceremonial commissioning of the drone cage marked a provisional culmination of the Flybots’ development, the round test area, with a diameter of 45 meters and a height of 13 meters, is a relatively modest structure. Here, individual or multiple prototype UAS can be flown with a takeoff weight of up to 25 kilograms. A stretched net prevents drones from leaving the test environment. However, the cage, wi…