IcesDrone — Smart Ice Protection System for Emergency and Rescue Service UAVs

Project - Open
EASA participation
Project advisor
Research Domain
Environment

IcesDrone aims to develop viable technical solutions to overcome the significant operational limitations caused by icing conditions. The main goals of IcesDrone are:

  1. Demonstration of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) propeller with integrated and self-sustaining ice detector;
  2. Development of an energy efficient chemical ice protection system for emergency and rescue service multirotor UAVs as enabler for safe operation under adverse icing conditions in accordance with regulatory/certification requirements;
  3. Investigation of safety relevant and mission critical sensors and payload under adverse icing conditions.

The climate evolution with increasing weather hazards, the new generation of low CO2 aircraft with associated disruptive configurations, the new market of UAV/Urban Air Mobility (UAM), the stringency of new policies and certification rules justify the need to initiate research in the field of icing, to ensure safety and efficiency of proposed new solutions.

The Research project ICESDrone is funded by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) and the project leader is the Austrian Institute for Icing Sciences. EASA is contributing as a Technical Advisor to IcesDrone.