Plans for Expansion into Various Sectors including Surveying, Safety, and Delivery
Korea's First Drone Remotely Controllable from Remote Locations Using LTE Network

LG U+ announced the commercialization of a 'drone command and control system' that enables operators at a command center to remotely pilot drones in distant locations and perform missions, marking its full-scale entry into the drone business led by autonomous flying drones.

On the 21st, LG U+ held a press briefing at its Yongsan headquarters in Seoul and introduced the 'U+ Smart Drone Cloud Drone Command and Control System,' which enables stable drone operation for disaster monitoring, surveying, and logistics transportation even in non-line-of-sight areas or at night through telecommunications networks.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport introduced the 'Drone Special Approval System' from November 10th. With this, flights during nighttime and operations beyond visual line of sight become possible when safety standards are met.

Choi Joo-sik, head of LG U+'s FC (Future and Converged) division, stated, "Existing drones had to be controlled via WiFi or RF, and operators had to follow them while maintaining distance regardless of where they were flying. Being able to do this via LTE is a domestic first. Drones can be launched from anywhere across the country, and flight direction and route adjustments are possible depending on wind conditions," he said.

At the event, LG U+ conducted a demonstration flight at Sangam Sky Park in which an autonomous drone was remotely launched from the Yongsan headquarters to locate a missing child reported in Sangam-dong within three minutes and connect the child to safety personnel.

Kwon Yong-hun, head of the drone team, said, "There is no better solution than drones for quickly searching open areas like Sangam Sky Park, which spans about 20 soccer fields," and added, "We anticipate that the use of the cloud drone command and control system will significantly increase in social contribution fields such as locating missing children."

During the drone's flight, the cloud drone command and control system displayed information in real time such as signal strength around Sky Park, the drone's flight speed, and battery level, as well as weather information including wind direction, wind speed, and temperature. Additionally, latitude and longitude information along the drone's flight path was displayed.

Kwon Yong-hun, head of the drone team, said, "The biggest advantage is that as long as a telecommunications network is connected, anyone can easily operate the drone with a single touch through the command and control system without distance restrictions," and added, "In the 5G era, clearer 8K-grade ultra-high-definition video can be transmitted without delay, so the scope of applications will expand further."

LG U+ partnered with Prodrone to develop drones suitable for the cloud drone command and control system. Additionally, through collaboration with TerraDrone, LG U+ is developing a system capable of stable control even in non-line-of-sight areas and plans to continuously enhance it.

The drone command and control system allows drones to be launched and controlled from remote locations hundreds of kilometers away without distance restrictions as long as a telecommunications network is available. Photos and video footage captured during flight can also be checked in real time. In addition, it is possible to check weather information, temperature, wind direction, and wind speed, and to set routes by confirming signal strength.

LG U+ identified eight service areas utilizing this system: surveying, safety inspection, agriculture, transportation/logistics, environmental monitoring, security, aerial photography, and advertising/promotion. The company plans to apply it to activities such as surveying construction and civil engineering projects or coastal lines, and delivering packages to islands and remote mountainous areas.

Division Head Choi Joo-sik said, "We plan to prepare 3D maps equipped with necessary information for drone flight, such as information on transmission towers," and announced that the company will sequentially enhance the airspace radio frequency map and real-time drone navigation guidance system.