Drones are growing in importance for civilian and scientific purposes such as search and rescue missions, land surveys, infrastructure inspection and even mail delivery. These applications require drones that can fly autonomously and precisely close to the ground. This is exactly what the Aerial Vision Group at the Institute for Computer Graphics and Vision at Graz University of Technology are making possible. In a collaboration with the Austrian postal service, drones are being tested as modern carrier pigeons that allow independent mail deliveries in remote mountain regions. A number of successful flights have already been carried out at the test site of Graz University of Technology and on an alpine pasture in Styria. The question of whether the Heidi project will at some point be used regularly will not come down to its technical implementation, but whether it can be operated profitably.
Project Heidi – drone delivery by the Austrian post office, from 2016
Video: Eugen Prosquill & Jakob Kattner
Project partners: Institute for Computer Graphics and Vision/Graz University of Technology, Österreichische Post AG, SFL technologies
Sponsors: Österreichische Post AG
With thanks to the team at Aerial Vision Group/Graz University of Technology
