Building on the INTERREG VI IT-AT project START, the aim is to develop the use of semi-autonomous drones in rescue operations in extreme environments so that people in mountain distress can be helped more effectively. With a user-centered approach, the new project team will research and develop unmanned aerial rescue. In accordance with the START cooperation agreement, the mountain rescue teams have surveyed needs during the preparatory phase. On the one hand, the focus is on automation in flight planning and risk assessment as well as the innovative application of sensor systems. On the other hand, the transport of material and people with drones on the “last mile” in impassable terrain will be tested.

The competences are then to be used sustainably over the project duration by designing a Living Lab for drones, which will facilitate advanced forms of cooperation for stakeholders from neighboring regions: Users, SMEs and scientists cooperate so that new technologies are developed and brought into use more quickly according to user requirements. What is new here is that this user-oriented approach is to be implemented in a cross-regional “Living Lab”.