Dutch company introduces Remote ID addon

The Dutch company BlueMark Innovations has released a Remote ID addon with which the position of nearby flying drones and the associated operator numbers can be made visible on a smartphone or special receiver. In the future, such an addon will be mandatory for drones that cannot transmit location data themselves according to the European standard.

DroneBeacon and DroneScout

The addon called DroneBeacon is a Remote ID transponder that can be attached to any drone of the size DJI Mavic 3 or larger.

The Remote ID addon has a GPS/GLONASS receiver. The built-in battery lasts approximately 7 hours. Via WiFi and Bluetooth, the DroneBeacon transmits the position and flight direction of the drone, as well as the operator number of the operator. In principle, these radio signals can be received by anyone, for example with the help of a smartphone app developed for this purpose.

In addition to the DroneBeacon, BlueMark also introduces a receiver that can track nearby flying drones within a radius of approximately 5 km: the DroneScout. The operation of DroneScout can be compared to DJI’s AeroScope, but in contrast to that system it is based on international standards, namely DIN EN 4709-002 (EU) and ASTM F3411-19-RID-B (USA). The receiver can be connected to a local (company) network. The data is then visible via a demo application that can be downloaded from the BlueMark website. DroneScout is mainly aimed at companies that want to integrate the product into their own product portfolio.

Obliged

In the future, Remote ID will be mandatory for all drones weighing more than 250 grams. In this way, enforcers can see who owns a particular drone. For that reason, Remote ID is part of the product requirements in accordance with the Cx classification, which is mandatory from 1-1-2024. Drones without such a label may then only be used in Open category A3, at a good distance from people and buildings.

Owners of so-called legacy drones should wait to see whether the manufacturer of their device will provide a firmware upgrade before that time, ensuring that the drone in question will fulfill the future Remote ID requirement without the need for any hardware add-on.

Price and availability of Remote ID addon

The DroneBeacon costs 149 Euros, excluding VAT. The DroneScout has a price tag of 950 euros excluding VAT. Both devices are for sale at https://dronescout.co/. The company also offers the DroneBeacon MAVLink, which can be integrated with the flight controller of a drone. In the third quarter of 2022, BlueMark will launch a smaller version of the DroneBeacon.

Let us know in the comments below what you think about this remote ID addon device.