(https://www.iusm.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=924569, 2021.10.05)
 

A large balloon rose above the lawn park at the Ulsan Ulju-gun government office. 

This balloon, resembling an advertising balloon, is actually a tethered drone equipped with a camera. The SKYEYE-150 tethered drone, which receives power through a cable from the ground, can ascend up to 500 meters and monitor an area with a radius of 10 km.

On the 5th, Ulju-gun conducted a demonstration of the SKYEYE-150 tethered drone at the government office lawn park. 

As part of the Drone Special Free Zone pilot project, SKYSYS, which received 30 million KRW in annual research and demonstration funding from Ulju-gun, presented the SKYEYE-150—a heli-kite drone developed in-house.

The heli-kite consists of a 3.45-meter silicon balloon filled with helium gas and a triangular kite-shaped flight unit with a camera attached beneath it. 

Unlike other drones that fly wirelessly, this one is tethered and continuously powered via a special cable. 

As a result, the drone can fly and capture footage for 24 hours, except for weekly helium gas refills when it descends.

The drone is equipped with a 36x zoom FHD camera, which provides stable footage even when the drone shakes due to wind. 

It can operate in wind speeds of up to 22 m/s, making it suitable for use in most weather conditions, except during typhoons. 

With a monitoring range of 10 km from 500 meters in the air, four of these drones are enough to monitor the entire Ulju-gun area.

The footage captured by the drone is transmitted in real time to computers as well as smartphones with an app installed.

Ulju-gun sees this heli-kite as a valuable tool for monitoring forest fires or detecting illegal activities, such as unauthorized land use. 

Currently, Ulju-gun selects more than 100 forest fire monitoring personnel annually to conduct surveillance. 

This equipment is expected to quickly detect fires in deep mountainous areas, where human access is difficult, and also help monitor illegal activities in remote regions.

On the 13th, Ulju-gun will conduct a second demonstration at the Sangbuk-myeon Complex Welcome Center, and will discuss the integration of this system into forest fire monitoring operations from November to May next year.

An official from Ulju-gun stated, "We hope this demonstration will bring innovation to our forest fire monitoring efforts," adding, "Through the operation of the Drone Special Free Zone, we expect to provide smart administrative services."

Meanwhile, the Drone Special Free Zone, designated and managed by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport, is being developed in Ulju-gun. 

By 2025, Ulju-gun plans to invest 200 billion KRW in five core areas: drone system administrative services, digital twin pilot projects, drone industry development, PAV (Personal Air Vehicle) development and demonstration, and a drone experience center.

Ulju-gun also plans to establish a drone integrated control center on the 5th floor of the government building in November, and begin building its drone system.