Our first set of exercises will take place at Collsuspina. CATUAV, one of the IOPES technological partners is located in this town. Their premises named BCN DRONE CENTER are located just one hour by car from Barcelona city center and international airport. Meteorological conditions allow UAV flight testing more than 300 days a year.
On the land side, it comprises a 14 Ha field divided into a 4 Ha air operations zone, runway and self electrical power generation, and around 10 Ha of forest and part of a small stream.
The main building facilities include hangar, Ground Control Station with four operator workstations, Mobile trailer Ground Control Station capable to be moved to the operations area, workshops, labs, rest area, offices and full internet access. There are also more than 40 geodetic markers and 2 effective resolution panels for sensor calibration purposes. There are also three auxiliary buildings with dome design, able to be easily converted to showroom, conference room, classroom or experimental team dedicated space.
On the aerial side, it counts with an official segregated airspace (TSA-31) of around 50 square km (5000 Ha) and 1360m ceiling (around 400-500m ASL (Above Surface Level)), highly more than legal 120m maximum limited altitude for drones. These dimensions allow us to provide enhanced coverage for experimental testing’s below TRL8 and to perform preparatory test campaigns before entering in commercial stage for any drone system and subsystems.
Our BCN Drone Center test site area has different relevant natural features, including in the southwest part the “Torrent del Mal” stream that probably contributes to flood periodically “The Toll Caves”, an archaeological relevant site of Neanderthal signs of cave life. Currently there are active archaeological campaigns inside and a short segment of the cave is open to visitors. On this stream and caves part of the IOPES exercise will be performed.
On the northeast of our test site is the Collsuspina village, a small and historical village of around 340 citizens. The municipality of Collsuspina, of 14.86 km2 is located in the Moianès region. It extends along the mountain range that encloses the Vic plain to the west; it borders to the north with the municipality of Muntanyola, to the northeast and east with Tona, to the east and southeast with the municipality of Balenyà, to the south with Castellcir and to the west with the municipality of Moià.
Collsuspina is an essentially mountainous term, formed geologically during the Tertiary period. The port or pass of La Pollosa (920 meters) is the only passage between Moianès and Osona that exceeds a thousand meters.
Due to its altitude and higher rainfall than in the rest of Moianès, it is a term quite rich in water and with remarkable plains. The area is crossed by small torrents, such Armadans or Picanyol, Griolera or Umbertes, etc, which pour water into the Marfà or Golarda stream, arriving at the end to the Mediterranean Coast by the main Ter, Besos and Llobregat rivers.
