ISL at Drone Days 2026
How can drones, walking robots and artificial intelligence help to make ports safer, more resilient and more efficient? The ISL attended Drone Days 2026 to address this question. From 26 to 28 August, the UAS community gathered in Bremen and at Oldenburg-Hatten Airfield to discuss the latest developments, applications and future prospects relating to unmanned systems.
At the joint stand of the scientific institutes from Bremen, visitors were able to find out about specific applications of the ISL’s drones and robotics in the maritime sector. A particular highlight was the ISL’s new robot dog, which forms part of a new research infrastructure at the ISL Smartport Living Lab, funded by EU ERDF grants and funding from the Senator for the Environment, Climate and Science in Bremen. Together with aerial drones, which are also part of the Smartport Living Lab’s infrastructure funding, it opens up new possibilities for the automated inspection and monitoring of port infrastructure and is initially to be tested in various scenarios for the port railway.
Drones offer a wide range of applications in seaports. Against the backdrop of recent geopolitical developments, they are becoming increasingly important in the protection of critical infrastructure through surveillance, inspection and, in future, AI-based anomaly detection. Using a centralised situational overview on a control centre dashboard, this information can be transmitted to the relevant port security officers and analysed in near real time.
Furthermore, drones contribute to the precise surveying of infrastructure damage – such as cracks in concrete – using high-resolution aerial imagery, allowing changes over time to be documented. This enables, for example, repair and maintenance requirements to be identified at an early stage and necessary measures to be better planned. The data collected can be used to determine areas, lengths and volumes, with the results subsequently made available via GIS solutions or dashboards, for example in the form of georeferenced orthophotos or 3D mesh models.
The ISL is not only involved in data collection and analysis, but also provides support with the further processing of digital models, right through to 3D printing.
Drone Days provided the ISL with the opportunity to present these areas of application to a specialist audience and to engage in dialogue with companies, research institutions and other stakeholders in the UAS community. The focus was not only on technological developments, but above all on the question of how new technologies can be applied to specific maritime scenarios.
The event demonstrated once again the potential that lies in combining drone technology, robotics, AI and maritime logistics. For the ISL, Drone Days therefore provided a valuable platform for strengthening existing contacts, gaining new insights and discussing future applications for unmanned systems in port environments.
We would like to thank all visitors to our stand for the many interesting discussions, and the Drone Days organising team for a successful event.
