Kaksi miestä työskentelemässä dronen parissa.

Unmanned aviation and the use of drones

Arctic Drone Labs is an unmanned aviation and drone usage research center operating as part of Oulu University of Applied Sciences. We are at the forefront of gathering and developing expertise, technology, and innovations to promote the growth of the drone and unmanned aerial systems (UAS) industry. Our mission encompasses fostering business development, advancing research initiatives, and strengthening education in this rapidly evolving field.

About Us

Arctic Drone Labs is a research and development unit led by Oulu University of Applied Sciences, focusing on cutting-edge drone technologies and their applications.

In collaboration with industry experts and companies, we provide education, research, consulting, and support for innovation in various aspects of drone technology.

By combining high-tech infrastructure, knowledgeable staff, and a strong network of collaborators, Arctic Drone Labs plays a key role in the development and application of drone technology, particularly in arctic and challenging environments.

Kuvassa keltaiseen huomioasuun pukeutunut pilotti lennättää droonia aurinkoisessa säässä. Taustalla näkyy mäntymetsää.

We have one of the most significant drone fleets in Northern Finland at our disposal.

Oulu University of Applied Sciences has one of the most significant drone fleets in Northern Finland. Explore our fleet and services in more detail on the page describing our infrastructure and services.

Arctic drone labs

Areas of application for our research

Logistics

We focus on developing transportation in both urban and rural environments. We are particularly interested in leveraging automation, autonomy, and data analytics to improve logistics, as well as in developing aviation test areas. Key challenges we aim to address include long distances, arctic weather conditions, and low population density.

Safety and security

Our focus is particularly on testing the safety of devices and providing recommendations for safe equipment, safe flight operations, as well as various data security issues related to data storage, processing, and analysis. We have chosen this theme as the centerpiece of our work because our location in Finland, the EU’s longest border neighbor with Russia, entails a special responsibility for data security and safe data usage. The Arctic weather conditions also pose their own unique characteristics for flight safety.

Agriculture and forestry

Unmanned aviation and drones can bring significant benefits to agriculture and forestry.

We promote the use of drones in agriculture and forestry by monitoring and influencing the application of legislation and promoting cooperation with authorities in the field. Our goal is to improve the efficiency of the sector through the use of drones (e.g., spraying drones vs. tractors) and to harness the latest expertise, such as data analytics, to benefit the industry, for example, in improving results and reducing environmental impacts.

Key challenges we aim to address include: northern weather conditions, short growing seasons, and the complexity of legislation.

Our experts

Would you like to learn more about our drone expertise or collaborate with us? Contact us! Our email addresses are in the format firstname.lastname@oamk.fi.