FLY SMART, FLY SAFE
Police drones – from fighting crime to saving lives, Nottinghamshire new police drone unit has had a busy first six months in operation.
The team, established to give a readily-available and cost-effective “eye in the sky” to officers on the ground, has helped to detain 39 suspects and find six vulnerable missing people.
Since going live on 1 January the team’s three drones, each equipped with thermal imaging cameras, have attended more than 300 incidents across the county.
PC Vince Saunders, chief pilot and one of 15 officers trained to operate the drones in addition to their core duties, explained: “In a very short space of time the drone unit has become an invaluable policing resource. Having that three-dimensional perspective can help officers out in nearly every conceivable police incident – from arrests and searches to crowd control and drugs raids.
“We can even use a police drone to quickly and accurately map the scenes of road traffic accidents. At first, they may have been a novelty, but our drones are now a central part of our response to so many incidents.”
Drone footage shows the warrant on The Storage Yard being executed by Nottinghamshire Police and Rushcliffe Borough Council Police air support, first provided in the UK by an airship at the 1921 Epsom Derby, has traditionally been provided by helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft – both of which are capable of flying further than faster than drones.
However, whilst police drones will not replace these more traditional eyes in the sky, PC Saunders believes they will become an ever more common part of everyday policing. He added: “The real advantage of our drones is in their versatility, cost-effectiveness and the speed in which they can be deployed. That means we’re now using them to help in situations where helicopter support just wouldn’t have been a viable or cost-effective option in the past.
“A good recent example is the arrest of a burglary suspect in Aspley. Arresting officers suspected he’d flee so requested support from one of our drones. As we suspected he did run away, hurdling hedges and fences in the process, but he couldn’t escape our eye in the sky. We’ve also been able to locate missing people very quickly – and in one case I am certain we saved somebody’s life in the process.”
The team, based at Hucknall Police Station, currently operate three police drones: two smaller units worth around £2,500 each and one larger, heavier drone with more powerful magnification and a thermal radiometric camera capable of accurately reading temperatures form hundreds of metres away. Consequently, the larger drone is also used to support Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service assess the scenes of fires.
PC Saunders added: “Obviously our drones are not cheap, but they are a one-off cost and they are providing fantastic value for money. They are keeping people safe, helping us to apprehend suspected offenders, and generally helping us to fight and investigate all manner of crime. That’s why I believe we’ll be using them a lot more in the future.”
A drone was deployed as part of the operation
Nottinghamshire Police’s drone team supported response officers on the ground, guiding them as a man weaved through properties’ gardens and hopped over fences.In the footage, officers can be seen moving to intercept a man thanks to guidance from the drone team in the sky.
A man eventually stops and is safely detained by police in Woodfield Road. He is now being questioned in connection with reports of a burglary in Woodfield Road on 2 May 2020, Woolsington Close on 12 May 2020 and Cramwell Road on 18 May 2020.
Detective Inspector Kayne Rukas, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “A fantastic combined effort from our response officers, drone team and intelligence unit led to us locating and detaining a man who we are now questioning in connection with a report of burglary.
“A 30-year-old woman was also arrested on suspicion of obstructing a police officer, she remains in police custody for questioning.
“Nottinghamshire Police is committed to tackling burglary and will investigate all reports thoroughly. We work hard to establish the circumstances in each case and we always look to take appropriate action against offenders.”
28th May 2020
Staff and students at Cranfield University and its Airport have completed a remote pilot course for flying unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) as part of long-term planning for integrated airspace use by manned and unmanned aircraft.
The commercial UAV remote pilot course incorporated a ground school element for flight planning – covering principles of flight, rules and regulations of the air, using aviation charts, risk assessment and meteorology – and a flight assessment to check demonstration of basic pilot competence, including how to respond in an emergency and being able to operate safety features.
Rob Abbot, Director of Aviation Operations at Cranfield Airport, who completed the training with some of his team, said: “Integrating UAV operations with airport activities and manned aircraft operations is going to be key in the future as we look to unleash the potential of a modernised UK airspace. This training has given myself and my team a solid understanding of UAV operations and the issues around using unmanned aircraft.
“UAVs could potentially benefit manned aircraft operations in a number of ways, ranging from monitoring, maintenance and repair tasks to de-icing the wings of aircraft in cold weather conditions. At Cranfield, we are already looking at how we may be able to use them for runway and airfield perimeter inspections.”
The course was provided by Consortiq, who have permission from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to provide approved UAV training, and was scheduled to help prepare students for the BAE UAV Swarm Challenge running again at Cranfield in March this year.
Students who complete the course will receive CAA-approved certificates for the ground school and flight assessment elements.
Alex Williamson, Experimental Research Fellow in UAV Operations in the Centre for Autonomous and Cyber-Physical Systems, Cranfield University, said: “Providing this kind of hands-on training is invaluable in giving staff and students an insight into the operational considerations of flying unmanned aircraft, together with a working appreciation of regulations affecting their use. This experience has further grown Cranfield’s competency in this area. It also ensures staff and students can maximise their research potential with respect to UAVs.”
Around 40 students from the Autonomous Vehicle Dynamics and Control MSc and Applied Artificial Intelligence MSc courses took the training along with Airport and academic staff.
Regulations currently require UAVs to be operated within visual line of sight of the remote pilot at all times. Through the ongoing creation of the National Beyond visual line of sight Experimentation Corridor (NBEC), Cranfield University is also working with partners Blue Bear Systems Research, Thales and Vodafone to provide a safe, managed environment for UAV experimentation, ultimately working towards their unsegregated operation with manned aircraft in both controlled and uncontrolled airspace.
To date there have been over 1000 deaths attributed to the Coronavirus, which originated in Wu Han, China. When news of the virus, now renamed Covid 19 by the World Health Organisation, first emerged, the Chinese authorities were criticised for their poor handling of the situation and several senior health officials have been removed from their posts.
The virus is a respiratory based one, with the main signs of infection being fever (high temperature) and a cough as well as shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. People have been advised to wear face masks, sneeze and then bin the tissue, and wash hands frequently to keep the risk of infection as low as possible. They have further been advised to remain indoors with only one family member allowed out to shop for food and other necessities every other day. The virus is highly contagious and is spreading more rapidly than SARS. To date it has killed more people in 6 weeks than SARS did in 8 months.
So, what role have drones played?
Clearly, drones aren’t going to solve all the problems that the coronavirus poses; they are simply a tool – for good. However, all too often drones are spoken of negatively. Instead, let’s give them and the people and companies operating them, the credit for seeing the various ways they can be used for good when combating this highly contagious virus.
Elena Major, ARPAS-UK
12th February 2020
The Guardian newspaper has reported the use of drones to assess koalas’ health after the rampant forest fires in Australia.
This is a great use of the technology: thermal imaging is used to find the koalas in the first place, reducing time taken meaning more time to find more koalas.
Then by hovering close by and beaming images to those nearby to assess the koalas in situ, only the koalas who are in need of treatment will be removed from their natural habitat. A drone can reach the koala’s location quicker than getting a cherry picker in place meaning faster assessments.
To remove a koala from a tree involves the use of a cherry picker, which means someone will be working at height, leaning out from the cherry picker and be at risk of falling. The drone reduces the number of times this needs to happen, reducing risk, cost and leading to more effective use of the cherry pickers.
Ultimately the health of the koalas, both those that stay in the trees and those rescued, benefits from this use. They are assessed faster, treated appropriately faster and this in turn means that more koalas will be seen in less time, which can only benefit the species.
For more photographs on this story: follow the link.
Feb 12th 2020
Avy announces its partnership in the MDS consortium as its technological partner. Together we will explore the use of drones for medical services in the Dutch healthcare system.
The Medical Drone Service (MDS) consortium consisting of the ANWB MAA and PostNL announced their collaboration today. Along with KPN, we’re proud to be their technological partner on this journey to explore how drones can contribute to healthcare in The Netherlands.
Healthcare partners Sanquin (blood bank) and Erasmus MC (hospital & pharmacy) acknowledge the challenges of getting medical goods to patients in time now that roads are getting more congested. In the next three years we will carefully investigate how Avy’s long range wing drone operated by the ANWB MAA can be a solution for medical deliveries as illustrated in the animation below.
The capability of vertically taking-off and landing, and transitioning to forward flight, to cover long distances makes this aircraft unique in its kind. The modular payload bay can be adjusted and is easily exchangeable to transport different medical goods under strict conditions. The aircraft is designed for BVLOS flights in European airspace, resulting in a premium aircraft that is compliant with the new EASA regulations.
For more information on the Medical Drone Service visit the website https://medicaldroneservice.nl/.
In case you want to know more about Avy, our wing drone or flight operations feel free to drop us a message.
21 November 2019
The Queensland Police’s Forensic Crash Unit Aerial Mapping Project has demonstrated that using the latest drone technology it can cut crash scene mapping times in half; a considerable saving in resources. It was estimated that in one year, congestion caused by traffic incidents on Brisbane roads cost the community A$23m (US$15.7m) in lost time and productivity. One contributing factor to the time for road closure during traffic incidents was scene mapping by investigating officers of the Police’s Forensic Crash Unit. As a consequence, the project was set up to evaluate the benefits of using drone technology to map crash scenes.
“This is a World First: The implementation of this innovative drone technology is a win-win-win. Roads closed for a shorter period, better evidence, and no increase in cost,” said Queensland Police Minister, Mark Ryan. “This innovative approach to policing is why the Queensland Police Service is rightly regarded internationally as a world class operation. They are always looking to technology to provide better outcomes for the community. This has been a thoroughly researched project and included consultation with key stakeholders to develop procedures and policies for the effective and safe deployment of the drone technology on motorways, highways and major arterial roads and its subsequent admissibility in court.”
“The savings economically are in the millions of dollars, the savings individually are probably in the thousands of hours.” said Michael Keating, Assistant Commissioner for Queensland Police.
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) invites outline proposals for a coordination Hub for the UKRI Trustworthy Autonomous Systems programme. Up to £11.7 million (at 80% fEC please see here) is available to support one Hub for up to four years, starting from 1 June 2020.
Please note that this is a cross-UKRI programme and it is expected that applications will be multidisciplinary, led by and involving any discipline from across UKRI portfolio.
A two-stage application process will be used in this call. The first stage requires the applicants to submit an outline proposal (please see call document for details), which will be assessed by an external panel with the necessary expertise. The deadline for Hub outline proposals is 16:00 on 12 December 2019. All submissions must be done via Je-S.
Successful outline applicants will be invited to submit a full proposal, and this will be assessed by postal peer review and at an interview stage. The full proposal document and further guidance will be made available on this call page.
UKRI is holding a one-day Town Hall meeting on 18 October 2019 to discuss the details of the activity, explain the planned approach to investment and bring together stakeholders from a broad range of disciplinary backgrounds to build new connections and generate new ideas. Attendance to the Town Hall meeting is not a prerequisite to apply for funding, nor will attendance guarantee subsequent funding. For those who could not attend the event, the outputs of the Town Hall meeting will be collated as FAQs and added to this call page as soon as possible after the event.
Please note that the UKRI Trustworthy Autonomous Systems programme will be delivered in two discrete, interconnected parts, the coordination Hub and several research nodes. It is anticipated that the call for the research nodes will be launched in December 2019.
ITV’s ‘999: Britain from Above’ programme aired at 8pm on Monday evening and spread a ‘drones for good’ feel good message to viewers.
It comes after a number of mainstream media outlets in recent months have been heavily criticised for portraying drones in a negative light.
This ITV show was the complete opposite and certainly went a long way in highlighting to the viewing public that all important ‘drones for good’ message.
The second in a two part series, through unseen footage and exclusive access to fire, police, coastguard and air ambulance rescue teams across England and Wales, the programme showed how the emergency services are taking to the air to keep Britain safe.
ITV said it wanted to “reveal how police forces are deploying military-spec drones to search for vulnerable missing people in impossible to reach places; how the fastest air ambulances are racing against the clock to save lives when every second counts, and how fire services are fighting blazes from the sky.”
It described the programme as “The inside, untold story of how Britain’s emergency services are taking to the skies to save lives.”
It gave an in-depth look at a variety of specific use-cases for drones in emergency service work, including how police forces are reaping the benefits of the technology when searching for missing people.
This positive look at drones comes three months after DJI challenged the BBC on its airing of the Aldo Kane programme ‘Britain’s next air disaster? Drones?’.
Link to the ITV Hub and the Show: 999: Britain from Above
Bringing drone technology to the gobal communities who may benefit most is difficult. Challenges range from regulatory hurdles, communcation issues, extreme weather, to community acceptance: but aerial imagery and mapping can provide stunning benefits to remote populations.
At the Pix4D User Conference in Denver this week Hyun-June Choi, CEO of Canada’s Altohelix, took us inside their mission working with the Kenyan Red Cross.
Kenya experiences extreme weather cycles – and in some areas, the floods and the rains consistently cause loss of homes, crops, and lives. “They have a constant cycle of floods and drought – and the cycles are getting worse,” says Choi. As a result, the Kenyan government is working to resettle some communities who get flooded every year: a critical and immediate need for aerial data.
image courtesy Altohelix
No Regulations
Mapping areas for resettlement to ensure that they are out of the flood plain and appropriate for new construction was Altohelix’ first mission. But they immediately ran into a roadblock: “The first thing we had to do was to overcome regulations,” says Choi. “Kenya does not allow any civilian drone operations. The Kenyan Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) is still drafting the drone regulations for the country, and Kenyan Defense Forces (KDF) are the only ones officially allowed to fly.” Altohelix was able to work with the Kenyan government and KDF to receive permissions: they were accompanied by KDF personnel on all of their flights.
Training and Operations
image courtesy Altohelix
Knowledge transfer was part of the mission, and Altohelix did 5 days of ground school and 5 days of flight training. They used Mavic 2 Pro aircraft, the cheapest, most available and most practical tool for the job. Then it was time to execute: but, as Choi explains, conditions weren’t ideal. “No cell phone, no electricity, no wi-fi, no paved roads,” says Choi. “It was challenging. ”
Using imagery from the Mavic 2 Pro and Pix4D for processing, the team created a digital surface model (DSM) of the proposed resettlement area, to ensure that the area was out of the flood zone and safe for new construction. “The project showed the full extent of the flood damage, and the changing landscape,” says Choi. “With a single flood, the entire shape of the river bed changed.” It’s a model that simply couldn’t be created with satellite imagery, Choi points out: “Satellite data resolution is just too low.” As a result of that mission, the Kenyan Red Cross constructed 5,715 new shelters, replacing the weather vulnerable traditional huts destroyed by the flooding.
Next Steps
image: courtesy Altohelix
That mission has smoothed the way for expansion of the program, which has now been approved. The Kenyan team plans to purchase more equipment and expand into new missions. “We’ll execute more operations,” says Choi. “We’ll purchase Pix4Dreact [real time 2D mapping], Pix4Dmapper, a Wingtra One [fixed wing drone] and sensors, and we’ll make improvements to the SOPs [standard operating procedures.]
The team has already expanded operations to monitor the rapidly expanding refugee camps in the western part of the country and evaluate drought conditions. They are providing critical data for decision makers when many lives are at stake. It’s a job that only a drone can do – and Altohelix is helping the Kenyan Red Cross to do it.
by Miriam McNabb
3/10/2019