An unmanned aerial vehicle (DRONE) is configured for surveillance of COVID-19 hotspots and containment zones to ensure strict compliance of lockdown guidelines in densely populated areas, where streets are too narrow for motorised patrolling and police personnel are susceptible to infection in case of manual patrolling. The system has been developed by TBRL, Chandigrh in collaboration with industry partner.
The size of drone is 2.5 ft x 2.5 ft and weight is less than 3kg. It can be remotely operated through a hand-held tablet. It can fly up to 60m altitude and has a range of 3km with the capability of way point navigation. It is equipped with a public announcement system and an onboard video camera for recording and broadcasting real time video feed to the control room. The controlling software of the drone has built-in artificial intelligence tools for decision-making. The UAV automatically returns to its home location in case of any communication failure.
The system has been demonstrated to the Chandigarh Police in a containment zone.
Such system can act as a force multiplier for law enforcement agencies, who have been a frontline warrior in this battle against the global pandemic.
