The drone market continues to grow rapidly, and by 2030, drones are expected to contribute an increase of £42bn to GDP in the UK: £16bn in net savings to the economy and 628,000 new jobs.
However, security and terrorist issues remain a concern, and in response drone specialist COPTRZ has launched a new drone detection service to help combat the growing threat the proliferation of drones poses to major events.
COPTRZ’s Drone Detection as a Service (DDaaS) provision enables event organisers to mitigate drone security threats without the need for any major capital expenditure, which previously prevented drone detection system deployment.
The service is being delivered by a fleet of Mercedes vehicles equipped with specialist detection equipment which instantly alerts the COPTRZ operating crew and event security staff of pending drone threats. The system will detect and identify the make and model of drones within a 5km radius, providing a geo-fenced detection envelope around an event.
COPTRZ claims this is the only system in the world to identify the exact GPS location of both the drone and, critically, the operator, so that security staff or police can take immediate action to apprehend the pilot and mitigate the threat.
The system has already been used to protect the British F1 Grand Prix at Silverstone and critical infrastructures and is being installed at the residences of major political figures.
COPTRZ CEO Paul Luen commented: “With the proliferation of drones set to reach 20 million in 2020 and countries like the US committing a $1bn counter-drone budget, major events are now waking up to the need to increase their aerial security. DDaaS enables event organisers to secure their skies without incurring any crippling capital expenditure. The service will play a major role in keeping the public safe from bad actors or stupid operators causing havoc with drones.”
Meanwhile, DroneDeploy, a leading drone software company, has integrated its products onto a single platform. The move means automated drone fleet management, enhanced workflow integrations, a low-altitude inspection mode and advanced analytic capabilities can all be far more simply controlled by drone operators.
DroneDeploy’s new single-platform product means that operators can record all flight activity automatically, in one platform, providing full visibility of their entire drone program, including highlighted flight settings, maximum altitude, and speed.
It also allows customers to sync DroneDeploy with their preferred document storage or project management applications, including Autodesk, Procore, Bluebeam, Plangrid, and OneDrive. And they can also now fly in manual mode, allowing the flexibility to explore however they wish, including low-altitude inspections and custom photos and videos
DroneDeploy believes customers will now be able to obtain more accurate information in surveying, tracking progress, and verifying contractor work, and therefore plan more efficiently and accurately, and capture data more quickly.
DroneDeploy chief executive officer and co-founder Mike Winn said: “This is a reflection of the demand from our customers for a complete enterprise-grade drone operating system. We have customers with fleets of 100+ drones looking for a single enterprise platform for their entire drone program, and we believe this will reshape how they manage their drone operations and data.”
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