CIVIL ENGINEERING & CONSTRUCTION
Kirstie Aué, operations manager at Enhanced Protection Systems, discusses a remote controlled camera drone that could have uses across the rail network.
C
atching cable thieves in the act – with perfect HD-qual-
ity recordings – is a great way to ensure they end up behind bars.
A flying camera drone system, called the ‘Cyberquad’ or just the ‘Quad’, developed for the military, is already in use in non-military contexts for investigating hard- to-reach parts of electricity pylons and oil rigs: and its developers think it could have a rail applica- tion too.
Kirstie Aué, operations manager at Enhanced Protection Systems, which created the technology, said: “We mainly supply the Min- istry of Defence, but the Quad can be equipped with an autopilot much cheaper than the military version. It means you can see any- thing – over a hill, up above you – including in infra-red.”
that tells you what images you’re seeing, and a HD-camera record- ing at the same time on the unit. Those images would be absolutely superb quality, but you’d only get them once you got the unit back and downloaded them.”
She said there had been interest in the unit from a crime-prevention angle, but said: “The only problem with using it for crime prevention is having it immediately available. They would have to have an op- erator handy as the criminals were there. It takes about two to three minutes to put up in the air.
The Cyberquad is only around 60cm across, and weighs 1.5kg.
Aué said: “It can be used for in- spection purposes – especially for things like inspecting viaducts. You could quite easily use it to ex- amine the undersides of bridges
and viaducts, for example. The infra-red can also look through the under-brush and that seems to have caused some excitement. There are lots of ways to use it. You can have a ground control station that records using normal soft- ware, or a small camera on there
“It has a control pad – it’s ever so easy to use – with a screen on it that shows you exactly what’s go- ing on.”
FOR MORE INFORMATION Visit
www.enhancedpro.com
rail technology magazine Aug/Sep 11 | 51
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