Coronavirus: Singapore uses pilotless drones for social distancing monitoring
- The small machines weigh 10kg and are programmed to track anomalies such as gatherings and stream footage to the police
- They can pinpoint locations and zoom into areas that might not be visible to police officers on foot or in vehicles
Beware, Singaporeans standing too close, automated drones might be keeping an eye on you from above.
The small machines weigh 10kg (22 pounds) and are programmed to track anomalies such as gatherings and stream footage to the police. The three-and-a-half-month trial, over an industrial estate in the west of the city state, is the first time automated commercial drones have been approved to fly over a major metropolis, according to Airobotics.
“Specifically for Covid, what we are doing is helping them maintain normal operations,” CEO Ran Krauss said. “The pandemic created a situation where it might be difficult for police to maintain operations.”
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Coronavirus: Singapore uses pilotless drones to monitor social distancing
They can pinpoint locations and zoom into areas that might not be visible to police officers on foot or in vehicles, senior engineer Low Hsien Meng from HTX’s Robotics, Automation & Unmanned Systems Centre, said.
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Airobotics and HTX have begun the next, year-long stage of the project to explore further capabilities, including using the drones to deliver defibrillators where needed, the company said.
Airobotics said the social distancing aspect of the trial was still ongoing. HTX did not immediately respond to a request for further comment.
Krauss said Airobotics is in talks with other cities to deploy the drones.
