Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), like any inventions and innovations, were initially used for military purposes. Nowadays, they have become widely used in civil applications. Those applications are present in many areas such as agriculture, environmental protection, public safety and traffic flow control. Nevertheless, the use of these systems in these applications can face some technical challenges, like the loss of the communication with the control station. That’s why the TS150 Tethered Drone can be used as a communication relay for operations in urban areas.
Tethered drone operations in urban areas by extending the LOS
Nowadays, many security agencies and police forces are using drones and unmanned vehicles in urban areas for public safety and traffic flow control, using these systems to improve situational awareness, help locate missing people or suspects, combat fires and inspect damage or accidents.One of the challenges that drones used in urban areas face is the loss of communication between the UAV and the control center, mainly due to the amount of buildings and skyscrapers in big cities. As most of the UAS that are used in these cities communicate with the control station by Line of Sight radio, sending and receiving signals will face a lot of interference because of these buildings and other obstacles. That is why the TS150 Tethered Drone developed by Embention, configured as a communication relay for operation in urban areas, can be of great support for police and security forces. The TS150 Relay tethered drone can lift a datalink relay up to 150m and stay in the air for unlimited time. This aspect enables drone operations in urban areas by extending the LOS (Line Of Sight) between the drone and the control station. TS150 can communicate with the drone in real time through the LOS radio and transmit it from the tether to the control station. The drone is powered from an unlimited power source located on the ground or in a vehicle, operating without any limitation in terms of autonomy. The system can be used for several days in continuous operation, without the need to land to refuel or can be quickly deployed.In addition, the use of cable enables powering the drone at the time it provides data transmission through cable.
The onboard relay can be exchanged depending on the operations requirements being even possible to control several drones at the same time. Using a tethered drone is safer than flying a normal drone. In addition to the flight restrictions given by the cable, the skills required to pilot it are less than with a conventional drone. An operator can set up the system in less than 5 minutes and operate it. Operations can be held from a fixed station in the ground or it can be installed on a vehicle so it can be deployed in seconds. In case movement during the operation is required, it’s possible to install the drone in moving vehicles with speeds up to 30 mph.The drone can be controlled from any device that has a web browser. It can also be used with computers and tablets installed within the vehicle.
