The Product Development group in the Department of Robotics and Automation Engineering of PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore, has exclusively contributed a drone to the Coimbatore City Police, which was displayed during the 2-day International Conference on Advancements in Automation, Robotics and Sensing (ICAARS 2022).
An informal presentation of the drone was carried by L. Gopalakrishnan, Managing Trustee, PSG & Sons’ Charities, on behalf of the Institution, to Dr. C. Sylendra Babu, Director General of Police and Head of Police Force, Tamil Nadu Police, accompanied by V Balakrishnan IPS, Commissioner of Police, Coimbatore and other official representatives at the international conference.
The drone constructed with a dropping mechanism significantly attains to procure a grenade system. It is proficient to drop four smoke grenades or tear gas at maximum, both at a single drop or multiple drops simultaneously. Reportedly the new drone is designed with an Internet of Things (IoT) connected solvent system and a megaphone system capable of providing audio notifications.
The drone retains a total flight time of 25 minutes, 7 kilometres of flying radius, a payload of 10 kilograms at a culminating height of 50 feet, a speed of 80 kilometres per hour, imparted with a night vision camera and weighs a total of 25 kilograms.
The operating procedure can either be purely manual or programmed accordingly. In case the drone runs out of battery, it is capable to return to the initial point for recharge.
Addressing the Covai Mail in this regard, Dr. B. Vinod, Head, Department of Robotics & Automation, PSG Tech, stated that the assembling is nearing completion and the tentative schedule for the official launch would be in the mid of January 2023. They have named it Jatayu, the eagle as in Ramayana, personifying its characteristics to carry the police force at higher grades.
Recently, the department of robotics of PSG Tech has contributed two similar drones for city surveillance to the police force.
In this regard, V. Balakrishnan IPS, Coimbatore Commissioner of Police, approached the PSG group for further technical support as part of the service measures. As per the request, the team initiated a brief meeting to identify the core needs and to carry out the work accordingly.
The briefing encapsulated three core areas. The first one is mob control which included their dispersion, city surveillance specific to local theft cases and traffic clearance.
The proposed drone is the first of its kind to carry three in-one specifications. He added, “Mob control aspect, it is a curial stage where the drone should be safe and sound for the public, causing no harm to any civilians, mainly during protests or any human chain activity. Hence this drone is designed to identify empty areas and drop the tear gases causing no causality or harm to the public nearby.”
A dozen of members of the product development group encompassing product engineers, faculty and students have taken tremendous effort to create this ultramodern drone.
