Global airspace security specialist Dedrone has unveiled a solution it’s calling DedroneBeyond, designed to facilitate public safety agency deployment of UAVs as first responder assets in beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) operations.
A leading creator of drone detection, identification, command, and control systems to keep designated airspaces secure, Dedrone is adding a twist to its habitual activity with the announcement of DedroneBeyond. In doing so, the company enhances its existing tech for closely monitoring UAV activity, with the aim of providing public agency operators complete environmental awareness – and with it collision risk warning and avoidance capabilities – to fly their drones in BVLOS first responder missions.
Because BVLOS flights require still relatively rare approval by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), police, fire, disaster aid, and other DedroneBeyond users will still need to receive authorization to deploy the platform as part of future “drone as first responder” (DFR) activity without ground observers keeping watch.
But Dedrone – which is currently testing the solution with partner agencies in Michigan and Alabama – believes the innovation’s effectiveness in ensuring safe BVLOS flights in first responder scenarios will help secure initial regulator approvals in coming months. Once those are obtained, it is hoped they’ll facilitate authorization of additional operators also using the tech in the future.
Dedrone CEO Aaditya Devarakonda expects the ability of DedroneBeyond to open up the potential of fast and effective routine BVLOS drone use in first responder activity will establish itself as a force-multiplier – and probable life-saver – in public safety work.
“Drones… can arrive at a scene faster than humans, and then enable assessment of an emerging incident to provide critical information for law enforcement and first responders to make better decisions before sending in personnel,” Devarakonda says. “Today, this potential is hampered by the need to always have human eyes on a drone. DedroneBeyond unlocks that potential and makes it easier for law enforcement across the country to implement scalable DFR programs.”
In developing DedroneBeyond, the company leveraged the technology and experience it has accumulated in creating previous platforms that identify, monitor, and, when necessary, neutralize unauthorized or threatening drones in customer airspaces.
In doing so, Dedrone says it layered Automatic Dependent Surveillance–Broadcast detection capabilities onto the same computer vision-enabled, sensor-fusion artificial intelligence tech already at work protecting over 500 private company and government agency sites around the world.
The upshot, says Michael J. Bouchard, sheriff of the Oakland County, MI, police department participating in DedroneBeyond trials, is a solution expected to make routine deployment of observer-free BVLOS first responder activity a reality.
“Our partnership with Dedrone and the evaluation of the DedroneBeyond solution represents a crucial step towards strengthening our DFR program,” said Bouchard. “This collaboration opens the door to exploring BVLOS operations, offering the potential to transform the way we respond to emergencies, and keep our community safe.”
Dedrone says it plans on continuing development work with partner public service agencies in the fourth quarter of this year and submitting the first DedroneBeyond BVLOS authorization requests to the FAA in early 2024.
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