This assignment is a requirement to summarize a news
or journal article that highlights a sensor employed on an unmanned system.
S. Greene (2013), wrote an article for The Colorado
Independent titled “Mesa County, Colo. A National Leader in Domestic Drone
Use”. The article discusses Colorado’s use of police Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
(UAVs). The Mesa County Sheriff’s Department flies the UAVs mounted with state
of the art cameras, covering an area of 3,300 square miles (Greene, 2013). The
county flies UAVs equipped with camera sensors and thermal imagining sensors to
capture data used in police operations such as search and rescue operations,
police chases, and crime scene reconstruction (Greene, 2013). As compared to manned
helicopter operations, the UAVs outfitted with their sensors, save a
significant amount of money.
One of the most notable concerns with police flying
UAVs equipped with camera, and video sensors is the issue of privacy. The Mesa
County Sheriff’s Department has had many calls from concerned citizens about
the use of the UAVs for surveillance operations (Greene, 2013). The department
has strived to ensure the public that they will not use the UAVs for any
purpose that conflicts with the law or their standard operating procedures
(Greene, 2013).
If it was not for the advanced sensor technology,
there would be no practical use for UAVs in a police application. The high
resolution cameras and thermal imaging sensors make it possible for the UAVs to
capture detailed imagery in both day and night conditions. The high resolution camera will allow smaller
objects to be viewed at greater distances with more detail ("Thermal imagers," n.d). Thermal
imaging sensors detect infrared energy emitted, transmitted, or reflected off
of objects and convert that energy into a viewable display ("Thermal imagers," n.d).
In
addition to using thermal imaging in law enforcement applications, thermal
imaging is used by many other professionals such as firefighters to see through
smoke, and powerline maintenance technicians to detect hot spots ("Top uses and applications of thermal imaging
cameras - Quick tips #345 - Grainger Industrial Supply," n.d.). Mesa
County also hopes to use their two UAVs in the future to help determine the
volume of a local landfill, and track wildfires (Greene, 2013).
References:
Greene, S. (2013, June 6).
Colorado’s Mesa County a National leader in domestic drone use | The Colorado
Independent. Retrieved from http://www.coloradoindependent.com/127870/colorados-mesa-county-a-national-leader-in-domestic-drone-use
Thermal imagers. (n.d.).
Retrieved from http://www.omega.com/prodinfo/thermal_imagers.html
Top uses and applications
of thermal imaging cameras - Quick tips #345 - Grainger Industrial Supply.
(n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.grainger.com/content/qt-thermal-imaging-applications-uses-features-345
Hello there Paul!
ReplyDeleteI'm absolutely with you on the notion of the sensors makes all the reason for the growth and economic impact of unmanned vehicles. Just flying or driving a little plastic plane or car from here to there is recreation, but if you can take measurements that you can use to improve your crops, more efficiently use existing resources, or to stop crime, then you've got a potent tool at your disposal.
Nice work Paul.