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The tethered
drone system was a collaboration between the team from
Southampton and security firm Cardinal Security, based in Essex,
who wanted to build a low-cost observation platform for both
military and civilian security operations.
"It's basically a virtual mast, so you could imagine
surveillance operations, rescue missions at sea or on land,
surveillance of large complexes like nuclear power stations,"
said Dr Stephen Prior from the University of Southampton.
According to Cardinal Security, the ability to conduct
persistent aerial observation has long been sort after by both
military and civilian security organizations. Current options
include helium balloons, observation masts and free flying
multi-rotor drones. But these are each limited by their physical
size, height limitation, endurance and stability in strong
winds.
"All of the battery-powered multi-rotors suffer from poor
endurance, so 20-30 minutes is tops. We can fly, essentially,
forever provided we've got fuel in the tank in the fuel
generator in the ground station," added Dr Prior, a Reader in
unmanned air vehicles at the University of Southampton.
The drone is connected to a mobile ground station via a powered
tether. The fuel in the trailer delivers a constant drip feed of
electricity to the drone, with a fuel tank capacity big enough
to keep it flying for 22 hours -- though it can be topped up to
keep the drone airborne indefinitely.
On board the UAV interchangeable pods can host a range of
technology; including thermal imaging cameras for search and
rescue missions, and high-definition video cameras for aerial
surveillance. As well as providing power up to the UAV, the
tether brings secure data feeds back to the ground vehicle for
viewing, recording and onward transmission.
The developers say that while there are other tethered UAV
systems available, their price point makes it a more viable
option for companies and emergency responders.
"There are expensive systems out there; very very expensive
military systems, so a quarter of a million pounds plus. And we
sit somewhere in between that. Our price point is around about
75,000 pounds (GBP) for a complete system solution," said Dr
Prior.
"You can hook the trailer up to your 4x4 vehicle and you can
drive anywhere you want and get it in the air within a few
minutes, and move around to different locations while staying in
the air. Or you can come back down to box it up and move to a
different location. So it's quite flexible as a system, quite
adaptable to the mission scenario and at a good price point that
makes it affordable to blue-light services as well as companies
that want security," he added.
The system is the only tethered UAV in the UK with permission
from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to conduct aerial work
up to a height of 122 meters (400 ft).
The team from Southampton and Cardinal Security are now looking
to commercialize their proof of concept system, with plans to
start low-volume production of the technology later this year.
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