Drones

New policing system will send drones to the source of gunshots

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An Airobotics quadcopter in flight
Airobotics
An Airobotics drone approaches its docking station
Airobotics
An Airobotics quadcopter in flight
Airobotics

If you hear gunshots in an urban setting, it's important to get the police to their source as quickly as possible. A new system is being developed to help, by combining autonomous drones with an existing shot-locating technology.

Already in use in over 120 cities in the US, South Africa and the Caribbean, the American ShotSpotter system utilizes a network of microphones within a neighborhood to detect "loud, impulsive sounds."

Whenever such a sound is detected, its geographical originating point can be triangulated by analyzing the millisecond differences in the times at which it was picked up by the different microphones – the closer a mic was to the gun, the earlier it will have detected the sound of that gun firing. That said, a combination of AI software and human staff (at a control center) is used to determine if the sound is indeed gunfire.

In the existing version of the system, police are quickly dispatched to the location. If they're using ground transportation, however, it may take a while for them to get there. And even if the police department has a helicopter, performing pre-flight checks, etc will still take some time – assuming the aircraft isn't already in the air on patrol, that is.

An Airobotics drone approaches its docking station
Airobotics

With these potential limitations in mind, Israeli drone manufacturer Airobotics has teamed up with ShotSpotter to add autonomous drones to the mix. In the new version of the setup, police will still be dispatched, but so will the closest system-specific drone. That aircraft will be in the air within seconds, immediately flying to the source of the gunshots. By analyzing the live video from its onboard camera, police officers can then gain a better sense of the situation they're heading into.

Each drone will be based out of its own covered docking station, where its batteries will be charged when it's not in flight. A robotic arm will pull out the aircraft's existing battery and replace it with one that's fully charged, so the drone is ready to fly at a moment's notice.

Plans call for the service to be utilized in urban areas throughout Israel.

Source: ShotSpotter

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7 comments
Tag
I remember reading that (like all things law enforcement related), manpower is an issue when it comes to responding to "gunshot detection" systems because they aren't 100% accurate. I can see how this sort of concept could be useful in making it easy to potentially look into reports of gunshots more quickly and with less concern about the logistics of moving a patrol vehicle around until you know they're needed. I understand people find drones concerning/dystopian, but like all things it takes policies and people to protect ourselves from the misuse of any technology, rather than simply fearing the technology on its face and missing out on potential benefits.
guzmanchinky
This is a great idea. Now we just need to get rid of the moronic popping exhaust systems that sound like a drive by every time they downshift.
paul314
Next step: arm the drones?
windykites
We'll have to get used to that endless droning sound.
FB36
Imagine auto-self-recharging patrol drones w/ day/night/IR/thermal cameras (& microphones) constantly patrolling all cities for detecting crimes & also fires!
(Which would also can be used over all forests to detect all wildfires very early!)
(They could have auto-rotating propellers & external airbags against accidentally falling from sky!)
Nelson Hyde Chick
Now all they need to do is arm it so it can shoot at whoever is shooting at people.
ReservoirPup
ShotSpotter is a lousy tool according to the Economist. That's no surprise given that tech isn't a substitute for a sensible policymaking or good policing.