In the trenchesFlying video camera will protect soldiers
Engineers have developed the U.K.’s first lightweight outdoor flying video camera which can fit in a soldier’s backpack; the UAV is designed to help spot hidden dangers and feed the real-time footage to goggles worn by the operator
The SQ-4 "flying camera" // Source: rtkorr.com
A team of engineers from Middlesex University has developed the U.K.’s first lightweight outdoor flying video camera which can fit in a soldier’s backpack.
The UAV is designed to help spot hidden dangers and feed the real-time footage to goggles worn by the operator. Unlike currently available equipment, the flying camera - nicknamed SQ-4 - is around the diameter of a Frisbee, weighs a mere 230 grams and is operational in less than a minute.
SQ-4 reaches heights of up to 400 ft and can quietly hover or even perch on objects as it zooms in on suspicious activity or devices. Its miniature cameras also have a night lens for surveillance operations in the dark.
A Middlesex University release reports that currently, similar systems used in Afghanistan are much more expensive, resulting in fewer being deployed. As SQ-4 is a fraction of their cost, many more soldiers could be equipped with them. Existing systems are also usually larger, heavier, and have fixed wings meaning that they are unable to hover above targets and are more likely to be detected and targeted.
The SQ-4 is controlled by a hand-held remote control and goggles which provide the wearer with information like the latitude and longitude of the vehicle, the distance between the location and the home point and the direction to home point, ensuring the soldier remains orientated at all times. The intelligent system also allows SQ-4 to autonomously fly from its last position to its launch point.
The team which created SQ-4 is led by Middlesex robotics expert Dr. Stephen Prior and is made up of students Mehmet Ali Erbil, Mantas Brazinskas, and Witek Mielniczek. They created the SQ-4 in partnership with Cardiff-based BCB International, which makes survival and protective equipment.
Prior said that “It’s vital that soldiers surveillance work goes unnoticed and SQ-4 is far smaller than current devices which look very much like large model aircraft and are over a metre in size. We’re providing a bird’s eye view with a vehicle that’s literally the size of a bird.”
Erbil, a 25-year old Ph.D. student, said: “This could make solders even more effective at scanning areas for bombs, traps or suspicious activity as current systems are cumbersome and costly so their use is more limited. SQ-4 could give British troops the competitive edge and reduce their vulnerability in unfamiliar terrains.”
The SQ-4 together with another UAV the team has developed called the HALO will be unveiled at the world’s largest defense and security exhibition, Defense & Security Equipment International 2011 (DSEi), at the ExCel London on 13-16 September, where it will be viewed by tens of thousands of visitors and military personnel from across the globe.
The team are hoping to impress the military and security services at the exhibition where they will be demonstrating its surveillance capabilities in a model of Afghanistan.
To see the SQ-4 in action, take a look at this video.
