MDVs to add teeth to Lko policing

The Lucknow police is soon to add a new hi-tech mobile drone vehicle (MDV) to its fleet. The flying time of this drone will be 10-15 hours, some leap from the present 15-20 minutes.
The new MDV serves both as its base and carries the drone, allowing for remote monitoring. It is ready to be used as it can be installed within a few minutes. Additionally, the drone has a 10-hour flight duration as opposed to the typical drone with 15–20-minute flying limit.
“We did a trial run and it was successful. We’re in the final stage to launch it, where big events such as processions, cricket matches, and upcoming Lok Sabha elections can be monitored,” said joint commissioner of police, law and order, Upendra Kumar Agrawal.
The drone has been developed by a city-based Robotic company Roboz run by a robot expert Milind Raj and is being funded by Goenka Group under its corporate social responsibility programme.
“Continuous monitoring will be done through the drone installed in this vehicle. It will continue to get battery backup through a wire and a generator in the vehicle. Till now, only 10-15 minutes of monitoring has been possible through drones,” added the JCP.
“A 32-inch screen in the car will help the team sitting inside the vehicle monitor captured proceedings. Interestingly, the drone will be able to keep an eye from a height of about 70 feet. Till now, drones can take good pictures only from a maximum height of 20 feet,” said the man behind the drone, Raj, adding that the drone will be significant to keep a watch on sensitive programmes.
“Another trial will be conducted by flying at maximum height. If all goes well, five such MDVs will be inducted into the commissionerate police fleet,” the JCP said.
Company officials claimed that such MDV is being included in the police department for the first time in India.
Traffic management, tracking criminals
According to Agarwal, the drone system can be fed criminal data from police records and can be used to scan for criminals who may be present at such events. “The device will be useful for managing traffic since, in the event of a jam, a parked drone in the vicinity may fly to identify the cause of the jam, eliminating the need for a traffic cop to investigate,” said JCP.