The police have decided to use autonomous drones so they can get to the origin of gunshots heard in urban areas. This can serve greatly when combined with eh already in place shot-locating technology.
It is being used in 120 cities in the US, South Africa, and the Caribbean. The American ShotSpotter system uses a network of microphones within a neighborhood to detect “loud, impulsive sounds.”
If a gunshot is heard, the geographical originating point of the sound can be triangulated by analyzing the millisecond differences in the times at which it was picked up by the different microphones. A combination of AI software and human staff (at a control center) is used to determine if the sound is gunfire.
Currently, police use the ground to reach that point of origin and it takes quite some time. Even if they chase the sound through a helicopter, weather checks and other formalities delay the dispatch.
In order to bypass these delays, the Israeli drone manufacturer Airobotics has collaborated with ShotSpotter to add autonomous drones to the operations. In the newly proposed mechanism, the police will be alerted along with the drone. The drone also provides a video for the police who can then better gauge the intensity of the situation.
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 changes the batteries of the drone by itself.
Plans call for the service to be utilized in urban areas throughout Israel.