Singapore Introduces Drones to Boost Surveillance & Security

To enhance safety and security in urban areas, Singapore-based defence research and development laboratories, DSO, has introduced a revolutionary drone surveillance model, known as the V15, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), which has the ability to fly off and land vertically.

The DSO’s main accomplishment lies in the V15’s smart capacity to join forces with an unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) which will serve as the drone’s landing platform when exploring uncharted locations. The V15 is has been developed locally for more than two years and is the first in the entire Asia Pacific region.

New UAV technology to boost  homeland security and cut manpower surveillance

The V15 is equipped with a day and a night camera and is intended to scour urban areas where conventional launches and retrieval systems have limited access.

Mr. Jonathan Yong, a senior research engineer at the DSO’s guided systems department, explains that while the V15 can easily take off from a compact space, about the size of a small table, standard UAVs require around 10 times the size of that area. He further adds that this is due to the fact that conventional UAVs use a bungee launcher, whereas the V15 does not and it uses four electric rotors that enable it to launch vertically.

Mr. Yong also cites that the V15 can be easily assembled by two men without tools in just two minutes. This makes the surveillance platform highly advantageous in military or emergency rescue operations, he added.

Moreover, the V15 can operate in areas such as dense forests and congested urban areas where there are no access to GPS.  This is possible through the effective use of lasers and cameras. Lasers can precisely map distances while cameras create a visual and surface representation of terrains being explored.

The DSO has expressed their confidence in the V15’s capacity to adapt to several kinds of situations whether it be for military or wartime operations, but its primary purpose is to enhance homeland security and decrease manpower required for surveillance within the community.