First Long-Endurance Police Drone Takes Off

March 7, 2019 steezy

HYBRiX drone, the first hybrid fuel-electric multirotor, with 10 times more flight time than electric drones, takes off. This innovative project from Quaternium, leading European brand of long-endurance multirotors, attracted a lot of attention after setting the World Record of Endurance in 2017 with a 4 hr. 40 min. flight and it was recently backed by the European Commission to accelerate its market deployment.

Now, this innovation has reached a step further with the collaboration between the company and Benidorm City Hall to start one of the pioneer First-Response drone services worldwide.

HYBRiX.20 is a drone for commercial applications requiring longer flight time and an excellent alternative to manned helicopters for applications like aerial monitoring, fire prevention, search & rescue missions or inspection tasks at a much more affordable cost.

The setting of HYBRiX POLICE UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) includes an advanced EO/IR camera with 30x zoom on a three-axis gimbal, and a transponder system to coordinate with Air Traffic Control Authorities. Such configuration will enable the Police Aerial Unit to increase the safety and protection of the citizens of Benidorm in areas were it was not possible to provide a fast response before.

For example, it will be possible to detect a fire, or even a missing person at night, thanks to the infrared sensor of the camera. This is highly valuable because manned helicopters cannot operate after sunset, provoking critical delays on a number of emergencies, which sometimes mean more casualties. With this new technology, it will be possible to provide a fast response to emergencies even at night.

In order to make this possible, the City Hall of Benidorm, through the Council of Citizen Security, has developed a Local Regulation for Police Aerial Operations in the City, in collaboration with the renowned Polytechnic University of Valencia. This Regulation will provide a framework for the safe implementation of the drone aerial service.

The acquisition of HYBRiX drone by the City of Benidorm and the upcoming First Response pilot was presented last week at CivilDrone in Madrid, generating high expectation. We are looking forward to hearing more about this exciting initiative.