Meet ‘Robocopter’ the micro-UAV which provides CCTV footage of inaccessible or dangerous locations (From York Press)
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Meet ‘Robocopter’ the micro-UAV which provides CCTV footage of inaccessible or dangerous locations
10:37am Saturday 1st May 2010 in News
IT’S like something out of a James Bond movie, but this flying eye means serious business.
A company run by a couple from Burn, near Selby, has become the first in the UK to be granted a licence to operate the German-made flying unit.
The ground-breaking MRL Eye is a micro-UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) which provides CCTV footage of inaccessible or dangerous locations.
The “spybot” is used by the military and several police forces for surveillance or searching in dangerous or difficult terrain.
A number of police forces recently had to ground their flying eyes when the Civil Aviation Authority decided a licence was needed to operate the mini aircraft.
But MRL Eye, operated by MRL Ltd, an international safety management company based in Knottingley, West Yorkshire, is the first organisation in the country to be granted an operator’s licence.
John King, MRL Eye project manager, said: “The UAV is an amazing piece of kit.
Helicopter filming is the only other alternative, but helicopters are noisy, bulky and not always environmentally sustainable. Also, they cannot be used inside large structures and helicopter hire is expensive.
TooRad says...
11:20am Sat 1 May 10
No, it's more like something out of the military, where men use them to kill other men remotely from the safety of a computer room hundreds of miles away.