Drone Technology in Surveillance

Introduction?

Drone technology provides an easier, faster, and cheaper method of surveillance by capturing still images and videos of specific targets, which might be individuals, groups, or environments to gather information. Drone technology once combined with?computer vision,?face recognition,?object recognition?and other tracking technologies will give rise to flying robots which can be used for various purposes like object detection and tracking, persistent monitoring of the target, video summarization, search and rescue operation in a hostile environment, disaster management in an apocalyptic situation, and traffic management in smart cities.

?Drone surveillance enables gathering information surreptitiously about subjects that the human eye is unable to detect and can access a first-person view (FPV) that would normally be impossible. Due to their unique capabilities, more and more businesses are going to deploy AI-based drone security as they help reduce operational costs and make physical security cost-effective for businesses of all sizes. According to a report published by PwC, India’s drone market is expected to reach $1,810 million by FY 2026 and the global drone market is to scale over $43 billion in 2024 from $14 billion in 2018 at a CAGR of 20.5 per cent. Additionally, the report also suggested that more than 150 drone start-ups are grooming in India, indicating the wide-scope evolution of the drone ecosystem.

?Use cases of Drone Technology

The usage of drones for video surveillance is becoming increasingly popular in a variety of surveillance scenarios. For instance, drones are best known for their use in military operations including the use of weaponized drones for targeted killing, especially in pre-emptive strikes and surveillance at a specific location.?

Drones provide tactical advantages and can be deployed for applications such as CI/CT operations where the drones play an important role by providing footage to assist the government officials to locate the insurgent groups’ positions, track the insurgent leaders, and shut down their anti-national activities.

In Yemen, during decapitation operation drones have provided actionable information and played a principal role to stop the operations of terrorism and help deal with the conflicts strategically.

?Drones are also used for border security as they can perform real-time reconnaissance, acquire targets, and track personnel movements and illegal activities through high-quality video feeds. Due to the increasing requirement and capability of drones, the Delhi police also hired drones to conduct surveillance and?collect data?in the form of images and videos to ensure people were following lockdown norms. The Delhi police used?drones during the Delhi Assembly elections and the devastating riots in the city in February 2020. Similarly, the?Mumbai police?and the?Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation?relied on the drone technology to observe lockdown violations in various residential areas such as Andheri and Dharavi. These examples are in line with a growing international trend of using drones as policing tools, such as in the?USA,?Australia,?United Arab Emirates?and?Brazil.

?Drone surveillance?is also being used for great & noble causes like search and rescue operations. In case of natural disasters, drones can scan the wide affected area quickly and make the search and rescue (SAR) faster to save more human lives. These days, Indian law enforcement agencies have been increasingly relying on the use of drone technology for surveillance as drones can capture the actions of criminals, and these actions can be used as evidence in the right circumstances, or in the case of an escaped criminal, these high-quality images can help identify the criminal.

?Other applications of drone surveillance include spying, private investigation,?disaster recovery,?drone journalism, photography, lidar surveys and military reconnaissance.

?Advantages

Unmanned aircraft systems provide easier, faster, and ideal solution to the problems and limitations faced by other surveillance methods. Drone technology in surveillance has several key advantages, like

• Drones can enter narrow and confined spaces, produce minimal noise, and are equipped with night-vision cameras and thermal sensors.
• ?Drones are a cost-saving technology as they are more economical to buy, sustain, and fuel than aeroplanes for inspections also they can quickly cover large and difficult-to-reach areas, reducing the number of staff.
• The danger and health risk are minimized as with the support of a drone, numerous dangers like elevation, wind, weather, and radiation that were earlier suffered by crew members are now replaced with more viable and safer alternatives. In addition, aerial lifts, ladder, and other heavy equipment are not required.
• Drones monitor locations, communicate possible hazards, and notify threatening conditions such as?oil and gas refineries, pipelines, and flare stacks.
• Drones also provide the conventional counter-insurgency policy with logistical assistance and help in avoiding civilian casualties.

?Limitations

While drone benefits are endless, drone technology has several downsides to it like safety, privacy, and technical issues.

• The use of UAVs/drones in the security industry can be a major cause of concern as UAVs can quickly fall prey to manipulation and trespassing on a group or individual's privacy.
• It also violates numerous individual liberties in the name of public security.
• Lastly, drones encounter several challenges such as limited processing and power resources, trembling camera effects in the video feed, and disturbance in transmission signals, and can also represent a threat to public safety due to their potential misuse.

?India’s drone ecosystem

Nevertheless, drone technology in surveillance will only grow in the coming years as unmanned aerial vehicles are now finding increased application in the security sector, defence sector and government sector to gain intelligence against enemy targets and against business competitors for high-level competitive intelligence (CI) gathering. Industries across the globe are increasingly adopting drone technology to improve perimeter protection and situational awareness at their facilities and minimize health and safety risks to human guards as drones can monitor locations, communicate possible hazards, and notify threatening conditions. Despite of various benefits, there are still some drone-related issues to resolve, such as privacy, compliance and battery life.?