Remote controlled drones for BTP

[edwin_m]

I would hope even the wires on the ECML could manage a small drone coming into contact. The photo on the site suggest they're bigger than your average drone used for filming, but nevertheless I would expect the risk to be low.

The worry would be it getting entangled and hit by a pantograph.

 

[Haywain]

The worry would be it getting entangled and hit by a pantograph.

Not really much of a worry as a drone searching for trespassers will not be very effective at such a low height.

 

[styles]

At the same time, we're not talking about amateur drone pilots here. Police forces train up dedicated drone pilots, and I'm sure BTP will be the same, and as they work on the railways all the time I'm sure they'll be acutely aware of the risks associated with flying above or around railway property. Not to say that a drone running out of battery and hitting a pantograph is impossible, but I imagine the risk is quite low.

Not to mention that in order to film what is underneath a pantograph (e.g. if they were filming people placing rocks on the rails) they don't need to fly directly over the pantograph either - even cheap drones have high definition wide angle lenses, so they could keep a safe distance from the lines themselves, using dedicated apps for wind, thermals, etc.

 

[Trackman]

The worry would be it getting entangled and hit by a pantograph.

I imagine you can set 'minimums' on drones to stop this happening.

 

[800301]

The drone at Ladbroke Grove was up a lot of yesterday due to the carnival, at no point was it anywhere near the wires, not that a modern drone would need to be that close to get good imagery

 

[styles]

The drone at Ladbroke Grove was up a lot of yesterday due to the carnival, at no point was it anywhere near the wires, not that a modern drone would need to be that close to get good imagery

Was it monitoring Carnival on/around the railway specifically, or was it covering the event more broadly?

 

[Ediswan]

At the same time, we're not talking about amateur drone pilots here. Police forces train up dedicated drone pilots, and I'm sure BTP will be the same, and as they work on the railways all the time I'm sure they'll be acutely aware of the risks associated with flying above or around railway property. Not to say that a drone running out of battery and hitting a pantograph is impossible, but I imagine the risk is quite low.

Police trained drone pilots are fallible.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c780936pd44o

A police special inspector is to face internal disciplinary proceedings after a drone they were operating seriously injured a child.

 

[styles]

Police trained drone pilots are fallible.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c780936pd44o

I didn't say they weren't?

Police car drivers aren't either.

 

[800301]

Was it monitoring Carnival on/around the railway specifically, or was it covering the event more broadly?

It was spending most of it’s time around the North Pole and Paddington Throat areas as generally that’s where most trespassers enter from, I could be wrong but I don’t think there have been any yet this year or if there is has been it hasn’t caused any problems

 

[styles]

It was spending most of it’s time around the North Pole and Paddington Throat areas as generally that’s where most trespassers enter from, I could be wrong but I don’t think there have been any yet this year or if there is has been it hasn’t caused any problems

Fair enough!

It seems to have been much better on the crime front this year overall - 169 arrests compared to over 500 last year.