The Local Police has a new drone with two and a half hours of flight autonomy and a thermal camera

Benidorm City Council has acquired a last generation drone for the Local Police equipped with a flight autonomy of two and a half hours and with an infrared thermal camera, which improve the ability to act in cases of emergency. The mayor, Toni Pérez; the Councilor for Citizen Security, Lorenzo Martínez; and the executive director of the Valencian company Quaternium, Alicia Fuentes, have presented today this drone, which is already operational, in a press conference in which they have transferred all the details and benefits of this tool "put at the service of the Local Police and, therefore, the security of the city. "

The mayor has indicated that "with this latest acquisition we follow the path we took in July 2016 when we became the first municipal administration to put a drone at the disposal of its Local Police", proceeding in parallel with the training of agents for their pilotage. Benidorm's positioning and commitment to unmanned aircraft as a tool to reinforce security was confirmed with the celebration in the city of the "first National Conference on Police Drugs, held in November" and with the approval at the end of December of the use of remotely piloted aircraft by the Local Police Corps. A regulation that "came into force last week", once the public exhibition process has been passed.

Pérez has stressed that this drone is another example of "the digital transformation that our police services are experiencing" focused on "guaranteeing better and greater security for citizens", and that they are "linked to city projects such as the one of Intelligent Beaches' and framed in the challenge of being the first certified Smart Tourist Destination in the world ".

As reported by the councilman of Citizen Security this drone has involved an investment of 48,400 euros, and will allow "get more police presence and provide more security in rural areas of Benidorm." In addition, thanks to its benefits, this drone will reduce the times of action and improve the effectiveness of the Local Police in "emergency situations", since being equipped with "a high resolution thermal camera" will be able to perform "rescue interventions at night time. "

From Quaternium, leading Valencian company in drone technology, have stressed that "this aircraft has ten times more flight autonomy time" than the aircraft so far by the Local Police; while its "30-zoom zoom camera sensor makes it possible to take images from a distance of 2 kilometers". In addition, this drone "can be completed" with other applications such as audios or rescue material.

Technical characteristics of the Hybrix 2.0 drone

The multirrotor Hybrix 2.0 drone has a great flight autonomy, since it is a parallel hybrid system, which combines a conventional electric system with an internal combustion range extender that extends the flight time up to 2.5 hours. The cameras, sensors and security systems complete, together with the ground control station, the unmanned system that gives the Local Police of Benidorm a new tool that puts it at the forefront in the application of this technology.

The new drone will carry a high sensitivity camera with a zoom of 30 magnification and a high resolution thermal camera, which will capture images both day and night. It also has other security systems such as parachutes, strobe lights, transponder mode S, ADS-B ground receiver, or FPV camera. In addition, you can transport first aid and rescue equipment.

Flight regulations for the Local Police

The regulation of use of unmanned aircraft of the Local Police of Benidorm, written in collaboration with the Polytechnic University of Valencia and already in force, allows this drone to apply to police and emergency functions, resulting in the effectiveness of ground units and being able to deal with all emergency situations or serious risks that occur at any point of the municipality, offering valuable information in real time to the units involved.

The regulation establishes three different areas depending on the risk posed by the flight of the drone over them. Thus, the maritime zone, the rustic and forest areas and the urban zones with scattered housing are considered as 'Low irrigation areas or green areas'. In these areas, routine day and night flights can be made, for example, to detect discharges in rural areas or in the bay.

In the 'Medium risk areas or yellow areas' are included urban areas with single-family low-rise buildings -urbanizations- and rustic areas with campsites; while urban areas with single-family buildings or with agglomeration of tall buildings and concentrations of people outdoors are considered as 'high risk areas or red areas'. In these two zones, they can only be flown when there is an emergency situation or a serious risk to the safety of people, such as a fire or injury accident, and always with the authorization of the Head of the Local Police Service.