A team of researchers at Michigan Tech are seeking to make the skies a bit safer by catching nefarious drones hell-bent on causing harm to property or pedesrians.
The project, led by Dr. Mo Rastgaar, is an attempt to make drone interception safer after it was proposed that we shoot them out of the air, which makes little sense if the aircraft is carrying a harmful material. Even if the drone is free of dangerous substances, the human injuries caused by falling aircraft could prove to be severe using this method of interception.
It’s happened before. In April of 2015, a drone carrying radioactive material was found on the roof of the Japanese prime minister. Intercepting this drone by shooting it out of the air could ahve caused the material to be scattered throughout the surrounding area.
Instead, Rastgaar and his team aimed for a safer approach, much like the one we saw by the Tokyo police force, who used a net to safely corral rogue drones and carry them safely back to the surface.
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This drone, operates on the same concept. By securing an enemy drone in a net, it renders it inoperable by its pilot, saves civillians from falling debris and can be examined by police and law enforcement on the ground.
And it looks pretty cool too.
➤ Drone Catcher: “Robotic Falcon” can Capture, Retrieve Renegade Drones [Michigan Tech via Popular Mechanics]
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