AnsuR, an Oslo, Norway-based supplier of small unmanned aerial vehicles, has announced its acquisition of Scandicraft, another Norwegian company that develops and markets microdrones for surveillance and security purposes.
AnsuR BirdEye, a new company wholly-owned by AnsuR, will continue Scandicraft’s development work, in conjunction with AnsuR’s real-time remote monitoring technology, to provide security services and companies operating in remote areas with a cost-effective and reliable way of monitoring operations.
AnsuR BirdEye’s microdrones are small UAS that can be used to monitor a wide range of circumstances, including crowds, facility perimeters and remote pipelines or power cables. Combined with AnsuR’s ASIGN technology, which enables the real-time, rapid and reliable transfer of high definition images and video, and other sensory information, the UAS are the equivalent of using a manned aircraft but at significantly lower cost.
Dr. Harald Skinnemoen, chairman and managing director of AnsuR, said, “We have been working with Scandicraft on a number of projects, including the real-time inspections of power lines for Trondheim Energi, one of Norway’s main power suppliers. This acquisition puts us in a position to develop the UAS’ real-time monitoring capabilities further and we have already had interest from police, military and security companies.”
The integration of ASIGN into AnsuR BirdEye UAS, which are manufactured by Microdrone GmbH of Germany, involves attaching either an ICE modem to the UAS, or an Android mobile phone. Using the modem, images are transmitted from the UAV’s camera using the CDMA 450 MHz frequency. However, an Android phone can send the data either through the mobile phone network or via satellite. This means real-time data is available in remote areas where there is no terrestrial network, or in circumstances when the terrestrial network has been disabled.
Of particular interest to security companies, AnsuR BirdEye UAS can be used to provide real-time perimeter monitoring. The microdrones are stored in specially designed hangars, which can be positioned in sensitive areas. When an alarm is triggered, the UAS launches automatically, in under 90 seconds, and flies to the relevant location, transmitting visual data throughout the flight. It returns to the hangar once the mission is complete. This means a situation can be monitored without delay and security personnel need be deployed only if necessary.
Skinnemoen concluded, “Having a UAS capability enables us to do two things. We will be able to continue making rapid strides in the development of our real-time monitoring capabilities. And second, we are now in a position to expand our market to new sectors such as the police, security companies and utility companies across the world.”