AerialX, a six-year-old company based in Vancouver, Canada, drawing on its expertise in areas like machine vision and unmanned aircraft, and combining that with its contacts in the defense world, AerialX has created a patent-pending anti-drone solution called the DroneBullet.
The DroneBullet is described by Kenig as a “hybrid between a missile and a quadcopter.” It is, in essence, a kamikaze drone which looks like a miniature missile, but boasts the maneuverability of a quadcopter. With a takeoff weight of 910 grams, this pocket rocket has a four kilometer range and is able to reach speeds of up to 350 kilometers-per-hour in a dive attack. It’s designed to lock onto enemy drones and then doggedly pursue them; ultimately crashing into them and knocking them out of the sky.
“We started out developing our own drones,” Kenig said. “At a certain point, we realized that the industry had become crowded. We then started working on counter-drone technologies. One solution we started working on was the drone forensic toolkit, which lets people retrieve crashed drones and analyze their flight information. We’ve also worked on detection systems for drones. Finally, we started work on the DroneBullet.”
The DroneBullet is launched by hand. All an operator needs to do to deploy it is to identify a drone target in the sky and then let the DroneBullet take care of the rest. Packed into its relatively small form factor are a camera and various neural net-based components, which allow it to do the necessary onboard number crunching to calculate things like the optimal trajectory and flight path it needs to hit its foes.
“It can track objects autonomously and will even work out exactly where to hit its target, depending on its speed and whether [its target is] a quadcopter or fixed wing drone,” Kenig continued. “That could be from above, below, or from the side. It works out where the weak spot is and goes after it. If it sees a small drone like a Phantom, it will hit it full-force from below. If it’s a bigger target, it can change the attack mode and attack from above. That’s usually the most sensitive part for drones, where the GPS module and multiple exposed propellers are housed.”
Designed for military and law-enforcement
Unlike a conventional missile, the DroneBullet doesn’t pack any explosives. All its devastating power comes from the kinetic energy supplied by its impact. Should it survive its initial collision (something which certainly isn’t guaranteed), it possesses the ability to recalibrate in order to pursue a second target or return to the ground.
“It can operate in two types of scenario,” Kenig said. “It can be both a standalone system and also work with third-party detection systems. That means that it could be linked to radar or vision-based systems, and then deployed autonomously.”
Last year, AerialX demonstrated its creation for the United States Special Operations Command (USSOC). This trial was carried out at the Fort Bragg, North Carolina military base.
“It involved showing the technology on various drones, from small-sized ones to much larger ones,” he said. “We demonstrated our DroneBullet’s capabilities to eliminate the aerial threats.”
Kenig said that the company has received purchase orders from both the military and law enforcement, in the U.S. and overseas. (It won’t, however, be available for consumer purchase — so abandon those dreams of using it to put paid to your annoying neighbor’s early Sunday drone flights!)
Source: Yahoo Finance