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Brit police launch spy drone ‘flying squad’ to find missing people

ARTIFICIALLY intelligent drones will be used by Police Scotland as part of a new system to search for missing and vulnerable people.

The police force has unveiled its new AI recognition drone system, which should be capable of seeing things we can't.

 The system only takes two police officers to operate it
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The system only takes two police officers to operate itCredit: Scottish Police

The remotely-piloted aircraft system (RPAS) is said to use advanced cameras and neural computer networks.

These features allow the drones to spot people from up to 150 metres away, even if they just look like a speck in the distance.

Inspector Nicholas Whyte from Police Scotland's air support unit told the : "The drone itself has very special sensors on it.

"There's a very highly-powered optical camera which can allow us to see things quite clearly from a good height. Also, there's a thermal imaging sensor which detects heat."

 The drones have a blue light to show they are police drones
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The drones have a blue light to show they are police dronesCredit: Scottish Police

He added: "We're there to find people. People who need our help or people who are lost."

The drone recognition software is concise enough to be used on a smartphone, making it low cost.

It also has AI that learns as it goes.

This allows for data to be processed in real time and can tell the difference between a person, animal or vehicle from just a handful of pixels in a moving colour image.

The system gains 'knowledge' by being shown images again and again until it recognises them from all angles.

Interestingly, it is not said to require sophisticated computing and only needs two police officers to conduce a search with it.

One to fly the drone and another to use the recognition software.

 The drones have high powered cameras that can see things easily missed by humans
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The drones have high powered cameras that can see things easily missed by humansCredit: Scottish Police

Outwardly, a flashing blue light is the only way to really tell these drones apart from the ones the public can buy and fly.

They are also said to be quite loud so they shouldn't be too inconspicuous.

Three of the drones have already been deployed across Scotland but the system's formal launch will occur this Thursday at the annual CENSIS technology summit in Glasgow.

Inspector Whyte wants to reassure those with any privacy concerns that the drones are not spy drones in an invasive or malicious sense.

He told the : "This is a very overt policing tool. We're not hiding anything. It's there to help people, it's there to find people.

"We'll comply fully with all the human rights legislation - in fact a data protection impact assessment has been carried out and we review that yearly.

"Also, before we deploy we'll use social media to tell the public this is what we're doing.

"So we're very open and transparent about how we deploy the drones."

Police Scotland collaborated with technology firm Thales and the University of the West of Scotland (UWS) to create the system.

CENSIS, one of Scotland's innovation centres, was behind the partnership.

The UK's drone code – how should you fly?

Here's the official advice from the CAA...

  • Always keep your drone in sight. This means you can see and avoid other things while flying
  • Stay below 400 feet (120 metres) to comply with the drone code. This reduces the likelihood of a conflict with manned aircraft
  • Every time you fly your drone, you must follow the manufacturer's instructions. Keep your drone, and the people around you, safe
  • Keep the right distance from people and property. People and properties, 150 feet (50 metres) / Crowds and built-up areas, 500 feet (150 metres)
  • You are responsible for each flight. Legal responsibility lies with you. Failure to fly responsibly could result in criminal prosecution
  • Stay well away from aircraft, airports and airfields when flying any drone. It is illegal to fly them inside the airport's flight restriction zone without permission. If your drone endangers the safety of an aircraft, it is a criminal offence and you could go to prison for five years

In other tech news, singer Jess Glynn recently set a world record with a 160-strong drone performance created by coder kids.

A Google plan to build a ‘smart city’ with self-driving shuttles, heated pavements and underground post tubes has been given the go-ahead.

And, designs for the first "space hotel" have been revealed and they're as weird and futuristic as you would expect.

What do you think of the new police drones? Let us know in the comments...


We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online Tech & Science team? Email us at tech@the-sun.co.uk


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