UAVs (unmanned aviation vehicle), more commonly known as drones, are increasingly being widely used for varying applications. Military UAVs now are vastly outnumbered by civilian UAVs, and the Dahua Drone has been designed for safety-based deployments.

There are two levels of drones: consumer and industrial. Consumer-level drones are mainly designed for aerial photography and personal entertainment. They are straightforward to operate and can capture editable images and videos. Industrial drones are built for public security and safety missions such as tower inspections, forest fire detection, public event management, security supervision over long ranges, detection for police forces, inspection of high speed traffic and other incidents. They include a different set of functions such as a high level of stability and safety, intelligent control, adaptability to different applications and environments, long distance mapping, a higher carrying capacity and long battery life.

The current drones from Dahua are claimed to transmit images at distances of up to 10km, with access to multiple VMS platforms, allowing real-time audio and video streaming to a control centre.

Benefitting from 30x optical zoom, the drones can capture HD images from a long distance, thus avoiding accidents when operated from afar. Equipped with a thermal camera, the devices can accurately locate abnormal hot spots in infrastructure, thus preventing incidents from occurring.

The thermal camera can also detect suspicious hot spots. At a height of 1500 metres, a drone can cover an area of 5 square kilometres in a single flight. If there is a fire, drones can fly regardless of high temperatures, transmitting relevant data to ground teams. Once the fire has been extinguished, the drone’s overhead inspection capabilities can prevent further fires.

Drones record real-time information about locations, traffic and personnel using a multifunctional camera, thermal imaging and automatic recognition of faces or vehicles. Using wireless transmission, the information can be sent to all mainstream VMS platforms. The drone has a 38 minute battery life.