New reports show that a Houston area company has pioneered new kinds of drone detection programs that improve on traditional options like radar.
With over a million drones in the air in the U.S., there’s some measure of interest in creating enhanced identification and response systems.
A company called Pharovision has put together systems that can detect drones several miles away, and track their progress through the skies – a report today at KHOU-11 Houston goes over some of the strengths of this innovative system.
While Pharovision’s products are in use at the U.S. border, and by the U.S. Air Force and Special Forces, the Israeli Ministry of Defense is also using the company’s systems, including for airport protection installations at Ben-Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv.
How is this set up different than radar? The Pharovision system can reportedly take control of an airborne drone by hacking into its control network.
It can also attack the drone with other drones, or use a supplementary laser made by an Israeli manufacturer to “melt the drone out of the sky.”
While it might sound like overreach to attack an unmanned aerial vehicle in a way that sounds like you’re making a hot sandwich, Pharovision’s technology is likely to garner more early adopters, although some United States airports may be slow to buy in due to their own surveillance needs.
Responses from airport administrators show that American airports generally have to worry more about birds, and while Pharovision’s product can detect the birds, it can’t attack them the way that the system can attack drones.
Still, the system can serve as a warning.
“Dallas Love Field Airport bought the technology in 2017 after seeing a rise in airplane bird strikes,” writes Stephanie Whitfield for KHOU-11. “Bird strikes caused a commercial plane in New York City to lose engine power in 2009.”
With that in mind, institutions such as American hospitals and football stadiums are reportedly considering Pharovision technology. A partially redacted document from NY/NJ shows how officials may be considering the system there, and other Dallas documents have Pharovision on planning agendas.
Are we entering a new age of IoT or digitally-directed drones? Look for more of this type of progress as robotics and UAVs continue to drive areas of the technology sector.
