UoG Singapore's 'Robocopter'

Published: 18 July 2014

The Singapore Institute of Technology – University of Glasgow is once again showing its competitive edge in innovation and technology. Forget Robocop...meet Robocopter

The Singapore Institute of Technology – University of Glasgow is once again showing its competitive edge in innovation and technology.

Following on from double success in the Singapore “Amazing Flying Machine” competition, SIT/UoG has received a nomination in the annual SAFE programme. The ‘Security Awareness for Everyone – SAFE’ programme is run by Singapore’s Ministry of Home Affairs. Begun in 2009, the SAFE Programme “seeks to collaborate with the education fraternity and the community in search of ideas and innovations that address safety and security challenges in Singapore”.

Robocopter image Singapore SITThe successful nomination in the “general” category is for another flying machine, this time a “Robocopter”. The Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) is being developed to help the police protect life and property and to spot criminal activity. The SIT team say they aim for their machine to:

  • ‌have a small acoustic emission and a small visual silhouette to avoid attracting attention
  • be reliable with minimal maintenance
  • be  highly mobile with minimal preparation time required to launch
  • have a high endurance and range to cover duration and distance of surveillance
  • be able to accommodate future upgrades and various sensor payloads
  • be economical in resources
  • have fail-safe operations

SIT/UoG had been successful with two nominations at an earlier stage for the SAFE programme. One was an anti-tamper urine sample bottle. The container was designed to address the need for ex-drug offenders to provide samples to ensure that they remain drug-free. Currently, a plastic bottle with threaded cap is used and sealed with a masking tape. A new tampered-proof design has been conceptualised by mechanical design engineering students  with a unique security seal for each bottle.  Another nomination - an App called EyeCrime came from UoG CS students.

The winners are expected to be announced in November.

 

 

First published: 18 July 2014

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