Southern California, Radiation Detection Company create new UAV

Southern California Commercial UAV Company has teamed with a Radiation Detection Company to create a groundbreaking UAV.

FlyCam UAV launched the Cypher 6, a commercial-grade hexacopter, and The NEO, an all-weather commercial co-axial octocopter. The platforms are designed for use with US Nuclear Corp’s DroneRad aerial radiation detection system. DroneRad detects particles that contain alpha, beta, gamma and neutron radiation.

A gas collection option tests for the presence of chlorine, biological particulates, and aerosols such as anthrax and poison gases, making the FlyCam UAV/US Nuclear Corp UAV suitable for radiological, chemical and biological detection missions. Future upgrades to the DroneRad package will detect methane and diesel.

The UAVs can be used to detect radiation leaks in nuclear power plants or flown into plumes of smoke from a burning building to give first responders immediate data about what kinds of hazards might be present. It can also be used for to monitor public events, seaports or geographic areas to detect possible dirty radiological bombs or the use of chemical and biological agents.

The DroneRad with the Cypher 6 and NEO UAV configurations acquires and relays data to the operator in real-time. The data can be tagged with GPS coordinates and stored on-board for post-flight download and viewing, or it can transmit data to a base station for live monitoring. The data consists of a series of measurements of radioactive intensity tagged with GPS data for color coded display on a map. The data can be displayed as a full gamma spectrum, allowing the identification of radioactive isotopes.

“Sensors mounted on UAVs is the perfect marriage of two technologies that will be a game changer for a variety of different industries,” Jeri Donaldson, CEO and owner of FlyCam UAV, said. “In addition, the need for security is at an all-time high and our technology can remove the human element from a potentially dangerous situation. The practical and potential applications of the Cypher 6 and Neo with US Nuclear Corp.’s DroneRad sensor package is enormous and we have yet to see all of the use cases of the devices.”