Drones are evolving and one company thinks tethering is the future. How the technology could save lives ? Look up and you’ll see the sky-high evolution of drones definitely not your typical UAV or unmanned aerial vehicle.

What is a tethered drone ?

A tethered drone is a UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) tethered to the ground. You have a cable attached to the drone that is going into the ground or an equipment on the ground (a base station).

It consists of a base station on the ground and the drone, which is connected to the station through the tether (cable). The drone can be operated remotely to perform specific tasks.

Why would you tether a drone ?

Most quadcopters can only operate for anywhere from 20 to 45 minutes when you take a tethered a drone up a tether all the power and data are going up and down that tether.

So you can you can launch it and it can fly for a persistent amount of time days.

It’s tethered technology with the capability of reaching altitudes of up to 200 feet in the air and withstanding 30 mile per hour winds.

Tethered drones applications

Border surveillance

The tethered drones can also be seen in the skies along america’s borders. You think of a border agent that is doing patrols but they want to have eyes you know way way out in front of them so they don’t stumble upon a situation that wouldn’t be favorable to them.

Fire fighting

They have the ability to launch out of a truck or dismount it out of their truck several you know several miles back this drone on a rope also helping fight fires.

Back in 2017 the new york city fire department deployed hoverfly’s drone for the first time during a four alarm blaze in the bronx.

With its infrared camera it can detect hot spots on top of the building before firefighters would go into that area on a building and then ultimately collapse.

The future of tethered drones

The market for tethered drones is small compared to free-flying UAVs.

The limitations

Tethering is going to be the be a issue I mean it’s got its definite pros but it’s got so many different limitations.

Security expert kelly riddle welcomes the emerging technology saying the nearly unlimited battery life is the main attraction to providing more than just safety surveillance.

Crime scenes arsons you know fire scenes even help to monitor brush fires and agricultural uses however he recognizes the barriers of mother nature.

Its limitations are wind shears we still have to deal with wind shears got to worry about trees and power lines and and things like that.

You’re not going to just fly it like you would a regular drone. The potential for hoverfly’s tethered drones to one day serve society in a much bigger way.

The public acceptance of the tethered drone

The american public is going to become desensitized to drones flying in their their immediate space.

We absolutely see a day where there will be a tethered drone on every shopping mall on every government building on every school that can be rapidly launched by a user sitting in a control room or somebody on site.