Dutch fire department announces purchase of Altura UAV

Dutch fire department announces purchase of Altura UAV

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AlturaThe Dutch fire department of Twente have  announced

their purchase of an Altura unmanned aircraft system from Aerial. Following their purchase the fire department have completed training, obtained all the required permits and attained the necessary certificates in the last couple of months.

The Twente fire department will now start with an initial trial phase, the results of which will be used to determine the added value of unmanned systems for fire departments in the Netherlands. Based on these findings the Minister of Security and Justice, Mr Ivo Opstelten, will decide whether other fire departments in the Netherlands could follow suit.

The Twente fire department expect to improve their operations by employing the Altura to explore fire grounds from above, assessing the origin of the fire with thermal imagery and composing an action plan based on aerial overviews. Additionally, the unmanned system could be used pro-actively by mapping hazardous sites to set an emergency plan in place. Furthermore, the Altura can also carry other sensors like a sniffer, which enables unmanned evaluation of toxin levels in the sky.

The fire department have purchased a basic Altura ATX8 set, consisting of an 8 motor system with a standard 868 Mhz- 2.4 Ghz diversity receiver, which was supplemented by a camera control premium upgrade and an Altura Dupla Vista camera box equipped with a daylight as well as thermal core.