Specification

Product Description

Tethering a drone to a base gives more benefits than just unlimited flight time. As well as supplying power, the tether provides data transfer, making it possible to process data on-site using a full-sized computer placed in the base station.

Considerations in Selecting a Tethered Drone Station

Battery-limited flight time and the need for risk-free operation have become major challenges for keeping pace with the increased use of micro-drones for observation, data collection and telecommunications, particularly for law enforcement, civil protection, private security companies or industrial groups. Tethered drones, and more specifically tethered drone stations, are the ideal solution, combining durability, security and flexibility.

Selecting a field-proven tethered UAV solution is a complex choice and may become a major issue when choosing a “mission-critical” tethered drone, mainly for the purpose of maintaining public order, crisis management scenarios, or emergency telecommunications, when the tethered drone deployed is a critical factor in the decision chain.

The following scenarios are concerned:

– sensitive site monitoring
– firefighting situational awareness
– crowd control
– harbour security
– event surveillance
– border surveillance
– anti-poaching patrols
– ad-hoc network
– tactical radio relay
– emergency telecommunications

How do you choose the ideal tethered drone for your missions? What are the critical points to verify before investing?

Performance,

Performance of a tethered station mainly relies on the area covered by the user. For surveillance and telecommunications missions, this area directly depends on the available payload and flight altitude of the tethered drone.

Actually, heavier available payloads improve the quality of the on-board camera or increase the relay station power. Higher altitude flights also allow for rapidly covering larger areas; providing unobstructed view to minimise hidden areas and expanding the range of the on-board antenna. The station weight/power ratio, and the average and peak power delivered to the drone are key parameters that will determine the available payload and the flight altitude of your drone.

Compatibility with your drone

If you already have a drone, first check that it is compatible with the tethered station you are considering. The on-board module must be designed to be as lightweight and compact as possible. A light umbilical shall allow you to obtain a payload approximating the drone’s payload when running on battery power. The tethered system must be capable of supplying the average power required for the proper functioning of your drone and must be capable of absorbing power peaks in high winds or during take-off and landing phases.

Strength and durability

The station is likely to be used for field operations, most often for critical missions and in emergency conditions. Therefore, it must be operational in all types of sites, outdoor conditions (wind, rain, dust) and for different flight times. As a key element of your observation system, your station must feature a resistant and durable design to guarantee power supply, data transfer and secured flights.

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Equipment and operator safety

Your tethered drone station should perform several key functions: ensuring a high-level of safety, reliability and redundancy to guarantee the safety of your drone and sensor, as well as the surrounding structures and people. The micro-tether need to offer a strong and unhackable datalink between the drone and the ground station (control-command and camera feed) and physical “geofencing” of your tethered drone. Check the reliability of the tethered station (redundancy, user protection), the possibility to secure your data through the micro-tether (anti-hacking, unjammable and interference-proof), the mechanical strength of the micro-tether as well as the compliance of the system with civil aviation laws

Tethered drone stations purpose is to be used on long durations. To ensure that the operator gets a good level of information and understanding on its tethered flight, the station needs to integrate live monitoring features (record and transfer a number of key data in real-time).

Easy-to-use

Your tethering station must be easy-to-use: simple and intuitive user interface, (connections, deployment and use). Quick disconnection to switch from tethered flight to free flight is a key operational feature.

The automated and smart winding system is essential for practical operation and long-term protection of the micro-tether at different altitudes: check that the winding system features different modifiable pre-configurations (depending on the type of drone, the weather conditions, etc.), that refined control laws reduce the force exerted on the tethered drone, and make sure it detects the drone flight phases and adapts its operation accordingly.

Why use a tethering system?

Tethered drones trade lateral movement for increased endurance as they are physically and securely connected to a ground station by a micro-tether, essentially providing unlimited flight time. This is compared to the average 25-30 minutes of flight time of a conventional drone flying without tether.

A tethered solution has multiple benefits for a wide range of industry verticles. These benefits include:

• Persistent: Connected to the micro-tether providing power from the ground, drones are able to remain airborne for hours. This provides levels of situational awareness which were previously unobtainable.
• Cover wide areas: With operational heights of 50 to 100 meters, tethered UAVs can provide wide coverage of large events. 
• Secure: The micro-tether provides secure, unjammable communications immune to interference and enabling a safe, real-time, high-speed data transfer.
• Overt Deterrence: Tethered UAVs provide an overt surveillance deterrent which disrupts a criminal’s freedom of movement and action.
• Functional: Robust and easily transportable, tethered systems are designed for the field. Quick to use and deploy, they are simple and effective solutions for persistent aerial surveillance.
• 4K Video Streaming: Secured 4K aerial video-streaming is made possible thanks to Elistair’s micro-tether. The tethered systems allow continuous and interference-free high-quality video broadcast.
• Flight Safety Assurance: In crowded entertainment events, public safety is essential for risk holders. Elistair tethered technologies ensure safe drone operations through a fully-controlled and physically-secure system.

Safe-T 2 Tether

Safe-T 2 is a smart tethered station for commercial drones.

The Safe-T 2 sets a new standard for tethered drone stations, with a 125m swappable micro-tether, unlimited secured power, and an IP54 weather rating.

Ligh-T Tether

Ligh-T V4 is a compact and rugged tethered drone solution for small UAVs.

Designed for the field, Ligh-T provides access to several hours of continuous flights for emergency event management.

Compatible with a range of DJI drones

The two tethering systems are compatible with a range of DJI drones, including the M200 series. This gives the operator many benefits. Not only can the tethering system ensure that the drone stays airborne for hours, but fixing additional payloads to the UAV helps to make missions even more effective.

For instance, integrating a Zenmuse XT2 thermal camera onto a tethered M210 or a Zenmuse Z30 high-capability camera onto a tethered M600 would offer a comprehensive solution – ideal for the likes of the emergency services or industrial operators.

Case study – Tethering system helps police

To increase security in the vicinity of a concert hall for singer Orelsan, French police connected a DJI M200 with a Zenmuse Z30 full HD camera to Elistair’s Ligh-T tethering station.

Powered from the ground, the drone flight lasted several hours, compared to 25 minutes for a conventional drone, and helped secure the perimeter of the arena.

Connected to the ground by a micro-tether, the UAV flew over the zone before, during and after the concert without the interruption that comes with changing batteries.

Access, entrances, exits, roads, flows of people and vehicles were able to be monitored safely and effectively. Thanks to the tethered drone, security teams were able to have constant situational awareness of an area with a radius of 1.5km.

Powerful and highly portable tethered drone system. Designed for continuous aerial day and night surveillance over large areas. It is perfectly adapted for demanding law enforcement, private security, public safety missions and military uses