When the abilities of Artificial Intelligence combine with drone technology, things not possible before can be made possible. That's what happened when UK-based Blockapps AI and Bengaluru-based Tsalla Aerospace joined forces. About ten Bengaluru police stations, under whom fall areas like Jayanagar, JP Nagar and other areas, use these AI-enabled drones for crowd surveillance and soon, their services will also be sought for dropping off medicines. Sri Yilapavanam, Founder, Blockapps AI, and Vinayak S Tsalla of Tsalla Aerospace tell us how this collaboration came to be.
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Blockapps AI, a part of T-Hub's incubation programme Lab32, Hyderabad, is a deep tech company with a focus on surveillance and healthcare while Tsalla Aerospace is a drone product management company. They connected via a common mentor who was sure that there could be synergy between the two start-ups. "With our latest tech Edge AI that is enabled on the drones, we can not just survey the crowd but also detect patterns and anomalies. The tech is intelligent enough to spot patterns and anomalies. So, instead of just recording, they inform the police about the number of people in the crowd and accordingly, the police can reach the spot immediately to disperse the crowd," explains Sri.
Better yet, speakers fitted to the drones can do the job for the policemen, keeping our frontline workers safe from the virus and the hot summer descending upon us. "And our drones also become smart enough to detect if something is blocking their way so that they can go around it and drop the necessary medicines," explain the duo while talking about medicine delivery in containment zones. Vinayak is also happy with how the state government fast-tracked the process of deploying the drones after they were convinced with the demo. "Indeed, they are proactive," he establishes.
Imagine the possibilities - the policemen don't have to venture into the numerous lanes and bylanes and easily watch over everything. Also, the video is transmitted live and with the help of Edge AI, the number of people is highlighted. And since about a month, these AI-enabled drones have been surveying the streets of Bengaluru. Vinayak assures us that indeed, the police are very happy with the technology. While they had the tech, getting people together during the lockdown was a major challenge that they faced. But with more funds, they are sure that they can serve during these times of crisis on a bigger scale.
Other start-ups from T-Hub who are helping:
- Marut Dronetech: Helping the Telangana Government spray disinfectants with their drones
- Dimension NGX: Is developing large-scale thermal scanning glasses
- BlueSemi: Smart contactless and wireless thermal sensor
- Byteforce: AI-based computer vision solution that, when integrated into CCTV, helps monitor large spaces
