Drones To Tackle Train Graffiti In Germany
German rail operator Deutsche Bahn hopes unmanned aircraft will cut the annual £6.5m cost of cleaning up graffiti.
12:43pm Tuesday 28 May 2013
Mini drones are set to be rolled out at train depots in Germany to catch vandals who deface carriages with graffiti at night.
Deutsche Bahn plans to start testing the aerial vehicles, which have four helicopter-style rotors and can shoot high-resolution pictures using thermal imaging cameras.
A pilot would remotely steer the drones, which can fly at a height of up to 150 metres and speeds of up to 33mph.
"We are going to use this technology in problem areas where taggers are most active," a spokesman for Deutsche Bahn said.
Drones, such as the US Predator, are more commonly used in combat
Last year, the company suffered 7.6m euros of damage from people spray-painting its carriages.
It hopes to use the images collected by the drones as evidence in any prosecutions.
However, the rail operator said it would only use the drones over its depots, not in public areas, in line with German anti-surveillance laws.
Google ran into problems in Germany when it photographed roads for its worldwide Street View project.
Thousands of residents complained and the website was forced to blur many of its images.
