Northumberland-based startup OpenWorks Engineering has invented an air-powered net launcher that fires small anti-drone projectiles. The SkyWall is a new shoulder-mounted compressed-air launcher that fires shells containing a net and parachute to capture and bring a drone back to the ground without damaging it.
The Northumberland firm’s launcher looks like something out of a computer game, complete with a targeting computer and holographic scope to predict a drone’s flight, which the company says will help law enforcement take out potentially dangerous targets.
The launcher weighs 10kg, uses compressed air and can fire almost silently at drones up to 100m away, reloading in 8 seconds, according to the company.
The efficacy of the SkyWall will rely on the accuracy of the human controlling the launcher, as well as the drone not changing direction after the projectile has been launched.
The managing director of OpenWorks Engineering, Chris Down, said: “OpenWorks Engineering believes that security enforcement authorities need a cost-effective and proportionate way of protecting the public and high-profile individuals and we wanted to put a system on the market that offered just that.”
The SkyWall is among other technology-based solutions dubbed drone falconry, where a drone fires a net at another drone. Other solutions use radio-frequency jammers to block the control of drones, however, these can interfere with other nearby devices such as radios and mobile phones.
Source: The Guardian
Interesting!