German Railways To Test Micro- Drones For Nabbing Graffiti Vandals

On VoiCE you have already read about the Tiny Black Hornet Nano Unmanned Air Vehicle Goes On Duty In Afghanistan and MeCam: A Nano Copter Fitted With Camera That Follows You Everywhere! and how they are being used for military and civilian purposes respectively, but this time they are going to work the German railways. Deutsche Bahn, Germany's national railway company has now made plans to test micro-drones for monitoring vandals who have been defacing their property with graffiti that has cost the company about 7.6 million Euros per year. The drones will be equipped with infra-red sensors and will be used to collect incriminating evidence against the perpetrators who have been entering the private property of the railways at night and spray painting train carriages. The drones will cost 60000 Euros and can fly silently at a maximum height of 150 meters.


Germany is one of the countries that give utmost importance to privacy. A few years ago when Google was in the country to shoot photos for Street View many people has concerns regarding their houses appearing online. So Google has to comply with their request and blur out the front of more than 200,000 houses. These privacy concerns had previously put brakes on the development of Euro Hawk, Germany’s own surveillance drone. Considering the strict privacy rules in the country, Deutsche Bahn has promised that the drones will only be used on their private property and people or property outside the depots would not be filmed.

So, what do you think about the mass implementation of drones? Are you pleased or concerned? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

Source: German railways to test anti-graffiti drones - BBC News