During the 2019 Smart Cities Connect Conference & Expo, a North Carolina-based UAS services and technology provider called Triangle UAS LLC launched its UAS-mounted real-time video streaming system, which is designed to enhance situational awareness during disaster/accident response, search and rescue, and law enforcement events.

​According to Triangle UAS, the streaming system will give first responders, public safety officials, and smart cities a “cost-effective, easy-to-use method” of providing real-time video streaming from an aerial UAS to remote operators or an emergency operations center through a secure internet connection.

“When developing this streaming solution, our goal was to create a user-friendly, cost-effective real-time video streaming system that delivers superior performance compared to currently available solutions,” explains Taylor Kerby, president and founder of Triangle UAS.

“Previous drone video systems employed SD cards to store recorded video, which then had to be removed and delivered to the emergency operations center, causing delays.”

The Triangle UAS streaming system is made up of a compact, lightweight device that directly connects to the controller of a video-enabled UAS to quickly and seamlessly encode and transmit the video stream to the internet through 4G or WiFi networks. This allows the video to be viewed in real time on multiple screens at emergency operations centers or authorized third-party users via a secure internet connection.

Along with the hardware device, there is a custom server software platform and a mobile and web-based app that supports secure access for hundreds of viewers, with customizable privileges and the ability to record all incoming streams from multiple video sources.

The new streaming system will also support video from conventional video cameras and smartphones.

According to Kerby, the streaming system is expected to be deployed in several application areas related to “smart city” technologies, including but not limited to, public safety, search and rescue, and for media outlets looking to stream video for live news.