The Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology (CSIST) has signed a memorandum of understanding with Geosat Aerospace Technology for research into a remote-controlled aerial chemical detection platform to detect air pollution and help government agencies with disaster-prevention efforts, sources said yesterday.
The institute is affiliated with the Ministry of National Defense.
Developing an unmanned platform equipped with a scanner suite capable of collecting samples at different altitudes and detecting certain pollutants, and which is able to make automatic and “smart” patrol missions, is the goal of the project, the source said.
The drone would essentially be “a flying robot with the sense of smell,” the source said.
The army is currently deploying helicopters during its Nuclear Safety Month Exercise, and should the research project be successful, the manned helicopters could be replaced with unmanned drones, providing greater personnel safety while offering greater precision, the source said.
Taiwan and Germany recently collaborated on a three-week project on the effects of megacities on pollution on local, regional and global scales, the source said.
The project conducted an experiment to track the source of the pollution in central Taiwan, the source said, adding that Geosat had also been invited to participate in the project.
The institute has demonstrated that it is capable of designing and manufacturing remote-controlled platforms, the source said, citing a small drone the institute modified from the US RQ-11 Raven, and the medium Juiyuan drones and the soon-to-enter-production large Tengyun drone as examples.
With the institute’s own units in the field of chemistry and electronic warfare, combined with Geosat’s advances in drone development, the institute is very confident that the drone project would prove that it is competitive in the market and have marked commercial value, the source said.
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