DJI Spark for Indoor Incident Resolution for SWAT

Flugster · Sep 23, 2018

We are just starting a drone program at my Dept. We have the Mavic Pro, Air, and Spark. Flying indoors with LED lighting and no line of sight is challenging.
Setting up poIicy, COA, and training. I would love to chat with anyone using them for Leo/SWAT operations. What training is available etc.
Thanks,
Flug

401 Feet · Oct 19, 2018

All,
Ohio state patrol troopers are using the DJI spark for interior searches on their srt team. I apologize but I have no contact info on the team. I would suggest some research to attempt to locate a supervisor in what the patrol calls their SRT team. They are usually glad to help and think they would be willing to discuss your questions. Best of luck.

R Martin · Oct 22, 2018

Flugster said:
We are just starting a drone program at my Dept. We have the Mavic Pro, Air, and Spark. Flying indoors with LED lighting and no line of sight is challenging.
Setting up poIicy, COA, and training. I would love to chat with anyone using them for Leo/SWAT operations. What training is available etc.
Thanks,
Flug

If you are flying indoors, you are out of the FAA's jurisdiction. Only outdoor flight falls under their purview. The op/policy manual and training are going to be fun to write but should not pose too much of a challenge. The training manual on the other hand....

fotoaerialcom · Nov 6, 2018

One piece of advice on the Spark - it has quite a few unexpected "safety" features built in... For example, if it loses GPS reception then it refuses to fly anything higher than a few feet. This can be very limiting and problematic in certain circumstances. For example, i can imagine if you wanted it to go up a flight of stairs it is likely to refuse to do so.

Regarding range, indoors range will be severely limited depending on the construction of buildings etc. You could consider using a directional antenna which can go a long way towards extending the range.

berniemac · Jan 10, 2020

It’s probably too late to respond but have a look at the flyability Elios 2. Some great tech has gone into this allowing it to get into places where other UAVs ca

Elios 3 - Digitizing the inaccessible

Discover Elios 3 — the first indoor drone for mapping and inspection, turning asset data into insights with unmatched intelligence and versatility.

www.flyability.com

In respect of cages try this company in the UK. They build custom cages for the mavic air, pro and dual and customise them for additional led lighting such as the Lume Cube.

Drone Cage. Rugged. Reliable. Ready to work.

Drone Cage is the most compact 360° drone protective device available on the market. Superb structural rigidity without the standard bulky globe design, allows the Drone Cage to be more accessible to confined indoor areas, hazardous environments and difficult spaces. Globally supplying our protectiv

www.drone-cage.co.uk

Mavic Mac · Jan 10, 2020

The ever-expanding technology applied to drones is amazing and solidifying the drones use and acceptance.

Hillcountryflyer · Feb 4, 2020

I know I am a little late to this party but we use the Mavic Enterprise duel for indoor searches. We have found that it has the best connectivity and we have flown it into a house from an 1/4 mile away. Never lost connectivity while inside the house. We are going to be looking at the EVO 2 this month which has a 320 flir duel camera which is a much better camera than on the Enterprise. Could also be used for outdoor purposes.

Hillcountryflyer · Feb 8, 2020

berniemac said:
It’s probably too late to respond but have a look at the flyability Elios 2. Some great tech has gone into this allowing it to get into places where other UAVs ca

Elios 3 - Digitizing the inaccessible

Discover Elios 3 — the first indoor drone for mapping and inspection, turning asset data into insights with unmatched intelligence and versatility.

www.flyability.com

In respect of cages try this company in the UK. They build custom cages for the mavic air, pro and dual and customise them for additional led lighting such as the Lume Cube.

Drone Cage. Rugged. Reliable. Ready to work.

Drone Cage is the most compact 360° drone protective device available on the market. Superb structural rigidity without the standard bulky globe design, allows the Drone Cage to be more accessible to confined indoor areas, hazardous environments and difficult spaces. Globally supplying our protectiv

www.drone-cage.co.uk

The elios is a great platform if you are just using it for video, but it is so **** expensive for what it does it put a lot of departments off. $30,000. I can get a Mavic Enterprise or EVO II with a Flir camera as well for far less money.

401 Feet · Mar 24, 2021

I understand the reasons to use a mavic platform drone inside but feel the negatives outweighs the positives, with all due respect. But we train on sparks and soon to be minis for several reasons for indoor ops.
If we put a spark down in tight quarters we were out a few hundred vs. a several thousand. Plus a mini inside frees up our thermal for overwatch, etc. Just food for thought on this topic.