Miniature police shoulder drones

Photo: U.S. Patent And Trademark Office

Amazon was just granted a patent for miniature police shoulder drones. The device perched on an officer’s shoulder above a clip-on radio microphone would be voice activated and could detect “distress” commands, among other things, essentially providing a second set of ears and eyes not just for the officer, but for a central system monitoring data coming from the drone.

Depending on how the drone is outfitted, it could find vehicles in a large parking lot, run license plates, monitor dangerous situations, gather remote video and audio, detect fires using a thermal imaging camera, or even identify people with facial-recognition software, according to the filings.

What makes the tiny size possible is that its processor may not be installed on the drone itself, but remotely mounted, potentially on its shoulder docking station.

Photo: U.S. Patent And Trademark Office

Sources:

• Amazon nets patent for mini police drones
• Amazon tech could be used in police drones