Danny Weber
A Wuxi police officer has created a palm-sized $15 drone detector that instantly identifies drones and locates their operators, helping to stop illegal flights.
A police officer in Wuxi, Jiangsu province, has come up with a compact, palm-sized detector that spots illegal drone flights in real time. The device, developed by officer Liang, can instantly read the identification of nearby drones and pinpoint the location of their operators. Remarkably, it costs under 100 yuan—roughly $15—to produce.
According to CCTV, the 29-year-old Liang holds a master’s degree in materials science from Yangzhou University. His inventions often emerge from the practical challenges of frontline police work. He explained that existing drone detectors on the market typically run between 40,000 and 50,000 yuan, which motivated him to create a solution cheap enough to be handed out widely to ordinary officers.
The detector has already proved itself in the field. Police used it to identify a violator named Fang who was flying a drone illegally. After being questioned, Fang admitted to the unauthorized flight and was fined.
© A. Krivonosov