Tethered drones to help increase security for Boston Pops fireworks

BOSTON — There will be an added layer of security at this year’s Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular, but attendees will need to turn an eye to the sky to notice it.

Drones will be located in various positions along the Esplanade to make sure everyone is safe.

The PARC drone is a high-powered drone developed by Danvers-based CyPhy Works. It’s different that most drones though, because it’s tethered.

“It can go up and stay up for a very long time - so hundreds of hours,” CyPhy Works vice president of product and software Perry Stoll said.

In addition to power, the wire keeps data secure and feeds the drone commands.

That makes the PARC ideal for surveillance operations.

“We'll be able to keep an eye on folks on the ground, get a sense of makes and models of cars,” Stoll said.

The eye of the drone is a powerful camera mounted to the bottom that can easily zoom in on a sign more than a quarter of a mile away.

This drone has already been proven effective at two other Boston events this year, the marathon and Sail Boston, and CyPhy sees many more places where it could potentially use PARC.

“We think this is how any large event that's going to be happening, the security directors will be thinking about how do they add PARC or something like PARC to their tool set,” Stoll said.

Cox Media Group