Lu Zheng | GIZMODO.cz

Dog squads have been helping the police force for a long time now, however refinements in their functioning have not been very significant. Hoping to give this a boost is the K100, K9 Dog & Police Communication System by Lu Zheng and Pontus Edman

Essentially, this two-way device sets up a camera on the back of the canine and provides a live feed to the receiving display that is strapped onto the forearm of the K9 officer. It aims to give a better view of what the lead police dog is seeing, when it is in the forefront.

It also allows the trainer to communicate with the dog, which can be helpful in stressful situations.

Designers: Lu Zheng, Pontus Edman & in collaboration with FLIR.

Research

“When we visited the K9 Police force, it became clear that they had the interest and need for better equipment. Still using the whistle, paper maps, compasses supported by simple GPS-tools and com-radios,” Zheng told Yanko Design.

“Whistle works well over short distances but couldn’t be used over larger areas. The GPS-tool provides the live position of the dog, nothing more. They were talking about how to remove unnecessary processes in the workflow to give them the freedom and mobility they would need to execute their duties.”

Prototype

“We built over 20 prototypes with different materials to test the best way for the product to fit on user and dog. The prodoucts are compact and all element are integrated in the backpack and monitor on the arm. All parts were milled for 3D printed, 72 different parts come together and made the final prototype.”

Final – Police & K9 Dog Communication

The K100 is an office-to-dog solution that allows police office to see the position and a live camera feed of both natural and infrared imaging from the dogs perspective.

A stabilized camera unit is mounted on the dog. The unti also has vibrations control and voice-commmand speaker to give the office a certain communication with the dog in a free-running situation over larger areas.