Florida Poly introduces flying police car 'Astro'

All right, come over and check this out. The future of law enforcement is taking flight right here in Lakeland. Florida Polytechnic University is now home to the very first flying police vehicle in the country. Fox 13's Carla Byron gives us an up-close look at how ASTRO is really working now, and it's changing the game for both officers and students there on their campus. ASTRO. Yep, just like the dog from the classic Jetsons cartoon. It's the first flying electric vertical takeoff and landing police vehicle in the country, and it's at Florida Polytechnic University. This isn't the answer to every problem we have, but just like drones and helicopters, it's a tool that we can utilize in our profession. Without the battery, the manned aircraft weighs 154 pounds, in the air for about 20 minutes. Chief Erin Murray says ASTRO could be a game changer, helping officers find missing people, reaching areas where traditional vehicles can't, and assisting with post-storm recovery efforts. ASTRO is a combination of a living lab and a real-world application coming together. Students will be able to use it as a research tool to test data, improve the technology, and help develop it. A capstone team of computer science students is already getting hands-on training with the aircraft. We want to see some sort of digital twin or VR training scenario specifically tailored for our campus. That way we start to learn about it and it can be incorporated in training for the officers. Rafa Gerard, a senior mechanical engineering major, will do so as well. Us students having the chance to get hands-on use with it here gives us that advantage when we go to those companies to inquire about internships or job opportunities, saying that we've worked on UAVs before. That's a huge opportunity. Astro's home base will be the University Police Department, but Chief Murray expects to see the technology take off nationwide. I kind of foresee law enforcement aviation units throughout the country also having these tools accessible to them inside of their hangars because there is a separate purpose for them. Embracing the future of tech so we don't get left behind. in Lakeland Carla Byron Fox 13 News now Astro came with a nearly $150,000 price tag the university is in the final stages though of seeking approval from the FAA to use the aerial