After a two-year break, the legendary Ruisrock music festival took place in Ruissalo, Turku on July 8–10, 2022. As expected, the event was sold out. Local Crew Security, which specializes in the supporting services for event production and the related safety & security, participated in the music festival’s event and security arrangements.
Whether the event is large or small, security and the security operators play a significant role in whether it is successful. The information related to event security needs to be comprehensive, specific, and real-time, and all of the operators should be able to share the situational picture.
Insta and Local Crew Security continued their previous collaboration at Ruisrock, where Local Crew Security utilized Insta’s situational awareness system combined with situational picture data from a drone (unmanned aircraft system, UAS).
Aerial imagery supports arrangements and monitoring
In addition to event supervision, Local Crew Security needed to obtain a precise orthoimage from the festival area. An orthoimage is a geometrically corrected aerial image of a geographical area, and it can be used as an accurate background map in a situational awareness system. Furthermore, an orthoimage can be used for documenting event arrangements and it makes planning the next event easier, as the numbers of the required structures as well as their coordinates are readily available in the image. An expert from Insta created the orthoimage of the festival area using a drone prior to the actual event.
During the festival weekend, Local Crew Security implemented security monitoring using a command & control (C2) system that combines the Insta Blue Aware situational awareness system and the Insta Blue Tracker mobile app. The C2 system acted as a communication channel for sharing real-time situational information between the field groups operating in the event venue and the command center. The use of the system bolsters security and communication, and it also makes it easier for the teams operating in the field to work in a coordinated manner. Insta Blue Aware is especially well suited for events in which many different operators gather together for a specific period and move around an extensive event venue.
In addition, for surveillance purposes, Local Crew Security used a small, lightweight drone (open category, subcategory A1), which provided a comprehensive overview of the venue during the event. From the air, the visual imagery was transmitted securely to the Insta Blue Sky mobile app, which was used by the person controlling the drone, and further to the Insta Blue Aware situational awareness system.
Close partnership and technical support
The companies’ partnership is not limited to just the technology; Instead, Insta’s experts can also provide usage training and technical support on-site according to customer needs. For this project, Insta trained the customer on using the application for flying the drone and the situational awareness system, which Local Crew Security’s CEO Ville Ketonen is very happy with.
In addition to application support, Insta’s experts in unmanned aviation can help event organizers plan the aviation operations, obtain the necessary permits, and implement the plans in practice.
An expert from Insta was on site at Ruisrock to provide technical support, as needed. Anniina Ala-Kitula from Insta says it is wonderful to instruct the customer on using the system and help the customer understand all of the many different ways that they can utilize the system in their business operations. Furthermore, since the customer has the best understanding of the use cases in their sector, working with them in the field provides Insta with new perspectives on system development, and so the close collaboration is mutually beneficial.
All in all, in terms of event security and, particularly, the surveillance of large-scale operations, it is helpful to consider the different elements that can be connected to the situational awareness system – Insta Blue Aware delivers a solid platform, and aerial imagery further supports security and surveillance by supplying real-time visual information to the situational awareness system and by providing an overview from another perspective.
Kuva: Local Crew Security Oy
