Specially designed algorithms analyze the weather conditions, the presence of currents, and the time since the fall.
A team of scientists from the Technical University of Denmark, led by Dimosthenis Angelis, is developing an autonomous drone to search for people who have fallen overboard and assist in their rescue. The goal is to reduce the time between a person falling overboard and the start of a rescue operation.
The drone weighs about 25 kg, has a diameter of 2.4 m, a payload capacity of 20 kg, an air time of about half an hour, and a search area of about one square kilometer. The drone is equipped with three types of cameras: RGB, infrared, and thermal.
How it works. After receiving a signal about a person falling overboard, the UAV automatically takes off from the ship and heads to the disaster zone. Specially designed algorithms analyze the weather conditions, the presence of currents, and the time since the fall, allowing for the determination of the most likely location of the distressed individual.
Once detected, the drone drops a life jacket equipped with a GPS receiver. This allows the victim to stay afloat for 30 minutes to three hours, facilitating further search efforts and significantly increasing the chances of rescue.
The main takeaway: tests show that such a UAV can be effective in aerial search and rescue, especially in poor visibility conditions. According to DTU, the results indicate that the rescue drone will be able to detect over 80% of people in distress.
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