Every year lots of people die because of not receiving the necessary assistance. Lost in a forest, drowning in water, locked in a burning building, in places of radiation or chemical hazard, – all this people can be saved if found and assisted in time.
The main problems of rescuing people in distress are quick finding, the first aid and evacuation to the safe place. Small unmanned aerial systems (SUAS) equipped with HD camera, thermal vision camera and chemical, radiation and biological detectors can find people and reveal surrounding danger. Even unconscious person can be found by means of the pattern recognition system. In other ways one can attract attention by waving, shouting or signal lights which are also recognized by operator or computer. Voice and sounds are being registered with onboard microphones.
After detecting distress people SUAS should attract their attention, onboard lights and loudspeakers perform this task. If the person doesn’t need help and only lost the way drone can lead him (“follow me” function). If the assistance of doctors and rescuers is required than use the following script. The exact coordinates of detection must be transmitted to the operator which directs rescuers to this place. Getting the point of destination can take up to several hours. But what if every minute counts? Drone with big carrying capacity can deliver vital cargo to the people in distress – first aid kit, defibrillator, tourniquets, oxygen masks, fire cloth, anti-chemical package, gas mask, inflatable life jacket, compact stretcher and radio. Signal torches and loudspeakers as a part of cargo facilitate people finding. The sets of things are different in each situation. Onboard camera and microphone can be used to transmit doctor’s recommendations for the first aid.
Such project is also suitable for city. Usually ambulance arrives at the place of acident in about 10 minutes. This time can be critical for some types of injury. Resque drone is able to keep the place in a couple of minutes and to deliver first aid means.
Unmanned quadrocopter DJI Matrice 100 has a load capacity of 6 kg. In different circumstance it can deliver the medications “from hand to hand” or to drop things form high (e.g., dropping life jacket to the water). Thus he unmanned system solves several tasks simultaneously:
- Searching people over large areas using benchmarks;
- Person determination;
- Attracting attention;
- First aid delivery;
- Leading out from the location or reporting coordinates to rescuers.