Firestorm launches new beacon locator system
Drone sensor manufacturer Firestorm UAV Inc. has announced that it has become the sole supplier of an innovative hand-held search and rescue sensor intended for all types of field-rescue operations.
Drone sensor manufacturer Firestorm UAV Inc. has announced that it has become the sole supplier of an innovative hand-held search and rescue sensor intended for all types of field-rescue operations.
The company has partnered its Intelligent Radio Direction Finding (iRDF) technology partners with new TigerStrike Lite hardware. This hardware is able to read three separate types of distress signals: personal locator beacons (PLBs), emergency locator transmitters (ELTs) and the emergency position indicating radio beacons (EPIRBs) used in maritime applications. It is able to locate any of these signal types within five degrees by taking a single vector reading from two fixed locations.
This information is then sent to a smartphone, tablet or any other operational base of choosing via Bluetooth from the TigerStrike mobile unit. The app is able to relay ‘sophisticated analysis’, route and distance and time to the target area.
Firestorm says that its mobile hardware combines this technology with its iRDF technology. These search and rescue kits are available for around $2,500.
"As the culmination of the needs of generations of search and rescue teams all over the world, the TigerStrike Lite will reinvent how future search and rescue operations are conducted,” said Firestorm UAV founder Murray Craig. “We're proud to say that no other company has anything comparable with TigerStrike's level of sophistication. Instead of just looking for people or crash sites, we've created a portable and affordable device that actively hunts for the radio signals emitted by PLBs, ELTs and EPIRBs. And that is the critical difference between finding people in enough time to save their lives, and finding them days later when it's too late.”