UASTrakker drone SAR system announced
UASTrakker has announced the development of its new Emergency RF Beacon Tracking System for drones.
Safety and surveillance systems early stage integrator UASTrakker has announced the development of its new Emergency RF Beacon Tracking System for drones.
The system means that search and rescue (SAR) teams can use an autonomous drone to locate emergency distress beacons, on land sea or in flood conditions. The company expects the system to become a key component of SAR efforts in marine rescue as well as in the wilderness.
During a SAR mission, a drone with the UASTrakker system will use a flight plan relative to the last known location of the casualty and will scan emergency radio frequencies used by PLB beacon(s) in distress whilst in the air, providing situational awareness to first responders utilising its’ thermal, infrared and daytime cameras.
When a beacon is located, a drone can then store the coordinates or, if equipped, drop supplies or even winch-rescue a casualty. The images captured on the drone’s cameras during a mission is streamed into UASTrakker’s cloud computing solution, recording the physical location of the incident in day or night time conditions, making multi-agency collaboration easier.
UASTrakker says that the system is compatible with many off-the-shelf drones, meaning that it can be installed onto medium sized drones for shorter missions, as well as a more heavy-duty drone. Whilst the drone user is able to take control of the drone manually at any time, UAVTrakker says that the cellular/satellite offers ‘an almost unlimited range of control’. The company is also developing Ground Control Stations so that drones will be able to land more easily on a moving platform such as a ship.
The artificial intelligence (AI) capable internet console will provide the operator an online search grid, the first of its kind according to UASTrakker. Other first responders will be able to use the UASTrakker app to create a collaborative rescue map, showing both the position of any drones and any emergency beacons.
Shawn Holmgren, CTO of UASTrakker, said: “A UASTrakker customised rescue drone can be deployed in many different emergency and disaster situations to locate survivors from maritime accidents, avalanches, hikers in distress or to locate stranded people after a natural disaster like a hurricane or flood, by tracking the PLB that is activated by the person in distress.”
UASTrakker believes that the technology will be used by police, fire and rescue services, military, private individuals and commercial businesses and expects the system to launch by summer 2018.