Life-saving autonomous drone could find people who fall off ships
“Man overboard!” The dreaded call that starts a race against time and the often treacherous sea. Sadly, the sea often wins, mainly due to reaction times. Researchers at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) are now developing an onboard drone that aids rescues without human intervention.
The autonomous drone can launch from a moving ship, search likely drift zones using onboard cameras and smart algorithms, identify a person in the water, and eventually drop an inflatable life jacket that also sends out a GPS signal. When a man-overboard incident is confirmed, the idea is for the drone to take off immediately, long before a rescue boat can be deployed.
Ships are not vehicles that can come to a complete halt at the press of a pedal. When someone falls overboard, the vessel has to stop, prepare a rescue boat, lower it, and then begin searching. All of these take time,...
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