If you do not already have first-hand experience, you may be wondering how to use drones for search and rescue missions. Search and rescue drones are becoming popular tools for public safety teams. Some advantages they have over other methods include quick deployment, lower costs, better image resolution, improved situational awareness, and payload versatility. These are all beneficial to finding subjects quickly and increasing survival rates.
In addition to detailing the benefits, this article outlines the step-by-step process for performing a search and rescue with a drone. You’ll also learn more about SAR payload options, Vision Aerial platform versatility, and some of the legal considerations for SAR drone operators.
Benefits of Using Drones for Search and Rescue
Take the “Search” out of “Search and Rescue”
Drones Cover More Area than Ground Teams
With airspeeds of 10-60 mph, drones cover more ground in a shorter period of time than search teams on foot. They also see larger portions of a search grid from a birds-eye view. Vision Aerial search and rescue drones deploy within two minutes. Therefore, the drone can take off and start searching before ground teams are able to get on the trail or a helicopter could leave the airport.
Less Expensive than Manned Aircraft
Manned aircraft and helicopters cost hundreds of dollars per hour to pilot and maintain. On the other hand, drones incur an initial investment and then the cost of maintenance is very low. Vision Aerial drones for search and rescue last for years, and the batteries can withstand hundreds of cycles. This means your search and rescue drone will have a long lifetime, with a low cost per mission.
Safer than Manned Assets
When SAR teams ride along on helicopter flights or traverse rugged terrain on foot, they are at risk. Drones deploy from a safe area and scan from a high altitude. The team stays safely on the ground, watching a video feed from the drone camera. Once the subject is located, teams proceed directly to them via the safest route.
An Aerial View Provides Better Visibility of a Search Area
From an aerial perspective, search and rescue drones provide a wider view of the search area. A tree or bush might obscure a subject from a rescuer on foot. On the other hand, a drone provides greater visibility, which increases the probability of finding the subject. The thermal camera included in the Vision Aerial SAR1 System has a 45-degree field of view, which provides a far-reaching perspective of a scene.
Adapt with Technology as New Payloads Are Available
Technology changes constantly. As new payloads and techniques become available, search and rescue teams can leverage them to save more lives. Vision Aerial designs our UAVs to be highly adaptable. Thus, they integrate easily with new technology as needed.
How to Use Drones for Search and Rescue
There are many ways drones support search and rescue applications. First, drones provide a birds-eye view of a scene. Teams scan wide areas with an attached camera. Thermal (infrared) payloads are also highly useful for SAR teams. These sensors detect small temperature changes in an environment. As a result, someone who may be otherwise hard to see may be detected. Finally, optional payloads like dropping mechanisms, communication relays, and loudhailers can be useful for specific purposes.
What is Thermal Imaging and How Does it Work?
Thermal cameras and sensors use infrared radiation and thermal energy to formulate images. Because they make pictures from heat rather than visible light, these kinds of sensors are especially useful in low visibility environments, such as fog or twilight.
So how does thermal imaging work? All objects emit infrared energy, or heat, also known as a heat signature. Even ice has a heat signature. The thermal camera or sensor is sensitive enough to pick up small differences in temperature and then uses this data to build an image of the object.
Thermal images are typically grayscale, however, colorized images are also common in commercial products. The tiny differences in temperature appear as shades of gray or in a range of colors. The WIRIS product line allows the users to select from multiple color schemes.
How is Thermal Imaging Different from Night Vision?
Thermal imaging uses the heat signature of objects to create an image. On the other hand, night vision technology (NVT) magnifies the light in a scene. Thermal images are typically grayscale or colorized, whereas night vision images are usually green-tinted. Because night vision relies on visible light, if the scene is too dark, it will not work at all.
What Other Payloads Are Useful for Search and Rescue?
Drones carry more than just cameras and sensors. Other payloads that may be useful to search and rescue applications include dropping mechanisms, communication relays, or megaphones (loudhailers).
Dropping mechanisms provide delivery functions. Imagine delivering a medical kit, 2-way radio, strobe, flare, personal locator beacon, water activated life vest, whistle, or other items.
If you elect to add a dropping mechanism to your drone, we’d recommend a dual payload option with a first person view (FPV) camera. That way you can look down to see where you are dropping your payload to ensure it lands in the right location.
A drone mounted megaphone or loudhailer relays instructions to the rescue subject. You may want to verify the identity of the person just found. Or you could ask them if they are injured and have them point to the injury. Then you’ll know what kind of medical response to send.
Drones can also provide a communications relay in the event that you’re working in an area where radios signals are blocked. In this instance, some kind of antenna or transmitter is attached to the drone and positioned between the two parties. The signal is relayed trough the drone.
You tell us! Finally, if you have other ideas for how to use a search and rescue drone, please let us know. Our platforms are incredibly adaptable and our engineering team excels at solving technical challenges. We want to partner with you to create a great SAR system that will help save more lives.
Video Demo
So how exactly does this all work? Watch the 15-minute video below to see how to use drones for search and rescue operations. It covers a brief overview of mission planning, setup, flight, Flir camera video streaming, legal issues, and more. More detailed information is also available in the article below.
Step-By-Step Search and Rescue Operation with a Drone
Planning Stage
When a call comes in, a plan of action needs to be formulated before the team goes out to the field. Dispatch may have an idea of where the person was last located and where they planned to be. Here are some of the items we recommend to do to get your drone ready before you go out to the field.
Charge Batteries
Check your battery levels. If they are storage charged, you’ll want to fully charge them now. Vision Aerial recommends that SAR teams purchase an Indefinite Flight Package (IFP). The IFP allows you to charge batteries faster than you can consume them. Therefore, when you are out in the field, you never have to stop the mission to wait for batteries to charge.
A note about battery maintenance: A best practice for maintaining battery life is to keep your batteries storage charged, which is about a 50% capacity. Because speed is of the essence in a search and rescue operation you can cycle your batteries. What this means is that you’ll keep some of your batteries fully charged and some storage charged. Batteries can remain fully charged for about 3 weeks without degrading quality. So you’ll keep some batteries fully charged, and some storage charged, and then make it a practice to rotate them every few weeks.
Download Maps
Unless you have a hotspot in a field, you’ll want to download the maps of the search area into the mission planning software.
You have a few options for how to perform your flight. First, you can fly manually. Second, you can plan a mission in advance and let the drone perform it autonomously. If you want to plan your mission in advance you have a few options:
Flight Planning
Survey Patterns
A survey pattern allows you to draw boundaries around an area and then the drone will fly a “lawnmower pattern” until it covers the area. When it gets to the edge of the boundary, it will make a turn and fly back in the opposite direction. You have options for overlap, so if you want to do a thorough search of an area before moving on, you could use a 60-70% overlap to make sure nothing was missed on the first pass.
Waypoint Planning
If you want to follow a feature like a trail, creek, or road, waypoint planning is a good option. Set the takeoff location, then define waypoints for the drone to fly to.
Defining waypoints in mission planning software. The red line indicates that the altitude for the final point is too low and needs to be increased.
Corridor Scan
This is somewhere between a survey pattern and waypoint planning. You choose waypoints for a corridor, and the drone flies to one end along the waypoints and then back along the same route. Therefore you have some overlap in case you missed the subject the first time around.
Download the Flight Planning App to Devices
If you plan to stream video to multiple devices, download and install the mission planning app to those devices in advance.
On Location Setup
Now that you’ve charged your batteries, downloaded maps, and formed a flight plan, it’s time to head out to the search location. The good news is that Vision Aerial drones are easy to transport. They come in a weatherproof Pelican case with custom foam that holds all the accessories, so you’re ready to go. Just load the case into the back of a truck or car and you’re on your way.
Once you are on site, it takes less than 2 minutes to get your SwitchBlade-Elite or Vector hexacopter ready for flight. Check out the above video to watch how this works if you haven’t already.
Flying the Mission
Designate a Visual Observer
A best practice is to designate a crew member as a visual observer. Their job is to be a second set of eyes. They support the pilot by identifying potential hazards such as birds, powerlines, changes in terrain, or changing environmental factors. At times a pilot can be consumed by the act of operating the drone. They may not be able to identify new hazards in a timely manner. A visual observer will help ensure a safe mission.
Perform Flight Checks
Once your drone is set up for flight, perform the systems check and pre-flight check. Make sure the area is free of birds, powerlines, or other obstacles. Ask everyone to stand clear for takeoff.
Takeoff and Fly
After takeoff, you’re ready to fly your mission. You can manually pilot the mission or engage a pre-programmed autonomous flight. If you have chosen to use a pre-planned flight, climb to a safe altitude, about 10 meters above the ground. Switch to brake mode and then engage your mission.
Flight Mode Options
There are several flight modes that can be useful for search and rescue applications. Flight modes available in the ground control software can be enabled by the pilot.
Manual: Manual flight mode.
Brake: Vehicle holds position and joysticks deactivate to prevent unintentional user input. This mode is useful for engaging a mission. It could also be useful for search and rescue operations. You park the drone up to a certain altitude over the area and then scan around with a camera. After thoroughly scanning the area, you move the drone and then perform the process again.
Auto: Engages pre-programmed autonomous mission.
Land: Land vehicle at current location.
RTL: Return to the launch site at pre-programmed altitude.
Failsafes
Vision Aerial search and rescue drones have some built-in failsafes. In the event of a low battery or loss of link with the ground controller, RTL mode activates. The drone ascends to a safe altitude, returns to the launch location, deploys its landing gear, and lands gently. You can manually override a failsafe if needed.
Learn more about flight modes, failsafes, and emergency procedures in the flight manual.
Using Cameras and Video Feeds to Search
Thermal Cameras and Sensors
Vision Aerial offers a high-quality thermal sensor with its search and rescue packages. Each camera comes with a stabilizing gimbal that is specifically weighted and balanced for that particular camera. Both cameras provide visual spectrum (RGB or E/O) and thermal spectrum (IR) imaging. An outline of the specs are below. If you have another kind of sensor you’d like to use, let us know and we can integrate it for you.
| Workswell WIRIS® Pro | |
| RGB Video | 1,920 x 1,080 px (Full HD) |
| RGB Zoom | 10x optical zoom |
| Thermal Resolution | 640 x 512 px |
| Thermal sensitivity | Standard 0.05 °C (50 mK) or optional 0.03 °C (30 mK) |
| Other features | Choose color palette, picture-in-picture and picture merge feature. |
| Gimbal | Gremsy Pixy-WP |
| Learn More | Link to product page |
Video Streaming
SAR teams often ask if multiple people can watch streaming video from the drone. Vision Aerial Search and Rescue Systems allow multiple devices to receive video. First, install the mission planning app on your devices. Then enable WIFI on the ground controller and share the video feed. Next, the crew will connect to the WIFI provided by the controller. Then they will launch the app to watch the video feed.
You’ve Located Your Subject
Congratulations! Someone on your team has found the subject on the video feed. You make note of the position and GPS coordinates indicated on the ground controller. Then your team decides on the next steps. Is medical assistance needed? Will you deliver a 2-way radio or emergency blanket? Because you’ve found them quickly, saw what kind of condition they are in, and know precisely where they are located, you can get the right resources for them in an efficient manner.
Post Flight
Now that your mission is complete, breakdown is quick and easy. Turn off the controller, disconnect the battery, and remove the payload. Then fold in the appendages before packing it back up into its case.
Search and Rescue Drones: Legal Considerations
Drone Part 107 License
Anyone who uses drones for commercial purposes is required to get a Part 107 Drone License. Technically SAR does not fall under this requirement because they are not receiving payment.
However, Vision Aerial recommends getting a Part 107 License. We think the courses provide valuable safety and legal information that is important to understand. Getting a license takes a few weeks and isn’t very expensive. Learn how to become a drone pilot on the FAA website.
Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS)
Drones are usually required to fly within the visual line of sight. In emergency situations, SAR may need to fly beyond the line of sight. The FAA has provided some guidance for this issue. The guide is available here for download: FAA First Responder Tactical Beyond Visual Line of Sight 91.1133 Waiver Guide
Restricted Airspace
In general, drones are prohibited from entering restricted airspace (such as near airports and military operations). During special events, specific areas may be restricted as well. As a drone operator, you should be aware of the guidelines surrounding airspace. Again, studying for the Part 107 License will help you become familiar with controlled airspace as well as the tools available to research the area you plan to fly in.
Conclusion
Drones are a cost effective tool that enable SARs to respond more quickly and leverage technology to find and assist their subjects. The versatility and adaptability of Vision Aerial systems allow emergency response to adopt new technology rapidly. All these factors aid in improving outcomes and saving lives.
Training Options
We don’t expect you to read this article and know everything related to flying a search and rescue drone. Vision Aerial offers three different options for training that your organization can choose from:
Vision Aerial Will Help Launch Your Search and Rescue Drone Program
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