Science Daily reports that the USF Deploys Unmanned Aerial Vehicles to Katrina Rescue Operation. The University of Southern Florida’s Center for Robot-Assisted Search and Rescue (CRASAR) has developed two types of small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for rescues as a response of the hurricanes which frequently hit Flordia. These small vehicles can help rescue workers locate survivors and detect structural damage in hard to reach areas.
One of the UAVs is a small winged airplane like vehicle equipted with video and termal imagery. It can fly from 100 to 1,000 feet, permitting a wide overview of the area. The other resembles a minature helicopter, also carrying a camera with a zoom lens to fly around roof tops and “look in windows”.
“The platforms, which require less than 10 minutes to set up and fly, were designed to be easily carried by responders as they hike into the debris,” said Robin Murphy, CRASAR director. “The UAVs were provided in partnership with a National Science Foundation industry/university consortium that focuses on new safety, security and rescue technology.”…”We learned that seeing whether people were trapped on their roofs just beyond sight along a flooded road was critical,” said Murphy. “It takes too long for manned helicopters to get there - if the radios are working.”
While is this the first known use of these small UAVs for an actual disaster, they have proven their worth through extensive testing and scientific and engineering data. Within two hours of the first test launch, “the responders had the data form the UAVs showing that no survivors were trapped and that the flood waters from the cresting Pearl River were not posing an additional threat.”
CRASAR was responsible for the introduction of small ground mobile robots into emergency response at the World Trade Center in 2001.
