{"id":2880,"date":"2018-10-11T12:00:38","date_gmt":"2018-10-11T12:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bestdroneforthejob.com\/?p=2880"},"modified":"2019-02-16T19:56:52","modified_gmt":"2019-02-16T19:56:52","slug":"mits-drone-fleets-search-and-rescue-forests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bestdroneforthejob.com\/blog\/mits-drone-fleets-search-and-rescue-forests\/","title":{"rendered":"How MIT\u2019s Drone Fleets Would Help With Search and Rescue in Forests"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>One of the most difficult places to perform a search and rescue operation is in a forest. <\/p>\n<p>Helicopters, the best tools for covering large areas in a short period, can\u2019t always see through the dense tree cover. <\/p>\n<p>They are also expensive to operate and may not always be the safest solution in certain types of terrains.    <\/p>\n<p>Even drones, which have become invaluable in search &#038; rescue, are not always the best in thickly forested areas. <\/p>\n<p>The biggest problem is the lack of reliable GPS communication.<\/p>\n<p>So search and rescue teams often have no option but to use inefficient on-the-ground methods.<br \/>\nBut that could soon change thanks to new <a href=\"http:\/\/news.mit.edu\/2018\/fleets-drones-help-searches-lost-hikers-1102\">drone technology<\/a> from MIT.  <\/p>\n<h2>Search and Rescue Drones<\/h2>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1020\" height=\"574\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/2hRNx_0SWGw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>MIT has come up with new technology that uses a fleet of drones to coordinate search &#038; rescue efforts in forests and thickly wooded areas. <\/p>\n<p>The technology controls the drones autonomously so there\u2019s no need for controllers on the ground. <\/p>\n<p>This technology solves the GPS issue by not using GPS at all. <\/p>\n<p>Instead, the drones are equipped with a <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Lidar\">LIDAR<\/a> system. They use lasers to determine their position and select a search path.<\/p>\n<h2>Mapping<\/h2>\n<p>Conventional <a href=\"http:\/\/bestdroneforthejob.com\/drones-for-fun\/camera-drone-buyers-guide\/\">camera drones<\/a> use cameras for search and rescue. Technicians from the ground monitor a live video feed from the drone.<\/p>\n<p>But that introduces the same issue encountered with GPS navigation. Because of lack of bandwidth, good transmission is problematic or even impossible in thickly forested areas. <\/p>\n<p>What the MIT drones do instead is map the areas they are flying through using <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Simultaneous_localization_and_mapping\">SLAM<\/a> (simultaneous localization and mapping) and input from the LIDAR system. <\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/bestdroneforthejob.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/MIT-Drone-mapping-800x355.jpg\" alt=\"MIT Drone mapping\" width=\"800\" height=\"355\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-2883\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bestdroneforthejob.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/MIT-Drone-mapping-800x355.jpg 800w, https:\/\/bestdroneforthejob.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/MIT-Drone-mapping-768x341.jpg 768w, https:\/\/bestdroneforthejob.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/MIT-Drone-mapping-510x226.jpg 510w, https:\/\/bestdroneforthejob.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/MIT-Drone-mapping.jpg 1599w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The drones send out lasers and use the reflected pulses to create a 3D profile of the area. They can identify tree clusters, which helps them navigate without mapping the same area twice. <\/p>\n<p>The generated map is sent to the ground station where technicians join maps from several drones to get a complete picture. <\/p>\n<p>MIT says that drones can be equipped with object identification designed to look out for lost humans. <\/p>\n<p>Once a drone identifies a person, it marks their location on the map for the ground rescue teams to follow. <\/p>\n<h2>Faster and More Efficient<\/h2>\n<p>The use of LIDAR and SLAM results in faster and more efficient search &#038; rescue. <\/p>\n<p>Traditional drones navigate relatively slowly because they constantly have to stop and change direction. <\/p>\n<p>MIT\u2019s technology directs drones to select a search path without a drastic change in positioning. This results in drones moving quickly in a spiral pattern. <\/p>\n<p>They can maintain a constant velocity while still efficiently mapping an area.  This saves precious time, which is crucial for search and rescue operations. <\/p>\n<h2>Real Life Applications<\/h2>\n<p>For now, MIT has not tested the drones in a real life search and rescue situation. <\/p>\n<p>They\u2019ve only conducted tests in a lab and a small forested area at a NASA research facility. <\/p>\n<p>The drones performed well in important areas such as speed, object detection and mapping. <\/p>\n<p>While it\u2019s likely that the technology would successfully scale to large forests, there are several real life challenges that they would have to overcome first. <\/p>\n<p>For one, the conditions in a real forest will likely be very different from the small wooded area they used for testing. <\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m assuming it is the one shown in the video above. <\/p>\n<p>The trees are not very close and there isn\u2019t any thick foliage and undergrowth to restrict the drone\u2019s movements and mapping. <\/p>\n<p>Whether the drones can work in any kind of forest remains to be seen. <\/p>\n<p>There&#8217;s also the issue of picking out humans through the trees and foliage. MIT says the drones were easily able to map trees. <\/p>\n<p>Humans are much smaller. Even with object detection onboard, the drones might still struggle to pick out a human walking in the bushes or lying on the ground. <\/p>\n<p>But if the technology becomes successful, it will yet be another very useful application of drones. <\/p>\n<p>For now, MIT is working on refining the system and making sure it works well in real life emergency situations. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One of the most difficult places to perform a search and rescue operation is in a forest. Helicopters, the best tools for covering large areas in a short period, can\u2019t always see through the dense tree cover. They are also expensive to operate and may not always be the safest solution in certain types of [&#8230;]\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2881,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[252],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How MIT\u2019s Drone Fleets Would Help With Search and Rescue in Forests<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In thick forests where GPS is unreliable, MIT\u2019s new autonomous system could help find lost hikers using multiple search and rescue drones.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bestdroneforthejob.com\/blog\/mits-drone-fleets-search-and-rescue-forests\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" 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