A Swiss masters student has created a system to help UAS home in on the location of people trapped underneath rubble, land or snow – by detecting signals given off by their mobile phones and so giving rescuers a clue as to where to focus their search efforts.
By placing two wi-fi antennae onto the aircraft, Jonathan Cheseaux said they were able to locate mobile phones on the campus to within 10 metres.
The Mac address of each phone is used to differentiate which device is being detected, while several readings are taken to narrow down its location.
A test showed accuracy of within 10 metres
The technology is currently a proof of concept, and there are a number of limitations. For example, victims may be buried under rubble several metres deep, making phone signal detection difficult.
UAS have other potential uses in search and rescue operations, Mr Cheseaux said. He said they could be fitted with existing thermal-imaging camera technology and avalanche victim detectors (DVAs) – radio devices mountaineers carry in case they are buried by an avalanche.
Mr Cheseaux said: “The UAS wi-fi antenna could be replaced by DVAs, which would enable the rapid and inexpensive deployment of the first avalanche searches.”
Photo: Jonathan Cheseaux with modified UAS
Source: SKY News