You may have heard of drones inspecting things such as real estate, roofs, assets, oilrigs, and even solar panels. But, one aerial inspection service drones are starting to be used for more is response to natural disasters. This article will talk about how drones are now saving lives.

Benefits of Using Drones for Disaster Relief

There are many reasons why drones are starting to be used nearly anytime there are disasters like floods, hurricanes, tornados, or earthquakes. One main reason is that they can get into hard to reach places that nearly nothing else can. Being able to reach tall structures or fit into a tight spot in a collapsed house are all examples of this.

Drones also are much faster than any other form of rescuing. Many rescue drones can easily reach speeds of 80 km/hr and they can fly over anything. They are able to cover ground extremely fast and usuallya large fleet of drones is sent out, each given a specific area to survey. It makes the task of finding people much faster.

Another huge benefit is that it doesn’t put rescue workers in as much danger. The drones can spend all time surveying dangerous spots without putting any human life at risk. If they find people who need rescuing, the drones can send back the exact location of where these people are and survey the area for any other potential risks. Once that is completed, rescue workers can swoop in to save people.

Tools that Make This All Possible

While rescue drones have the best 4k cameras attached to them, that isn’t enough many times. There are also other impressive pieces of technology attached to these drones that help them detect people.

Most rescue drones are outfitted with infrared, multispectral, and hyper spectral sensors to help them find people even more efficiently. All of these different sensors help drones locate people that would otherwise be invisible to the naked eye.

For example, the most commonly used infrared sensors measure the heat given off by objects and it shows them relative to one another,color-coded by temperature. Therefore, if a person is trapped behind a wall or structure, the drone will be able to spot the person and alert rescue crews. All of these sensors further drones’ abilities in locating people during disasters.

The Future In Disaster Relief

While the use of drones in disaster relief right now is primarily concerned with finding and rescuing people, there has recently been some exciting research in delivering aid to people.

The increasing problem that has been found is that some times when these drones detect people, it is still extremely difficult and dangerous for rescue workers to get to them. A startup company called Flirtey is looking for possible solutions to this problem.

They are looking at using drones to bring people things like food, water, and possibly even first aid supplies. The drone would have a care package with all of the supplies in it, and then drop it near people who need it. This could save even more lives, as many times rescuers aren’t able to get to everyone. It has only been used in mock crisis situations but before too long you probably will see it used in real-life disasters.

Who knows, maybe one-day drones will be able to lift people up and bring them to safety. Drones have only been used in disaster relief for the last decade or so, and the results already are incredible.For now, they are being utilized greatly to detect people who may have never been found.