Drones to help AAI in search, rescue operations

Mock exercise for search and rescue operation is planned to make all the agencies be prepared for any contingency or disaster, and to improve the coordination between the various agencies. The agencies involved are Air Force, Navy and Coast Guard; Health, Fire Service and Police; and NGOs and SRM. 

This would be first time to use drones for search and rescue of an aircraft. The drone, designed by a 20-member team from SRM, is capable of carrying 2 kg payload and has imaging and transmission system that can send live feed video (4K resolution) to the ground station. 

From there, the live feed video is transmitted to the Air Traffic Control (ATC). In the event of an aircraft crash, the GPS signal would be transmitted to the satellite, and the ATC personnel would get the GPS coordinates (1.85km). 

To improve positioning accuracy and identifying the proper location and condition of the crash area, the ATC persons would call for drone assistance by providing the GPS coordinates. Since the area is 1.85km, the area mapping algorithm was utilised to map the given GPS location with two-meter location accuracy. 

The drone is powered by a 10,000 mAh battery, which supplies the peak power of 3,000W to run six 400kv brushless motors for 15 minutes.  

The drone is made to fly and map the entire area, and when ATC officials identify the crashed airplane using live feed video, the respective GPS coordinates in seconds accuracy (20meter) is noted. The rescue team would then be sent to the crash location to commence the rescue operation.