This New Drone Can Help Perform Maritime Rescues
by Owen James Burke
Photo: RTS Ideas
Apart from the occasional worthy GoPro video, drones don’t seem to have done much for quality of life. Mostly, it would seem that they’re being used to ruin lives. But the UK-based firm RTS Ideas which specializes in what they call “lifeguard robotics” has come up with the novel concept for a solar-powered maritime rescue drone equipped with lifejackets, an FLIR (forward looking infrared) thermal camera for detecting people in low visibility, as well as LED lighting for nighttime missions. Flying at about 25 feet per second, they only have a reach of about half a mile per mission, but it could do wonders for shore-based rescue. Here’s hoping to see more innovations like these in the future, and less of those designed to put holes in the ground. — OJB
Video via AV Air Films
