Lifesaving Drone Makes First Rescue In Australia (yahoo.com)

Zorro shares a report from Yahoo News: A pair of Australian swimmers on Thursday became the first people to be rescued in the ocean by a drone when the aerial lifesaver dropped a safety device to distressed teens caught in rough seas. In what is believed to be a world-first drone surf rescue, two boys on Thursday got caught in three-meter (10-foot) swells while swimming off Lennox Head in New South Wales, near the border with Queensland. Beachgoers onshore raised the alarm to the lifeguards who then alerted the drone pilot, and the aerial lifesaver was deployed in moments.

Along with their ability to spot swimmers in trouble and deliver life saving devices faster than traditional lifesaving techniques, like launching surfboards or rubber dinghies, drones are being used in Australia to spot underwater predators like sharks and jellyfish. Artificial intelligence is being developed using thousands of images captured by a drone camera to build an algorithm that can identify different ocean objects. The software can differentiate between sea creatures, like sharks which it can recognize with more than 90 percent accuracy, compared to about 16 percent with the naked eye.

Comments

Re:I remember they trialled this on Bondi Rescue

[drago177]

It's obvious the jetski is by far more useful. But if it's a speed test, this doesn't seem fair. 1) They made the drone operator run from the watch tower 100ft to waterline. 2) The jetski was sitting there 8ft from water, 3) with a 4-wheeler 4) and a driver waiting to help him launch.

Re:I remember they trialled this on Bondi Rescue

[bgarcia]

The jetski won because:

• There were no 10 foot swells - the sea was as calm as could be in that "test". So the jetski could operate at full speed.
• The person in trouble was easily visible from shore. In 10 foot swells, a drone will have an easier time spotting a person in trouble far from shore.
• The drone was stationed at the beach, instead of at the lifeguard tower. So someone had to run from the tower to the drone first. That's silly.

The ideal situation would be to have a drone for spotting, with the capability to drop a flotation device, and have the jetski driver make use of the drone to determine where to go in rough seas.