The revolutionary tech that is helping save more lives

The “Lifesaver” drones flew simultaneously along the coast in October from locations in Australia such as the Gold Coast, Port Macquarie, Newcastle, to Little Manly Point on Sydney Harbour.

Advanced Navigation has delivered the Cloud Ground Control, which allows the remote to control up to 1,000 drones at a time from a web browser network. According to the Ripper Corporation, Advanced Navigation approached the company as a partner due to its “reputation for pioneering search and rescue drones”. In January 2018, a Little Ripper drone performed its first marine rescue, saving two people swimming in Lennox Head in NSW. After a distress call came through about their risked safety, Little Ripper quickly deployed the drone as it detected them in the water and dropped an inflatable to assist the swimmers in returning to shore.

“The technology makes drone operations safer by enabling a remote operator to monitor many drone operations simultaneously, ensuring safety and efficiently handling emergency situations,” the company said. The user can monitor and control the drone in real time using a web browser, accessing real-time position, live camera footage and other data.

Its key features include:

• Monitor and control up to 1,000 drones from a web browser.
• High security with strong end-to-end encryption.
• No drone or technical knowledge needed.
• Connects to your drones over 4G/5G networks.
• Access using a web browser from any internet-connected device.

While many contributing factors apply, successful emergency operations can often be tied to situational awareness. With this comes faster responses to emergencies, according to the company. The control centre can access live camera streams from multiple drones and direct locations to assess what is happening everywhere. It can also launch floatation pods, shark shield devices and sea marker dye for drones to detect swimmers in trouble quickly. The Cloud Ground Control can also run Ripper Corp’s SharkSpotter AI and CrocSpotter AI, distinguishing between humans and boats to see animals more efficiently. The drone can be connected to the platform using a smartphone app or a small 4G/5G modem and requires no training to use.

Sensor integration pod: Globally made product

While drones are vastly beneficial to the emergency services industry, using real aircraft is vital to many missions, especially in extreme cases. In November, announced at the Dubai Airshow was a trilateral collaboration between Australian company Sentient Vision Systems, Austrian-based Airborne Technologies GmbH and UAE/UK-based Phoenix Aerospace. Together, they have created a sensor integration pod for search and rescue missions.

The AW-139 ViDAR (visual detection and ranging) SCAR (self-contained aerial reconnaissance) pod can be fitted onto an aircraft, equipped with an inbuilt artificial intelligence and computer vision software that can scan up to 300 times greater search coverage than aircraft without it. It scans the 180-degree electro-optic and/or infra-red sensor’s imagery feed that detects targets “invisible to a human operator”, making it also beneficial for nighttime rescue missions.

According to industry research, the global airborne ISR market is expected to be worth US$34.20 billion by 2026, up almost US$10 billion in comparison with 2020. The pod – which was recently demonstrated on a Diamond Aircraft in Belgium – will carry both ultra-high-resolution day and night cameras, processing hardware and the fully integrated system. “The ViDAR SCAR-pod is easily installed to the airframe, providing a highly efficient autonomous search capability that can detect targets that radars cannot find,” according to a press release.

The pods can be integrated for:

• Search and rescue operations at sea.
• Military intelligence and surveillance operations.
• Police detection and prevention of illegal activities, including smuggling of contraband, narcotics interdiction, anti-piracy and illegal fishing.
• Border protection and detection of migrant activity.

“Night vision goggles turn the night into day”: Coulson Aviation

While many would believe fighting fires at night would be a more difficult task, it has proven highly beneficial due to typically lower temperatures and decreased winds. According to Coulson Aviation, an aerial firefighting company in Australia, fires at night are far easier to contain, which improves the effectiveness of water-bombing. “In many ways, experience has demonstrated that aerial firefighting at night is less complex than during day operations,” the company told Australian Aviation. “There are fewer aircraft to see and avoid, less distraction from excessive radio traffic, and fire conditions often improve suppression opportunities due to lower temperatures and higher humidity.”

But what comes with night firefighting is the inevitable prohibitor: darkness. Coulson is revolutionising how fires are battled at night, from developing its night vision goggles, which were inspired by the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires in Victoria, where firefighters were frustrated that they were forced to stop operations at night. According to the company, the technology allows pilots to “clearly see the terrain, other aircraft, ground crew and targeted drop zones”. It added, “Night vision goggles turn the night into day for the pilots.”

While the goggles are one tool to continue operations at night, it falls under the umbrella of Coulson’s Night Vision Fire Operations, which also includes hover filling and command aircraft, trialled in 2016 with the Victoria Police. Hover filling of water tanks on helicopters is an efficient technique that allows aircraft to fill up without having to land, saving exponential amounts of time. Typically, helicopters will land at a designated site as it fills up its tank on the ground before returning to the fire and water-bombing. “Turnaround times for aircraft are important for effective fire suppression,” Coulson said. “Filling from open water sources means a helitanker can refill in two minutes and head straight back to the fire without landing.”

The third NVG is command aircraft equipped with technology that assists through a more thorough outlook of hazards and critical geographic information.

Camera technology utilises a FLIR 380HD, which incorporates three cameras, being:

• High-definition CCTV;
• Low light;
• Thermal infrared.

These are supported by:

• A high-powered laser pointer that can identify the water fill locations, ideal drop zone(s) for the firebombing aircraft.
• CarteNav AIMS-HD ISR software.

These assist with the command aircraft to identify safety issues, the location of the fire, effective water-bombing and an ideal dropping zone.

While hundreds of other technologies are being integrated into the industry, it is refreshing to see Australia continue to break through barriers that have long obstructed succeeding in deadly missions.