A device to detect human presence amidst rubble in disaster areas

Innovative drone technology with sensors for disaster rescue operations developed by engineering graduates from Adi Shankara Institute.

A drone fitted with customised sensors capable of capturing the body’s natural frequency could prove a game-changer in search and rescue operations in disaster sites such as landslide-hit Wayanad, according to a four-member group of engineering graduates from Adi Shankara Institute of Engineering, Kalady.

The innovation was part of their final-year project, titled ‘Advanced technology for human detection and localisation in disaster rubble’. Anandhakrishnan B., Haritha H., Omprakash Unnikrishnan E. and Abhilash K.N. chose the project after bouncing as many as 25 ideas among them.

“Our product assumes significance considering the increasing frequency of disasters since 2018. Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) and thermal inspection, which is increasingly deployed at disaster sites, have its own limitations, which came to light recently in the case of the search for the missing truck driver, Arjun, in Shirur in Karnataka,” said Mr. Anandhakrishnan.

That is what prompted the team to come up with drone-based technology combined with sensors, dropping platforms and GPR lodged on a water-resistant rover system.

When the disaster area to be covered in a search and rescue operation is limited, the dropping facility helps to drop either dart-like pointers or even smoke canisters to guide the rescuers on the ground to the bodies, dead or alive, they detect beneath the ground. Lasers come in handy when the area to be covered is vast.

“With our limited resources, we could only afford to facilitate a payload of just 5 kg but it can be customised on demand. Apart from deployment in disaster sites, it has military utility like reconnaissance and mine detection. The National Disaster Response Force had evinced interest after our college reached out to them,” said Mr. Anandhakrishnan.