A Comprehensive Breakdown of What ‘The Commercial UAV Show 2016’ Had to Offer Search and Rescue

Please note: the technical term for drones – ‘unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)’ – will be used throughout this blog post.

INTRODUCTION:

Recently, like many of you may have, I attended The Commercial UAV Show 2016 in London. It was great to see an entire seminar set up for presentations from a variety of Emergency Services on day one, a vast improvement upon the previous two years. Although, one thing is still certain, the language used by unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) professionals does not easily translate into search and rescue (SAR) vernacularism. Both very technical and specialised languages; the ability to understand both sides is a key strength to The SkyBound Rescuer Project.

Perhaps you attended the show as a SAR professional but missed out on vital information due to convoluted “tech terms” being thrown at you. Hence, this blog post has been written with the express aim of bringing clarity to the bombardment of technical UAV language used throughout the presentations, display stands, and – no doubt – the endless stack of UAV literature that was handed to you.

All interview responses were collated, vital information from copious amounts of hand-outs was extracted, further information was retrieved via email or by visiting company websites, and much more. The result: an easy to read guide on the very best The Commercial UAV Show 2016 had to offer the world of SAR, along with explanations of key terms used throughout the literature from the show. Only the top 5 UAVs for SAR have been included, followed by a UAV comparison competition. Payloads and other product types that hold great potential for SAR have also been described. A comparison competition of the thermal imaging cameras has been constructed. And finally, potential combined solutions with example uses have been included. In short, any displayed product at the show that could be used within the emergency services to great effect, has been scrutinised and evaluated for your information; allowing you to easily apply this knowledge to your SAR practices.

CONTENTS:

Given the amount of information involved within this research post, the individual evaluations have been broken up into separate posts. This page will help you to easily navigate through the information:

UAV ANALYSIS:

PAYLOAD ANALYSIS:

SUPPLEMENTARY PRODUCT ANALYSIS:

COMBINED SOLUTIONS:

READ MORE POSTS:

WHAT’S NEXT?

Closing Portland’s Coast Guard Helicopter Base May Lead to Deaths: Could Drones Be The Answer? Subscribe to be notified as soon as it goes live.

If you have anything to add or questions to ask or recommendations for future research blog posts, please don’t hesitate to use the comment section below. AND don’t forget to email subscribe, so you’re always up-to-date with the world of SAR UAVs!

REFERENCES:

Aeryon Labs Inc., 2016. Aeryon sUAS Fire & Emergency Response Applications. [Brochure]. Canada: Aeryon Labs Inc.

Aeryon Labs Inc., 2016. HDZOOM30 Imaging Payload. [Brochure] Canada: Aeryon Labs Inc.

Aeryon Labs Inc., 2016. SR-EO/IR Mk2 Imaging Payload. [Brochure]. Canada: Aeryon Labs Inc.

Aeryon Live, 2016. Real-time Distribution of UAS Video and Telemetry. [Brochure]. Canada: Aeryon Labs Inc.

Davis Instruments, N/A. Thermal Imaging Technical Resource [online]. USA: Davis Instruments. Available from: http://www.davis.com/Assets/MoreInfo/ThermalImagingTechResource.pdf [Accessed 01 November 2016]

DSM&T, N/A. Ingress Protection (IP) and what it means. DSM&T [online]. Available from: http://www.dsmt.com/resources/ip-rating-chart/ [Accessed 01 November 2016]

FLIR, 2016. Infrared Camera Accuracy and Uncertainty in Plain Language. FLIR [online], 12 April 2016. Available from: http://www.flir.eu/science/blog/details/?ID=74935 [Accessed 01 November 2016]

FLIR, N/A. With Thermal Cameras, Image Matters [online]. USA: FLIR. Available from: http://www.flir.com/uploadedFiles/CVS_Americas/Security_-_NEW/Case_Studies/App-Notes-Image-Quality.pdf [Accessed 01 November 2016]

Flydeo, 2016. FLYDEO. [Brochure]. Czech Republic: Flydeo.

Globe UAV, N/A. G-UAV. Globe UAV [online]. Available from: http://www.g-uav.com/ [Accessed 01 November 2016]

Hessen Schafft Wissen, 2016. Wingcopter Hybrid Speed Drone. [Brochure]. Germany: Hessen Schafft Wissen.

IR InformIR Blog, 2012. What does Sensitivity (NETD) mean when applied to a Thermal Imager? IR InformIR Blog [online], 14 May 2012. Available from: http://irinformir.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/what-does-sensitivity-netd-mean-when.html?m=1 [Accessed 01 November 2016]

NiFast, N/A. Do You Know What Will Not Burn In A House Fire? NiFast [online]. Available from: http://www.nifast.org/blog/07/do-you-know-what-will-not-burn-in-a-house-fire/ [Accessed 01 November 2016]

Opgal, N/A. Opgal, Beyond the Visible. Opgal [online]. Available from: http://www.opgal.com/ [Accessed 01 November 2016]

Optirs, 2016. Infrared Cameras. [Brochure]. Germany: Optris. BR-E2016-08-A.

Optirs, 2016. Optris PI LightWeight Technical Data. [Brochure]. Germany: Optris. E2016-08-A.

OSA, 2008. High Performance Infrared Focal Plane Arrays [online]. USA: OSA. Available from: http://www.photonics.ucla.edu/host/ieee_photonics_la/documents/James_Beletic_OPN.pdf [Accessed 01 November 2016]

Rainford Solutions, N/A. IP Enclosure Ratings & Standards Explained. Rainford Solutions [online]. Available from: http://www.rainfordsolutions.com/ip-enclosure-ratings-and-standards [Accessed 01 November 2016]

SPH Engineering, 2016. AIRMAST TETHERED DRONE SYSTEM. [Brochure] SPH Engineering.

Wikipedia, 2016. Infrared. Wikipedia [online]. Available from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrared#cite_note-Byrnes-11 [Accessed 01 November 2016]

Workswell, 2016. Workswell WIRIS. [Brochure]. Czech Republic: Workswell.

Yuneec, 2016. CGO-ET THERMAL INFRARED AND LOW LIGHT CAMERA. [Brochure]. London: Yuneec

Yuneec, 2016. Yuneec Electric Aviation. [Brochure] London: Yuneec.

IMAGE SOURCES:

http://vulcanuav.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/CUAV-2015.png

http://www.iqworkforce.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Thought-Leadership.jpg

http://www.idemmo.lu/site/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Signs-Time-To-Look-for-New-Job.jpg

http://pr-cy.ru/news/upload/119632/images/691ac52e4b8ea41008a7375d9a6f45f7.jpg

http://i1.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/incoming/article783233.ece/ALTERNATES/s615/C_71_article_1313868_image_list_image_list_item_4_image.jpg

http://www.sgs.com/-/media/global/images/structural-website-images/hero-images/transportation-hero.jpg?la=en&hash=369C26687BE777124FBE1AA29209406B19D6D591