When drones aren’t making our lives hell by crashing into nearby trees, they are actually doing some real good around the world.
Over the weekend a video was shared showing New Delhi engineer Milind Raj rescuing a tiny puppy which had become trapped in a deep drain by the side of the road.
The engineer was able to take mock up a rudimentary claw and harness within just six hours and then lift the puppy to safety using his drone.
Using his experience in AI and robotics he used his own six-rotor drone as the starting point. From there he built a claw with in-built sensors to help monitor the puppy’s heart-rate and thus make sure the claw wasn’t gripping it too tight.
Once he had completed the prototype he was ready to begin the rescue operation. According to Raj the puppy was in a state of shock after falling in and so he was able to loop the harness around it with relative ease.
If you think a drone can only be used for saving small infant animals then you would be grossly mistaken.
Earlier this year video footage was released showing one of Australia’s lifeguard drones successfully helping to rescue two swimmers who found themselves caught in rough seas in New South Wales.
The drone, part of Australia’s ‘Little Ripper’ fleet of lifesaving drones, was being used as part of a training exercise when a call came in that two swimmers were reportedly struggling in the heavy surf.
Within minutes of the alert supervisor Jai Sheridan was able to find the two swimmers, hover above them and then deploy the inflatable life raft.