UAS technology is helping the aid-effort in typhoon-hit Tacloban city, enabling relief teams to more efficiently search through debris, clear roads and assess damage. For the past 10 days, Swiss-based technology firm Danoffice IT has been deploying two Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), to scour the disaster zone and identify blocked roads and dead bodies.
The UAS can aid in search and rescue, body recovery and road clearance, Danoffice IT sales manager Liam Dawson said while demonstrating the device.
It can also aid displaced residents or clearing units in giving an overview of a damaged area, instead of walking or driving through debris.
Danoffice IT has been helping the United Nations, national relief teams and aid agencies with its UAS, developed in the last four years in Denmark.
The UAS fold away into a small case and are made from rugged plastic similar to that used in the popular children’s toy, Lego, which also originated in Denmark.
The unit has a maximum range of 2 kilometres (1.24 miles), can travel at altitudes of 40 centimetres (1.3 feet) to 150 metres (5 feet) above the ground, and runs on a battery for up to 25 minutes.
One relief team from South Korea turned to Dawson’s company after their own UAS broke down, deploying it to back up a sniffer dog unit.
“Body retrieval, depending on the zone, when the dogs find a person it’s not always in a very accessible zone, so this allows the rescuers to find the best possible and swiftest path possible to go and retrieve that body,” Dawson said.
The use of UAS in disaster zones is controversial, with critics saying loose regulation in developing countries allows firms to easily infringe privacy rights in many areas of crisis.
Dawson says the reaction from aid organisations has been overwhelming, with back-to-back bookings for his services.
“When organisations first saw it here, they thought it was a bit of a toy. But when they realised all the different uses you could do like body retrieval, road clearance, you name it, I think this is a tool that will be used in every future disaster,” Dawson told Reuters.
His company is not charging for the use of its UAS in the Philippines, but will encourage organisations that deploy it to buy one at a later date. Each aircraft costs $50,000.
Source: ABS