am exploring options for a quadcopter for emergency/disaster operations. As the Director for Emergency Management for Hempfield Township, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, USA; I feel this technology can potentially be used to save lives or prevent harm to others. Some examples of the application of quadcopters for emergency management I can see are: Search and Rescue Would require night vision and infrared optics HazMat Instead of sending people to read the placard, send a quadcopter Police Similar to search and rescue, but for the “bad guys” Code Enforcement/Inspections Building and bridge inspection without placing a person on a ladder or other potentially dangerous situation Emergency Management Situational awareness Damage assessment after disaster Fire Better view of incident Infrared can locate area of fire, thus an efficient use of resources These are just a few situations I can see quacopters applied within public safety to either take the risk from human life or efficiently manage resources. The problem is commercially available quadcopters designed for these application in mind were developed for the military and have a price tag near or above $15,000. THAT is not within my budget. I am reaching out to your forum to see if someone can guide me towards a reasonably priced solution or other scenario. I see this becoming a tool used frequently by public safety in the future and now is its infancy. Some specification I would suggest for a public safety quadcopter: Flight time = at least 45 minutes Removable battery for quick change on the scene for extended operations. FPV (First Person View) for “pilot” that is recordable Second Camera that is able to stream (and movable) to a laptop for real-time viewing Other specifications I would like, but not 100% needed: Intrinsically safe electrically (so it would not ignite flammable gasses) Have a two way speaker system to the pilot, or other person, could speak from the quadcopter to a crowd, etc and hear what they are saying. For example: Search and Rescue – the pilot can ask the lost person if they are injured and give instructions to the lost person. So, anyone out there know where I can find this or is there anyone out there able to build one? I do not have a large budget, but would be willing to partner to advertise and promote your product within the industry! Please contact me: Robert G. Gerlach Director of Emergency Management, Hempfield Township rgerlach@hempfieldema.com 724-834-7232, ext. 107
Robert, I'll let others provide their own answers - but to be very general...many companies are working on "purpose built" machines for the more complicated efforts such as fire and search and rescue (infrared sensors, etc.) and I expect quite a few to come onto the market in the coming year or two. BUT, if and when these are available, you can bet that the price tag will be high. This is simply because they are not mass produced and the customers (you) require a lot of support compared to the customer who just buys and flies. As far as flight time - you need to reconsider that criteria based on each specific task you expect the quadcopter to accomplish. In many case, 5 minutes is more than enough - and many quadcopters now do 15-20 minutes. That's a really long time - it only takes a few seconds to, for example, go to the top of a 2 or 3 story structure - leaving vast amounts of time to hover around and inspect and send back images. Most of those applications are within the realm of adding onto or as-is functions of some of the stock quadcopters on the market - as an example, the Phantom 2 Vision (not the +, which has a more fragile camera) would do a lot of the basic inspection and can take video's and stills, be programmed to follow GPS (around a building or field, etc.) and you could certainly add various types of microphones. IMHO, you should take the following steps.... 1. Contact 3D Robotics and ask them if they know of anyone who is developing these types of add-ons using their basic flight controllers or multi-rotors. They tend to have a large technical community and are doing various types of R&D. 2. Follow and subscribe to some of the newsletters and site which represent the more professional end of UAV's - http://www.suasnews.com/ this site has a section for UAV's for fire, police, rescue. Follow them and related others on twitter - often the first place you can find far flung links about new stuff. 3. Start becoming familiar with the basic operation of quadcopters. This may mean purchasing a unit which you can fly "bare" and then slowly add a camera and perhaps other devices (if it survives your learning experience). I can then become one part of your fleet. I'd suggest a bare Phantom 2 ($750) as perhaps a well priced unit to learn on - although we always suggest you fly a couple toy quads also just to get the idea of how the sticks work (if no previous R/C experience). No matter what comes along in the future - you have to still know the basic - safety, limitations, possibilities, etc - this is much easier once you get some hands-on. Good Luck.... Craig
I noticed some examples of search and rescue testing as well as fire fighting (forest) testing at the DJI FB page. Another thing for you to monitor as far as possibilities. https://www.facebook.com/DJIglobal
I have answered / addressed some of your wants, needs, and concerns in italics below. Search and Rescue Would require night vision and infrared optics Has been done with FLIR cameras (forward looking infra red), cost of camera is high. HazMat Instead of sending people to read the placard, send a quadcopter Police Similar to search and rescue, but for the “bad guys” Code Enforcement/Inspections Building and bridge inspection without placing a person on a ladder or other potentially dangerous situation Emergency Management Situational awareness Damage assessment after disaster Fire Better view of incident Infrared can locate area of fire, thus an efficient use of resources All of the above has been done in military versions of UAS's, cost can be reduced by having a "mission specific" UAS built for each application. All in one versions will bring costs up. The problem is commercially available quadcopters designed for these application in mind were developed for the military and have a price tag near or above $15,000. THAT is not within my budget. There are lower cost military UAS's availible, but again mission specific types are what keeps the cost down. Some specification I would suggest for a public safety quadcopter: Flight time = at least 45 minutes Removable battery for quick change on the scene for extended operations. Longer flight times mean bigger batteries, this reduces payload capacity so you may lose one or more needed features depending upon mission. You need to keep the UAS's weight down to achieve longer flight times as well so less features. Again a mission specific UAS is the way to go. FPV (First Person View) for “pilot” that is recordable Second Camera that is able to stream (and movable) to a laptop for real-time viewing Possible issue is too many transmitters on the UAS, this can lead to reduced flight distance and / or losing control of the UAS. Lower frequency transmitters 900 Mhz to 1.8 Ghz have longer transmission distance where higher frequencies 5.8 Ghz have less obstetrical penetration and less transmission distance. Along with the flight controllers (RC transmitter / receiver) frequency being 2.4 Ghz you could get lots of issues running all three on on UAS. The added weight of the transmitters will also reduce flight time. A dual video feed transmitter (or more feed) is a possible solution, but costs more than two single video feed transmitters. You would have one monitor with multiple video views on it, similar to a security video system monitor. You could switch between views. Other specifications I would like, but not 100% needed: Intrinsically safe electrically (so it would not ignite flammable gasses). Moving propellers in the air also creates static electricity build up, this will also be a concern and one that is not easily addressed. Have a two way speaker system to the pilot, or other person, could speak from the quadcopter to a crowd, etc and hear what they are saying. For example: Search and Rescue – the pilot can ask the lost person if they are injured and give instructions to the lost person. In flight this is an issue as the amplifier required adds weight and the speaker can effect the GPS and / or magnetometer (compass) of the flight control system, but has been done by having a "mobile radio" as a payload that can be delivered to the person. I recommend looking at what you "need to have" and "want to have". Then coming up with the mission each UAS will need to accomplish. It is entirely possible to have one UAS airframe that can accept mission modules for each type of need. The modules would be attached to the airframe as needed. This will keep your initial cost down while allowing you to have new modules built as a new mission need is identified.
Here is one developed with our tax money which is supposed to be in a reasonable price range - and, it's mil-spec and good for high winds. Let us know if you find anything out..... http://www.psitactical.com/product.html According to this story, it's been approved by the FAA for inspection for an energy company: http://www.uasvision.com/2014/07/04/faa-approves-first-unmanned-quadrotor/
Robert, keep an eye on this one. They have models for "thrifty" agencies in the works. http://ashimadevices.com/
