Mobile phone-detecting drones serve as disaster relief aids

This post is also available in: עברית (Hebrew)

US drone maker teams with European disaster relief firm to help make it easier to find victims in times of need US drone maker Sentinel Air is planning to co-develop an airborne wireless sensor that can detect mobile phone signals belonging to disaster victims. According to IT PRO, the company has teamed up with European disaster relief firm Disaster Tech Lab to develop and test the sensor, which will be mounted on an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) made by Sentinel Air.   Unmanned Systems Conference 2014 – Israel

This drone will be able to scan large areas where a disaster may have taken place and use geolocation technologies to pinpoint those who may have been trapped by floods, earthquakes and other forms of disaster that make it difficult for rescue workers to search on foot. The technology could also be used, the organizations have suggested, to establish which wireless networks are still up and running after a disaster has taken place. The latter is an area Disaster Tech Lab has extensive experience of, through the work it did with re-establishing communication networks in the wake of Hurricane Sandy in 2012.