MAI students invented an unmanned vehicle to rescue drowning people

Students of Moscow Aviation Institute are developing an unmanned system to prevent accidents on the water. It is designed to monitor potentially dangerous areas, detect victims and transport them to the shore. In a year, it is planned to start the testing of the prototype.

– I'm from the Kaliningrad region, it is near the Baltic Sea. In the local news, I often see reports of accidents on the water, and once I myself fell into a low tide, – says Dmitry Knyazev, the project initiator, student of Institute No. 1 "Aviation Technology" of Moscow Aviation Institute. “Our complex will simplify the work of rescuers and, I hope, will be able to save lives.

The mobile complex can be quickly deployed and work anywhere. It consists of an unmanned aerial system, unmanned surface vehicle and central station.

An unmanned aerial system is an aircraft with a camera that inspects the territory along a given route. Potentially dangerous situations are recognized using a neural network previously trained on marked photos, after which the pictures are sent to the central station, where the operator sees them.

If the operator confirms that a person is in trouble, an unmanned surface vehicle comes into play. Normally, it patrols the water area in parallel with an unmanned aircraft, transmitting data on ebb currents to the central station, which are also taken into account in the marking algorithm. Having received a signal, the surface vehicle moves towards the sinking one at a speed of approximately 60 km/h. Approaching at a distance of 4-5 meters, it switches to manual control mode. The anatomical shape of the rescue vessel allows a person to comfortably stay on it while towing to the shore. All this time, the operator communicates with the victim through the built-in speakers and microphone.

The central station is responsible for the exchange of information between all elements of the complex. It receives data from drones and organizes a Wi-Fi network to which the operator connects in order to control the devices through the application. You can also join this network via a web interface to monitor the progress of rescue work.

The team got the opportunity to implement their idea due to the UAV battle competition organized by the Aeromobility Directorate of MAI, where the guys won second place. The competition, held this spring, is designed to identify and support talented students, unleash their entrepreneurial potential and give impetus to the development of innovative ideas in the field of unmanned aerial systems. Held for the first time, UAV battle brought together student teams from six regions of Russia. In total, more than 40 projects took part in it, three of which were chosen by the expert group of Moscow Aviation Institute for full-time defense as the most interesting and promising for further implementation.

– Events like UAV battle create motivation for development, allow to find new ideas and enthusiastic like-minded people. The jury consisted of true professionals. They gave valuable comments about our project. In the future, the event allows you to join the community of people who are passionate about drones, which provides a solid basis for further development in this industry,” adds Nikolay Fedorovich, a team member, a student of Institute No. 1 “Aviation Technology”.