Coming to a break near you! Photo: Paul Jones
Instead of buzzing around above the lineup, disrupting the serenity at sea or whatever else you have grown to appreciate about surfing, two Australian students of the Australian Institute of Innovation at Wollongong University have figured out a way to put drones to good, potentially lifesaving use. According to a report by 7 News, the Nicolas Roach and Leo Stevens have won an innovation award for developing a drone that carries a floating device by use of magnets to swimmers in distress, releasing the device via remote control.
“I think where this drone will shine is in really big swell,” Stevens told the Yahoo! affiliate. “[In] rough conditions where it is very difficult for a very strong swimmer to make [their] way out through the surf. Having this to be able to fly over and deliver the tube straight away gives you the time to perform the rescue as you want.”
The Aussies hope to have the drones operating at beaches as soon as this summer, and have already caught the eye of Surf Lifesaving Australia.
“I think it does have a place; it’s very practical and could become just like any other piece of equipment,” he said in an interview with Illwarra Mercury. “It would be set up at the start of patrol, and lifeguards would be trained in how to use it if there is trouble.”
Now, this isn’t the first of its kind: late last year, The Verge covered Pars, a “multirotor drone designed to carry and drop floatation aids to people in trouble,” developed by Tehran, Iran-based RTS Lab and then being tested in the Caspian Sea.
According to the lab, the drone successfully “saved” swimmers stranded 75 meters offshore in 22 seconds, nearly 50 seconds faster than a human lifeguard.
Whichever makes it to market first, we’re glad to know that the future of lifeguarding is in good hands… or whatever you call those mechanical arms.
