UAE students' drone can help save people from drowning

Students of Ajman University in association with Microsoft have developed a drone programme that can save people drowning in the sea even without the help of a lifeguard.

Five students from Ajman University’s engineering department combined Microsoft-enabled technology and fitted it into a drone, customising it to develop the programme.

Speaking to Emirates24|7, Mateen Tahseen - leader of the programme - said by incorporating the Microsoft Kinect and developing a programme into it, the team managed to successfully incorporate both the features into a life-saving machine.

The drone, equipped with a Kinect and a Surface Pro device will not only carry a tube but be able to detect individuals in distress and deliver the tube.

“With its night vision capabilities, it can even be deployed at night. It works faster and can be used to save critical time. It takes longer for lifeguards to reach a person drowning may be 20 to 30 metres inside the sea. The drone can reach there within seconds,” said Tahseen.

Desert search

The drone can also be used to detect those lost in the desert. “Its capacity to detect human beings will go  a long way it making the system adoptable to various rescue situations. What’s more the drone can even detect sound and heartbeat, the latter from a distance of up to two metres,” he added, thereby making the drone ideal in times of disaster.

This is not the first such project by the students of Ajman University.

“About two years ago, we had worked on a similar project for Ajman Immigration, where the drone was capable of recording videos of major border posts and simultaneously relaying it to different stations,” he added.

The students say they would continue to work with Microsoft in developing further advanced solutions in other areas.

At least three people were killed and 95 others injured in separate drowning related incidents in Ajman alone until end-July 2014 compared to four drowning related deaths in 2013. Dubai, too, saw two drowning related deaths this year compared to three in 2013. With several unmonitored beaches along the Northern Emirates, the deployment of drones could go a long way in saving people's lives.

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