Drones To The Rescue

 In recent news, researchers from the Dalle Molle Institute for Artificial Intelligence, the University of Zurich Switzerland, have developed search and rescue drones. Currently the Institute has been able to create drones that can self navigate through forest trails, and with an 85% accuracy distinguish man made trails. Unlike conventional navigation methonds, these drones use cameras instead of sensors to interpret the environment around them. Special software and data interpreting techniques were developed to create highly accurate and smart navigation algorithms for the drones. The goal is to one day deploy thousands of these tiny quad-copters among forest trails to cover a vast area in order to search for lost hikers. The technology is not fully developed yet, but it is projected that in the following years these drones will be implemented in the Swiss trails along side forest guards to locate hikers.