mmalabanan
MANILA, Philippines. Seeking to improve search and rescue operations in the country particularly during nighttime, three Filipino inventors have created Project Kwago, a search and rescue drone specializing in night operations.
Kwago, which is a semifinalist at the 2016 Drones for Good Awards in the United Arab Emirates, was created by a team of Pinoy inventors composed of Mac Eugenio, a hobbyist and video editor; Ari Trofeo, a freelance cameraman; and Vince Villena, a software architect.
”’Kwago’ is a search and rescue drone specializing in night operations. It is equipped with a thermal camera to detect heat signatures from the ground,” said Eugenio in a video explaining Project Kwago.
The drone which can be safely flown around full-size aircraft has pattern recognition, collision avoidance, auto take-off and landing as well as sonar capabilities. It has an app-based system which allows its creators to come up with apps which Kwago can use for other relevant purposes.
Once a particular location has been identified for search, Kwago begins its search task by doing a high-altitude sweep of the area at about 400 feet. The drone will attempt to identify and thermal signatures from the ground which will then be marked by the system. After this, Kwago will conduct a low-altitude scan of the area at about 40 to 50 feet to detect the exact location of the identified heat signatures. The ground station or the rescuer nearest to the location will then receive the coordinates from Kwago in real time.
Kwago has the option to train a beam of light on top of the subject or mark and submit the coordinates of the scan to the ground station and continue the search. The drone can also save rescuers time by moving on to the next target area if no heat signature is identified.
The Pinoy inventors will be awarded US$1,000,000 in funding to reproduce the drone if Kwago wins the competition.
