Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IITM) students have developed an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based tool for disaster relief operations, utilizing drones with swarm intelligence for collecting data and analyzing the same in real-time.

A team from Centre for Innovation (CFI) is building drones enabled with AI and computer vision to develop a tool for identifying accurate and critical information about people trapped in disaster-hit areas and communicate the information to relief agencies.

The new tool could be used for conducting aerial survey, providing food, drinking water, medical and safety aids to affected populations. Apart from disaster relief and humanitarian services, it can also help rebuild communication channels and can provide navigation support.

The new tool could be used for conducting aerial survey, providing food, drinking water, medical and safety aids to affected populations.

It is equipped with deep learning technology, which detects people from very high and low altitudes and takes count of number of people seen and marks density of people on map and sends to authorities. The system is also helpful in identifying unconscious or trapped victims and signalling the information to rescuers. Autonomous Mission Execution by drone is another unique feature of the technology. The tool can even detect people buried under debris with just a part of the body is visible.

“The ‘eye in the sky’ will be a powerful tool for saving lives and providing succour during disaster relief and humanitarian aid operations”, says Lt. Gen. (retd) P.R. Shankar, faculty advisor of the team.

“We propose to use a team of drones which can scan the entire disaster-affected region in just a few minutes, analyze, and provide critical data that could potentially save lives”, said Ayush Parasbhai Maniar, member of the research team.
India Science Wire