New Phantom Accessory Can Save Lives

[billrockus]

It's called Project Ryptide. It's a device that you can attach to a DJI Phantom that will deliver an automatically inflating life preserver to a swimmer in trouble in just a few seconds. After a year of development and testing the product is finally available to the general public. You can find it on Kickstarter here:

http://kck.st/1D5UHol

The device weighs less than 400 grams and attaches to a Phantom in just a few seconds. It uses the Gimbal level to deploy. To use it, you just fly over the person who needs the life preserver and slide the gimbal lever to deploy.

Here's a preview of it in action: https://youtu.be/FFllAOjRj-4

Take a look when you have a chance.

 

[Jacob]

Efforts like these really help give our industry a good public view. Thank you.

 

[knuckles]

great idea. I hope lifeguard and other groups will recognize the usefulness.

 

[Uncle Meat]

So what is the person in need of the life preserver supposed to do while the drone sits there waiting for satellite lock? Tread water I suppose....

U.M.

 

[Meta4]

The customer better be close to the operator too.
It's not easy to position a Phantom close over a target at a distance.
It might sound good but there are lots of practical issues that make this unlikely to be much use.

 

[GoodnNuff]

I suppose the person struggling would do the same thing waiting for the drone as he/she would do while waiting for a life guard to grab a life preserver and swim out to the victim, however with the drone, the wait would be shorter.

And Meta4, since this isn't strictly a "Phantom" device, and since most new companies are including a video display screen on their radios, your concerns are probably almost moot.

 

[sbarton]

If there was a way to keep Fpv, this would be much more useful for accurate deployment. I'm sure it can be done.

 

[Meta4]

And Meta4, since this isn't strictly a "Phantom" device, and since most new companies are including a video display screen on their radios, your concerns are probably almost moot.

Not at all.
Having tried to position my Phantom (with the benefit of FPV) over something the size of a swimmer, a couple of hundred metres out in the sea, I have a very good idea of how hard it really is.
I had the benefit of a lookout position on a 100 ft cliff but it took weeks of attempts to get this photo.

And I also had the benefit of a year's flying experience.
I could put the Phantom down where it looked to be right above the target but FPV most times would only show empty water - that is when I could see at all because glare is another problem.

If you want to have your life saved by a safety drone you will have to make sure you:
Only swim within ~250 metres of the safety drone
The safety drone operator has a high lookout point
The operator has had extensive practice dropping on target
The drone is ready to be deployed and the experienced operator is right there too

These feelgood safety drone ideas sound good but getting results from them is a lot harder than it appears at first glance.

 

[Larry L]

So what is the person in need of the life preserver supposed to do while the drone sits there waiting for satellite lock? Tread water I suppose....

U.M.

That is exactly what I was thinking. I guess they will fly in ATTI. The inspire on the other hand is ready to fly almost immediatly. Also with camera out front further, for FPV, might be a better option for this.pretty cool idea. Hope it works out for them.

 

[johan]

So what is the person in need of the life preserver supposed to do while the drone sits there waiting for satellite lock? Tread water I suppose....

U.M.

The first airplanes ever built weren't practical for any application. Where would we be now if everyone just abandoned that idea back then? There are still problems that need to be solved but this is a start toward a practical real world application for this technology. Kudos to them for trying.

BTW, am I the only one that noticed the girl in that youtube video seems to be naked? She doesn't need a life preserver, she just needs her bikini back.