Enhancing
Public Safety in Hawaiian Waters with UAS
Hawaii
welcomes over seven million visitors each year who partake in many activities
throughout the islands. In a five year study at the Queens Memorial Hospital
researchers found that almost 23% of the 8244 admitted patients had
water-related injuries. Visitors comprise only 12.6% of the population at any
given day but accounts for over 44% of total admissions in hospitals for
water-related injuries, “water-related injury rates are significantly higher for
Hawai'i's visitors than residents” (Ho, Speck, & Kumasaki, 2009) . Although the
Hawaiian Government, through its Ocean Safety and Lifeguard Services Division
(OS&LSD), exerts great effort in ensuring coverage of the most popular
swimming areas it cannot cover every stretch of beach or body of water. Some of
the most popular swimming, snorkeling, surfing, boarding, kayaking,
wind-surfing, and diving spots are beyond sight of manned lifeguard posts, a
few that are completely off the beaten path attract some because of its
seclusion and the challenge it brings to the adventurous spirit of others. Add
to this the growing number of water-related companies catering to tourists and
locals alike, the chances of incidents and accidents ebb and flow with the tide
of tourists who come to enjoy the warmth and Aloha of Hawaii. Clearly there is
a need to augment and help the OS&LSD perform its duties to ensure water
safety for the masses. This is where unmanned aerial systems (UAS) come in.
There are
many discussions about the numerous uses of UAS outside the military. Civilian
practical applications of UAS are growing; perhaps one area where UAS will be
of benefit is to augment lifeguards. UAS can patrol lengthy coastlines and beaches
beyond sight of lifeguard towers; it can issue warnings before swimmers get
into dangerous situations, or even drop flotation devices to those in distress.
One such design is a Pars UAS made by RTS Ideas. The Pars drone underwent
testing at the Caspian Sea in August 2013. It can deliver a number of life
vests or flotation devices it carries as payload; can fly for 10 minutes at a
speed of up to 7.5 meters per second and at a range of about 4.5 km. The Pars
is light and inexpensive; it uses bright LEDs for illumination and to make it
visible during night operations. Launch and recovery is possible from land or
from a boat. RTS hopes to make its drone available in the near future 
Surf Life
Saving Australia is testing various UAS to aid in patrolling its vast coastline
and beaches. Partnering with an Australian company, V-TOL Aerospace, various
platforms are in consideration to help patrol Australia’s 11,000 beaches (World's first ’Eye in the sky’ boosts beach safety,
2014) .
V-TOL Aerospace’s 1m wingspan “mini-Warrigal” and its 2.1m wingspan “Warrigal
Explorer” can provide surveillance search and rescue support to lifesavers. The
V-TOL “Arrow” is a 5m long heavy lift VTOL platform capable of carrying 100kg
payload such as advanced sensors or rafts and other lifesavers. V-TOL also has
quad rotor and octocopters in its lineup of UAS platforms, all sold as a system
consisting of the aerial platform, cameras and software, ground station with
its associated software systems and a launcher. When used together with manned
search and rescue platforms these UAS systems provide extended lifeguard
coverage capable of dropping life saving devices, detecting watercraft
accidents, spotting predators, and notifying lifeguards to respond to
emergencies (Unmanned Aircraft Systems: Aerial Robotic Devices, 2014) .
Using UAS to
safeguard the public is not without challenges. Considerations for financing,
training, regulatory requirements and restrictions, legal and ethical use must
be addressed before UAS can take to the skies. Procurement, training,
maintenance, lifecycle management, and operational costs can be a major factor
in employing UAS for lifeguard purposes which usually rely on local government
funding. Will the benefits of using UAS outweigh the cost when compared to
hiring more lifeguards and building more lifeguard towers?
Lifeguards,
or operators of UAS in lifeguard duties, must also carefully consider which
role UAS will play in the performance
of their duties, whether it is patrolling or surveillance duties only or
limited lifesaving duties such as dropping life vests, to search and rescue
missions using bigger UAS platforms. Safety considerations are always a factor
when operating any machinery around people. Lifeguards must ensure flight paths
are as far away as possible from general public or structures to minimize
damages or injury in case of failure. Privacy concerns will also surface, most
likely from private personal dwellings close to observation areas than from
beachgoers. The possibility of vulnerability to hacking is also a concern in
both catastrophic failure and privacy encroachment scenarios. Along with proper
training and operations, secure encrypted communications and system reliability
are vital in UAS to prevent legal ramifications from impeding its widespread use
in public safety and lifesaving duties around our Moana.
References
Ho, H.,
Speck, C., & Kumasaki, J. (2009, December). Visitor Injuries in Hawaii.
Retrieved from PubMed.Gov: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20034256
Pars Tests at
Caspian Sea. (2013, October 13). Retrieved from RTS Ideas:
http://rtsideas.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=7:pars-test-at-caspian-sea&lang=en
Unmanned Aircraft
Systems: Aerial Robotic Devices. (2014, April 30). Retrieved from V-TOL
Aerospace: http://www.v-tol.com/page/unmanned-aircraft-systems/default.asp
World first ’Eye in
the sky’ boosts beach safety. (2014, April 30). Retrieved from Surf Life
Saving Australia:
http://sls.com.au/content/world-first-%E2%80%99eye-sky%E2%80%99-boosts-beach-safety
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