I am happy they were found, but I often wonder if I would live out my "Castaway on the Moon" fantasy or make a giant SOS if I found myself in this predicament.
Men rescued from Pacific island after writing SOS in sand
21–30 of 123 posts
Re: Men rescued from Pacific island after writing SOS in sand
#22Earlier quoted context omitted.
Or... a dude in a helicopter with FLIR? Sometimes, low tech is best, honestly. Of course they already have that. The problem isn't coverage usually, it's density of the terrain features and vegetation, and an unknown search radius in some cases. That, and unprepared people with no way to signal a search vehicle if one comes near. That's a human problem though, not a tech problem.
Sure. It's the unknown search radius, availability of pilots, human factors, as well as the greater ability of a drone to self (or with human intervention) track in to greater resolution that makes me wonder if this is doable. Get the helicopter with a flir camera, but also send out 50 quadcopters or uavs as a force multiplier. If there is some sort of interesting infrared or acoustic signature at a site, just log it…
> Get the helicopter with a flir camera, but also send out 50 quadcopters or uavs as a force multiplier.
You're going to have to contend with the disruption of 50 quadcopters barreling their way through natural wild habitat, foilage and more without disturbing all of the animals that live there. Or simply convince people that is a worth-while trade-off for saving unprepared skiiers that went off trail and down the wrong side of a mountain against all warnings...
That aside, I don't think there's much utility there. A large aerial drone like a Predator or something, ya that might be a big help (very long loiter times, powerful imaging equipment, etc). But you wouldn't need 50 of those, and the same difficulties will be present (body heat can only show on FLIR if it's not blocked by layers of foilage, etc). But... then you'll have to convince people it's not a "militarization" of rescue services!
Re: Men rescued from Pacific island after writing SOS in sand
#23Earlier quoted context omitted.
Well, there are just personal locator beacons which you can rent and tell rescue personnel exactly where you are if you need a rescue.
They're not even expensive to buy. I picked one up for a few hundred dollars for hiking. I believe it's good for 10 years, until the battery needs replacing. I don't even do particularly intense hikes, usually not even overnight, but I read a few stories and realised how easy it is to end up in a situation where you need one. You just have to slip over and land badly, that's all it takes. Or maybe it won't be me, but…
I tend to push back against the “OMG how can you be out of contact with people?” take. That said, these days I’d find it hard to justify not carrying a satellite device (especially if I were solo) in something approaching deep wilderness.
Re: Men rescued from Pacific island after writing SOS in sand
#24Earlier quoted context omitted.
They're not even expensive to buy. I picked one up for a few hundred dollars for hiking. I believe it's good for 10 years, until the battery needs replacing. I don't even do particularly intense hikes, usually not even overnight, but I read a few stories and realised how easy it is to end up in a situation where you need one. You just have to slip over and land badly, that's all it takes. Or maybe it won't be me, but…
A few hundred dollars seems fastastically expensive to me. What is possibly inside it that justifies that price?
It’s a satellite commS device. You also need a service for it to be useful.
I do find it somewhat amusing to read a comment that a device that locates me anywhere on the planet and can communicate that information via satellite costs a few hundred dollars! to be vaguely amusing.
Re: Men rescued from Pacific island after writing SOS in sand
#25Earlier quoted context omitted.
Sure. It's the unknown search radius, availability of pilots, human factors, as well as the greater ability of a drone to self (or with human intervention) track in to greater resolution that makes me wonder if this is doable. Get the helicopter with a flir camera, but also send out 50 quadcopters or uavs as a force multiplier. If there is some sort of interesting infrared or acoustic signature at a site, just log it…
> Get the helicopter with a flir camera, but also send out 50 quadcopters or uavs as a force multiplier. You're going to have to contend with the disruption of 50 quadcopters barreling their way through natural wild habitat, foilage and more without disturbing all of the animals that live there. Or simply convince people that is a worth-while trade-off for saving unprepared skiiers that went off trail and down the wr…
I will push back on you a bit there. Most people can only cover a couple of dozen miles a day, depending on the person and the terrain. A lot of the time, they realize they are lost and will yell or try to make themselves found. Maybe a high foliage environment would be a better target for directional mics / acoustics.
I think the search and rescue efforts as they stand are pretty disruptive (helicopters, teams covering grids) so I don't think this is incrementally much worse.
The "unprepared skiiers" (or hikers, sailors) you mention are someone's child and often someone's parent. They are loved and mourned, and it's a bit easier to get lost than is generally appreciated.
A sea rescue is a different ball of wax than a forest rescue, and I was freely mixing both situations. In the sea setting, Plant Labs or a aerial drone like a predator (like commercializing existing military tech, eg, GPS) is more appropriate, perhaps.
The biggest obstacle here is staging these for use and being available in a timely manner, on the order of hours.
Re: Men rescued from Pacific island after writing SOS in sand
#26How often is the best earth-facing satellite imagery updated? It'd be really cool to sic handwriting recognition on it to continuously look for "SOS".
Sentinel satellite data is open, I'm not sure if the resolution is good enough though.
At 10m resolution and ~5day revisit time, it might be possible to optimize for satellite detection. Smoke is relatively easy to spot in satellite imagery. This may be one's best bet. It's also important to note that fires (anything hot really) is also easily detectable. 30-40m high burning SOS letters would be an interesting strategy.
One of the things to keep in mind is that for Sentinel-2 the mean local solar time at the descending node is 10:30am. That may also help optimize at which time any specific attempts are made.
Re: Men rescued from Pacific island after writing SOS in sand
#27Earlier quoted context omitted.
They're not even expensive to buy. I picked one up for a few hundred dollars for hiking. I believe it's good for 10 years, until the battery needs replacing. I don't even do particularly intense hikes, usually not even overnight, but I read a few stories and realised how easy it is to end up in a situation where you need one. You just have to slip over and land badly, that's all it takes. Or maybe it won't be me, but…
The history of humans, traveling totally unprepared into harsh environmental conditions, thinking they'll just "Rambo" their way through, is stunning. The "Into the Wild" bus comes to mind[1]. So many people died every year, attempting to forge rivers unprepared, and brave the harsh Alaskan elements, that they had to remove this bus! It wasn't enough that people died every year, and that most of them had practically…
We choose to go to the moon!
Re: Men rescued from Pacific island after writing SOS in sand
#28Earlier quoted context omitted.
They're not even expensive to buy. I picked one up for a few hundred dollars for hiking. I believe it's good for 10 years, until the battery needs replacing. I don't even do particularly intense hikes, usually not even overnight, but I read a few stories and realised how easy it is to end up in a situation where you need one. You just have to slip over and land badly, that's all it takes. Or maybe it won't be me, but…
A few hundred dollars seems fastastically expensive to me. What is possibly inside it that justifies that price?
A few hundred dollars to be able to get help in a potentially life threatening situation sounds fantastically cheap to me. That's the difference between cost plus pricing versus value pricing.
Re: Men rescued from Pacific island after writing SOS in sand
#29Earlier quoted context omitted.
Well, there are just personal locator beacons which you can rent and tell rescue personnel exactly where you are if you need a rescue.
What if you lose them or they fail to work?
Then you’re in the same place as if you didn’t have one and you’re hopefully not making yourself utterly dependent on them.
Re: Men rescued from Pacific island after writing SOS in sand
#30Earlier quoted context omitted.
They're not even expensive to buy. I picked one up for a few hundred dollars for hiking. I believe it's good for 10 years, until the battery needs replacing. I don't even do particularly intense hikes, usually not even overnight, but I read a few stories and realised how easy it is to end up in a situation where you need one. You just have to slip over and land badly, that's all it takes. Or maybe it won't be me, but…
A few hundred dollars seems fastastically expensive to me. What is possibly inside it that justifies that price?
They need to be engineered to last for a long time between maintenance, be able to withstand the elements (saltwater, sunlight), and it's critical that the unit functions when you need it. The units are built very tough - mine is waterproof and also floats. The unit has test functions for the GPS and radio, and it has to work for 30+ hours continuously after it's been activated.
These things are also regulated by the government and need to meet certain standards.