Mission Planning Search and Rescue

Introduction
The goal of this lab is developing a plan for an operation where a person went missing in Martell Forest and search teams are sent out within an hour. There is an idea where the person is but they could have moved, it is expected that they will be found.
The gear that is to be used
Bramore PPX, with Altum multispec, or a sony RX1

M600, with Sony A600, Mica Sense Red edge, FLIR XT2

Figure 1. A map of Martel forest

Figure 2. The airspace map of the area
Methods

 Initial action
The plan for the initial action is to do a hasty search with the Matrice 600, with the FLIR XT2 camera. This is the plan for the hasty search, as the thermal imaging should be able to identify the person quickly as there is a large temperature difference between the person and the forest in November. The use of the M600 would be a hasty search and searching in an outward spiral from where the person is expected to be. This is because there is a rough idea of where the individual could be and the distance traveled in an hour is on average 3-4 miles. There is a high probability that the person would be found with this as it could cover the area quickly and have a high contrast view of the person if they appear in an image.

 Secondary action
If the person is not found with the M600, the next step would be to do a grid search with the Bramor PPK with the multispec sensor package. Then the next step would be to run the images through loc8 to see if the known color values of what the person is wearing is spotted. This is a secondary action as it takes much longer to collect the data and process it than the alternative. The Bramor is also able to cover a larger area than the M600 so it could be put to its full use and map the entire area of possibility where the person could be.

Discussion
Another option is to operate both uavs at one time, this could cause congestion in the airspace if the proper precautions are not in place. With the M600 doing a hasty search it is not going to be fallowing an exact pattern, and a potential collision could occur.

Conclusion
In conclusion, uas can play a key roll in helping to find a missing person if used properly and efficiently. Using uas efficiency can vary by the circumstances of the operation, so planning for different operations need to account for many different uses of uas.

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