Project Vulture: A Prototype for Using Drones in Search and Rescue Operations

Abstract

Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS/Drones) are great resources for search and rescue (SAR) operations as they allow for remote examination of vast areas. This paper presents a smart human subject localization system called Project Vulture. Our system utilizes a trained deep learning model to speed up the analysis of obtained drone aerial images for scalable and distributed operations. Given that SAR deals with human lives, our localization model focuses on obtaining higher sensitivity than existing peer models. In this situation, we accept the possibility of a higher false positive rate. Our obtained results are promising and encourage continued research in this field.