By I. Bonifacic

A team of researchers from Germany’s Fraunhofer FKIE institute has created a drone that can locate screaming humans. While it sounds like the stuff of dystopian fiction, it’s actually something they set out to create to make it easier for first responders to find survivors following a natural disaster.

“(Drones) can cover a larger area in a shorter period of time than rescuers or trained dogs on the ground,” Macarena Varela, one of the lead engineers on the project, told The Washington Post. “If there’s a collapsed building, it can alert and assist rescuers. It can go places they can’t fly to or get to themselves.”

To create their drone, the researchers first recorded themselves screaming, tapping and producing other sounds that someone in need of help might make. They then used those recordings to train an artificial intelligence algorithm and tweaked the software to filter out ambient sounds like the hum of the drone’s rotors. Outside of software and UAV, the rest of the system isn’t that complicated. The team used the type of microphones you might find on your smartphone, mainly because they wanted to keep the drone light and agile.

By Bruce Crumley 

British aeronautic and defense giant BAE Systems has developed a solar-powered, stratosphere-flying drone that can act as a backup option to disabled communications satellites.

Dubbed Phasa-35, the so-called “pseudo satellite” is designed to operate at altitudes of up to 70,000 feet – far above weather systems that could block its solar source of power. The High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) craft will most frequently be used to provide continual high-quality images of terrestrial locations, as well as for monitoring, surveillance, security, and conventional communications services. 

But in the case of disruption or destruction of a satellite, the Phasa-35 can also act as a stand-in to relay information between ground stations or airborne planes – or, in war situations, between troops and remote commanders. 

BAE says the  drone “will provide both military and commercial customers with capabilities that are not currently available from existing air and space platforms.” Using 5G and other communications technologies, it says, the Phasa-35 can also be a far more affordable tool to disaster relief and border protection services than traditional satellite options.