Over the past two years, the Garðabær Search and Rescue Team has been developing tools and methods for the use of drones in searches for missing persons.
As part of this work, we have tested a range of search methods and evaluated the effectiveness of each approach. The presentation focuses, on the one hand, on the procedures we have developed for drone-based search operations and on how our approach to locating a missing person works in practice.
On the other hand, we will present the experiments we have carried out using different drone search methods. These have included both live-stream searches and image-based searches using a variety of techniques, with the results systematically recorded and compared.
Because the use of drones in search and rescue is still relatively new, there are currently no widely established or standardised procedures for conducting this type of search. Different teams are, to some extent, developing their own methods. We believe that our research can contribute to the development of effective and more consistent procedures for drone-based searches, and we will share our findings and data with the wider search and rescue community.