In collaboration with, Hamilcar-Racer Marina, Search and Rescue center in Thailand, and the support of the Royal Thai Marine Police, Mr Gaviano has set up of a Drone Search and Rescue center to provide a drone aerial support to people lost in the sea as quite frequent at that sea side of Thailand utilizing the DJI Dock 3 docks combined with the DJI Matrice 4DT, and the operation centre with computers and DJI drone applications (DJI Hub 2 & DJI Terra).
He continues to enjoy this fruitful and interesting collaboration with a recent saving a man overboard and different other successful missions.
Racer Marina Thailand is a well known boat service location located in the south region of Thailand, in a excellent position inland the local river and thus well protected by local cyclones.
Under the request of the Royal Thai Marine Police to utilize drones in their marine services, and in collaboration of the local well established Hamilcar Sea Services-Search & Rescue at Racer Marina we set up the DJI Dock 3 at their base and the DJI Matrice 4DT (drone with Dock capability version) in their vessels for search and rescue operations. Mr Gaviano and his team work have been able to accomplish the project with the activation, the feasibility and functionality of this service in different locations and for car mounted and vessel operation as well.
We are also testing the Dock 3 with the DJI Matrice 4TD on board the Royal Thai Marine Police vessels for offshore drone operation, until it is fully tested and assessed the operational feasibilities that at present time it is only possible, as we tested, with the DJI Matrice 400 stand alone.
Racer Marina has a 24/7 high tech search and rescue capabilities with AI drones and dock system, allowing to a quickly respond towards people in distress across Hua Hin region, both land and the sea.
We use advanced response GNSS, satellite technology, contracted equipment, an emergency towage vehicle and four boats to respond to calls for help. The Hamilcar Search & Rescue boats is ready to departure at any time with the support of drone operation.
Not long after the set up of the DJI Dock 3, suddenly we received the first distress call regarding a man lost offshore.
At once we activated the search and rescue operation using our drones (DJI Matrice 350 / 400 – Matrice 4 TD – Mavic 3 Enterprise and accessories) ready to action, we also could be able to document the operations with other our drones in service.
Due the limited operation time due of the drone batteries, we decided to bring the Dock 3 with the drone, mounted on our vehicle, in a location closer to the area where we presumed better to start the searching and rescue operations required for this kind of service.
After we decided the searching area, with the coordination comunicated via radio/mobile, by the Royal Thai Marine Police, via radio, we lanched our DJI Matrice 3DT from a location we estimated closer to the location of the man overboard.
Between the vast possibilities of correct location in the sea and our launching base, that estimation of the lunching position to reach the distress person, was of extremely importance.
However, we were correct and, with much satisfaction, we realized that our estimation for the launching area, searching direction was well decided and we could be able to offer a valid support to the Royal Thai Marine Police boat and that due also the aid of our own propetrary Search and Rescue AI application as well.
In fact, after around 12 minutes we could be able to locate the man overboard, also with the use of infrared and thermal camera capability. Without those features of the drone camera, we could not find the person in the sea so quickly and even less if utilizing the solely the Royal Thai Marine Police boat, without an arerial view offered from a drone or helicopters and airplanes.
Once located the position and arrived with the drone at about 10 metres on top of the person, we could be able to clear communicate via the drone onboard speakers the message:
“Hello! This is Hamilcar Rescue, hovering over your position. If you can hear me, please waive your arms. Stay calm, a rescue boat is on the way”
The man responded quickly and so we could assess his physical and mental conditions.
Immediately the exact position of the man over board, visualized on the drone RC, has been transmitted at once at the search and rescue team on the boat utilizing the QR code feature on the RC Plus 2; then it scanned with the mobile camera and transmitted, via the mobile social media application, to the rescue operation centre in Racer Marina still awaiting our communication in full alert.
With the exact geographic coordinate, given by the drone RC plus 2, the rescue boat received it promptly and started at once to reach the localized rescue area.
The man espressed his deep gratefull to the people that saved his life and moreover has been our great satisfaction to have successfully saved a life and tested our drone equipment.
Most of all we tested and proved the real possibilities, with a real scenario, of what the DJI Dock 3, the M4TD drone and applications can do in these kind of aerial search and rescue operations we are very confident of the immense service we can offer to the community.
Moreover we still have to fully assess the possibility to use the Dock 3 inside a large boat/vessel for continuous operations and protection of the drone. However we have to keep in mind the inevitable drifting of the boat after the drone take off and recorded the home point position. Thus the necessity, at present, to operate with manual landing procedures. We know that the DJI Dock 3 has an integrated RTK module and that will transmit to the drone in real time the new continuously changing of the Dock home point. That would be a solution for an automated flight and to guide the drone perfectly back inside the Dock. At present this feature is only possible with the DJI Matrice 400 where we have already full assessed the real possibility in different scenarios.
