IoT-based Autonomous Search and Rescue Drone for Precision Firefighting and Disaster Management

Disaster management is a line of work that deals with the lives of people, such work requires utmost precision, accuracy, and tough decision-making under critical situations. Our research aims to utilize Internet of Things (IoT)-based autonomous drones to provide detailed situational awareness and assessment of these dangerous areas to rescue personnel, firefighters, and police officers. The research involves the integration of four systems with our drone, each capable of tackling situations the drone can be in. As the recognition of civilians and protecting them is a key aspect of disaster management, our first system (i.e., Enhanced Human Identification System) to detect trapped victims and provide rescue personnel the identity of the human located. Moreover, it also leverages an Enhanced Deep Super-Resolution Network (EDSR) x4-based Upscaling technology to improve the image of human located. The second system is the Fire Extinguishing System which is equipped with an inbuilt fire extinguisher and a webcam to detect and put off fire at disaster sites to ensure the safety of both trapped civilians and rescue personnels. The third system (i.e., Active Obstacle Avoidance system) ensures the safety of the drone as well as any civilians the drone encounters by detecting any obstacle surrounding its pre-defined path and preventing the drone from any collision with an obstacle. The final system (i.e., Air Quality and Temperature Monitoring system) provides situational awareness to the rescue personnel. To accurately analyze the area and its safety levels, inform the rescue force on whether to take precautions such as wearing a fire proximity suit in case of high temperature or trying a different approach to manage the disaster. With these integrated systems, Autonomous surveillance drones with such capabilities will improve the equation of autonomous Search and Rescue (SAR) operations to a great extent as every aspect of our approach considers both the rescuer and victims in a region of disaster.