🚵🏻♂️ AI Will Help Find Lost Hikers
Mountain trekking is becoming an increasingly popular outdoor activity. Still, not only do tourists going for a hike on their own often get lost, but organized tour groups and mushroom pickers do as well. AI-directed drones are already being actively used in search and rescue operations.
Researchers at the University of Glasgow have created an AI model to help drones search for missing hikers. They trained it with geographical data from the Scottish Highlands, one of the most popular hiking areas in the world but also one of the most rugged. Watch the video🔼
The search and rescue domain in Scotland is extremely varied, and also quite dangerous. Being able to send up a drone and efficiently search with it could potentially save lives.
Hendrik Evers, author of the study
🔍 Which data did they use?
Scientists fed the model datasets of search and rescue cases from around the world, including details about the tourists’ age, group size, hike’s purpose and terrain, how they moved around, and where they were eventually found.
They ran the model many times, each time simulating a search to reveal the routes a missing person would be most likely to take. The result is a probability map, indicating the priority search areas.
👏 Results
The AI found people twice as fast. In virtual testing, the probability of a successful rescue operation was 7% higher than existing search methods.
The model is constantly being improved. The scientists plan to add new GPS data from recent rescue operations and intend to soon test and deploy it in real-world settings in the Scottish Highlands.
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