As the population in city centers grow, buildings become taller in order to accommodate more people in the same square area. In times of emergency, such as an outbreak of fire, towering skyscrapers present a new challenge for first responder like fire fighters. Fighting fire is one thing; retrieving people trapped in high rise buildings that are beyond the reach of fireman ladder is another major issue. Enters Net Guard UAV Concept.
Net Guard is a concept rescue drone dreamed up by a group of Chinese students from Guangdong Polytechnic Normal University that is designed to retrieve people trapped in towering high rise buildings in an event of fire. When a call for help is received, the four-rotor drone is dispatched to the scene. Upon reaching the floor where the trapped person is, the drone’s rotors split into four separate units to reveal a safety net between them that is strong enough to catch a grown person.
Once the person landed on the net, Net Guard will then proceed to lower the person to the safety of the solid ground. It is futuristic concept that is, well a concept. I would say Net Guard as somewhat of a fantasy tech because, there is more to it than flying a drone out to the scene. The individual motor has to be strong enough to sustain not only a grown person weight but also the impact from the jump. This means, this drone would have be fairly large and so are the motors.
In addition, software will have to be developed to enable the motors to remain in sync to counter possible uneven weight distribution of its human cargo, as well as dealing with cross winds and whatnot. Then again, drones with enough rotors have already proven that it can lift human cargo and so, I guess what the students dreamed of may not be farfetched at all. The question is: how safe is it?
Whatever it is, Net Guard has managed to impress the panels over at Golden Pin, resulting the team taking home the Golden Pin Concept Design Award 2018. Have a look at the concept video below to see how Net Guard works.
Images: YouTube (Net Guard).
Source: South China Morning Post.
