When it comes to search and rescue or emergency missions, every second counts. The quicker emergency personnel are able to respond, assess, and access a situation, the higher their chances of successfully saving lives. With the emergence of drone technology, emergency responders now have tools that allow them to complete missions more effectively than ever before.

In 2017, the world’s largest drone manufacturer, DJI, began recording how drones were being used to save lives around the world. According to the most recent data collected for the DJI Drone Rescue Map, 1,054 people have been directly saved by drones in 618 incidents across 40 different countries. DJI acknowledges that these numbers are likely underreported, as the Drone Rescue Map only includes documented incidents.

Drones equipped with thermal cameras are now being used to locate missing persons, deliver first aid supplies, and even help tow stranded swimmers back to shore. And while drones have proven to be vital emergency response tools, there is always room for improvement. This is precisely what a team of researchers from the University of Hong Kong (HKU) in China has set out to do.

Professor Fu Zhang began his academic career with a degree in Automation from the University of Science and Technology of China before earning a PhD in Controls from the University of California, Berkeley. In 2016, he became a Research Assistant Professor in the Robotics Institute at the HKU of Science and Technology. Since 2018, he has served as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, where his research focuses on the design, control, navigation, and implementation of LiDAR for drones.

In the January 29, 2025 issue of Science Robotics, Professor Zhang published his latest research on the development of a new navigational system for drones that could significantly impact how they are used in emergency situations. The paper is titled “Safety-Assured High-Speed Navigation for MAVs” (Micro Aerial Vehicles).

The abstract begins by emphasizing the benefits drones have brought to emergency services. “However,” the paper continues, “achieving autonomous, safe, and high-speed MAV navigation faces systematic challenges, necessitating reduced vehicle weight and size for high-speed maneuvering, strong sensing capability for detecting obstacles at a distance, and advanced planning and control algorithms maximizing flight speed while ensuring obstacle avoidance.”

In other words, the drones currently in use are too large to operate safely at high speeds in cluttered or unfamiliar environments, limiting their full potential. By scaling down to MAVs, Professor Zhang has demonstrated a way to increase speed, navigation accuracy, and agility. He has named his new drone SUPER. According to the paper, it is “a compact MAV with a 280-millimeter wheelbase and a thrust-to-weight ratio greater than 5.0, enabling agile flight in cluttered environments.” What truly makes SUPER unique is the LiDAR-based navigation system it uses.

Most drones rely on GPS (Global Positioning System) and visual input from onboard cameras to navigate. A flight path is typically programmed based on existing GPS data, allowing the drone to compute directional information accurately. Simultaneously, onboard sensors interpret visual cues to help the drone avoid obstacles along its GPS-based route. However, there are situations where GPS signals are unavailable, and visual cues are unreliable.

To address these limitations, Professor Zhang developed a LiDAR navigation system for SUPER. This lightweight 3D LiDAR system analyzes multiple flight trajectories in real time, effectively replacing the need for GPS. It compensates for issues such as motion blur caused by high-speed flight or poor lighting conditions. “In real-world tests,” Professor Zhang states in his paper, “SUPER achieved autonomous flights at speeds exceeding 20 meters per second, successfully avoiding thin obstacles and navigating narrow spaces.”

As drone technology continues to evolve, innovations like Professor Zhang’s SUPER represent a leap forward in how emergency responders can operate under pressure. In critical situations where every second counts, having faster, more agile, and more autonomous drones can mean the difference between life and death. With advancements in LiDAR navigation and compact design, the next generation of drones is poised to transform emergency response, making rescue missions not only quicker but also smarter and safer than ever before.

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