Japan's "Drone Technology" Saves Victims! Closely on the mountain rescue experiment conducted on Mt. Fuji

Fly a drone over Mt. Fuji!

On October 25th, a smart drone demonstration experiment was conducted on Mt. Fuji. The official name of this demonstration experiment is "Drone Mountain Rescue Support System Mt.Fuji Demonstration Experiment".

In recent years, the number of accidents has been increasing due to the climbing boom of middle-aged and older people. Along with this, the load on helicopters to search for and rescue victims is also increasing. In July 2010, a rescue helicopter crashed during a rescue operation in Chichibu, Saitama Prefecture, and in March 2017, a rescue helicopter crashed during training in Matsumoto City, Nagano Prefecture are still fresh in our minds. The purpose is to actually verify whether smart drones can be used for the search and rescue of victims on the stage of Mt. Fuji.

On the day of the demonstration experiment, the meeting place was Gotembaguchi New 5th Station (elevation about 1,450m).

Sparsely populated except for a couple of school climbing groups. Mt. Fuji is lonely in the off-season. It's the coldness of the winter when the breath you exhale is cloudy.

Mt.Fuji is a blue and white image. However, when I went to the site, it was black. Appropriate for the word "desolate". The slope is quite steep, and your feet are buried in large grains of sand one step at a time. 10 minutes to Oishi Chaya.

After another 10 minutes of climbing, we arrived at the site of the demonstration experiment. I've only climbed for about 20 minutes, but I'm completely exhausted. The keywords of this demonstration experiment, "climbing boom among middle-aged and older people" and "frequent accidents", suddenly felt real.

Experiment flow

This demonstration experiment was conducted by three companies: KDDI, Yamap, which provides Japan's largest mountaineering community site, and Weathernews, the world's largest private weather information company. .

KDDI has developed a dedicated mountain rescue drone and drone operation management system, YAMAP has developed a mountaineer location information monitoring system, and Weathernews has developed a more accurate weather prediction system for flying drones in mountains.

This is the story of this experiment.

Knowing the possibility of distress and identifying the location

First of all, YAMAP identifies the distress and current location of climbers in ① and ②.

With the mountaineering map app YAMAP, you can get information and maps of the mountains you want to climb, and also read various experiences of climbers on SNS. In addition, GPS can be used to leave footprints of mountaineering (not only hiking, walking, trail running, and sightseeing) on ​​the map. You can save your current location on the map in real time.

In this experiment, we used a function that applies GPS under development. If you enter your ID, you can check your current location, so you can get information such as "a climber has stopped moving from a certain point", such as family members on flat ground.

This is the monitor used in this demonstration experiment. The blue arrows are the footprints of climbers. The winding yellow line is the mountain trail. You can see that the three points on the lower left gradually deviate from the route. It is unknown whether he slipped or got lost, but this person is no longer on the trail. And you can see on the map that it hasn't moved for a while from the last point. A third party can recognize it.

Maybe I was in trouble...

Mountain Rescue Drone Team, rush to the scene!

The experiment proceeded based on this assumption, and from here it was the turn of KDDI and Weathernews.

The drone is "PD4-AW-AQ" developed by KDDI exclusively for mountain rescue.

There were twists and turns in development. Development was also carried out in the direction of enhancing functions, such as installing multiple cameras in order to respond to various aspects of rescuing victims. However, the larger the aircraft, the less portability and stable navigation. In the end, we returned to the concept of "a machine that is easy to carry and that can be used most stably in the mountains".

It is a smart drone that is controlled by LTE, that is, mobile phone radio waves, and can independently fly on a pre-input course without the need to visually control the aircraft in real time.

And the drone will fly accordingly. The operation is easy, just click the places you want to fly the drone on the screen in order. In the demonstration experiment, the climber returns to the original position around the point indicated by the YAMAP above, where the climber has stopped moving. set the course.

Confirm wind direction and speed with a high-definition weather observation system

Although I would like to fly a drone immediately, what is important here is the weather in the sky. Especially the weather in the mountains is changeable. That's where Weathernews comes in.

This is the flow of the wind at the experiment site on that day. It was calculated by simulation. There is a tab that can be pulled down at the bottom right of the screen, and on this screen it is "play" and "altitude 50m",

Wind speed and direction can be calculated more precisely. The time is every 10 minutes within the next hour, and every hour after that. Altitude is accurate to every 10m. The maximum flight altitude of the drone is about 150m, but the wind direction and wind speed change every 10m. Until now, there has been no low-altitude weather prediction in the sky, but we developed it for drones with the aim of this experiment.

This weather forecast system is 250m mesh (= 250m square). You may be unfamiliar with the word mesh, but the usual weather forecast issued by the Japan Meteorological Agency is 20km mesh, the forecast issued by private meteorological observation companies is 5km mesh, and the conventional forecast by Weathernews is 1km mesh. You will know the finer details.

What surprised us was that in addition to collecting data from these simulations, observations were also made at the site.

White objects in the sand above and below the 7.5m stand. This is also a small observation sensor that is a new weapon of Weathernews. It's about the size of a hamburger, but it can measure temperature, humidity, wind speed, and barometric pressure. And cooperate with a personal computer using short-range wireless communication.

Previously, these sensors were about the size of a moving cardboard box. When observing in the mountains, it is said that they tied it to a backpack (backpack ladder) and carried it around. This compact observation sensor also made its debut in this demonstration experiment.

Weather forecasts can be derived from simulations, but it is said that the accuracy of calculations can be improved by comparing them with numerical values ​​obtained from actual measurements at the site. In order to safely fly drones in the mountains, such a high-definition weather observation system is necessary.

50m up, wind speed 6m. no problem! Take off the drone

And finally, the drone takes off! After that, check the monitor. It can be checked not only on a stationary display but also on a tablet. By the way, you can also enter the flight plan of the drone with a tablet.

The whole screen is a video from the camera mounted on the drone. The lower right is the current position of the drone on the map. Altitude, latitude/longitude, and the route based on the entered flight plan, where you are currently and how far you are to the next point, etc. are displayed numerically in the upper left.

Here's what it looks like from a drone.

Very clear view of the ground. The altitude is about 50m.

Navigating according to the route set in advance... Huh?

Oh! There is something! No, who is there!

Victim found! About 2 minutes and 40 seconds from the start of navigation so far.

The upper right figure was taken with a different aircraft than the one used for this demonstration experiment, but when the fog is deep, you can also use another aircraft equipped with an infrared camera to search. The image on the right is an infrared image.

In this way, the actual situation of the victim is relayed and recorded in real time, and the drone returns to the base.

"Mountain Rescue Drone" can't actually carry people and rescue them. However, the process of visually observing the actual victims is extremely important. Details will be described later.

So how did the mountain rescue drone come about? Let's talk to the people involved in this demonstration experiment, along with their aims.

Mountain Rescue Field and Future

We interviewed Assistant Professor Takeki Izumi of Tokyo Metropolitan University, who witnessed the experiment. Professor Izumi studied geography at university and has been using drones as equipment for nearly 10 years. He is also a technical advisor to the Japan Mountain Rescue Team, and has experience using drones for surveys at an altitude of 5,500m during the 2015 Himalayan earthquake.

"The first important thing to do in a mountain rescue is to confirm where the shipwreck is. Helicopters are vulnerable to bad weather, and it would take 4-5 mountain professionals a day to get to the point where they were wrecked.

If it's a drone, you can be there in minutes to tens of minutes. In cases such as slip accidents, there are many cases where people actually die at that time. It is very important to be able to confirm in advance by video whether the person requiring rescue is still alive.”

Rescue helicopter accidents also occur frequently in the mountains. If it is fully confirmed that the person in distress is already dead, there is no option to take the risk and rush to the scene.

"Using a drone in the mountains is also not easy. The air currents in the mountains are so turbulent that even if you raise the drone by just a few meters, it can flip over. It is important to accurately observe the weather. Of course, we also need to devise equipment for that.”

This time, KDDI, YAMAP, and Weathernews faced such a challenge. What were your thoughts and goals?

Mountain rescue with smart drones was a long-cherished wish (KDDI staff)

This is the KDDI team involved in this experiment. Tomoaki Matsuki (second from the left) of the Product and CS General Headquarters says,

"Drones can quickly move to places where people can't go, and you can see them from the sky. It's suitable for finding people in distress on mountains, so smart drones can help rescue people like this time." I wanted to implement the system someday.”

In the process of proceeding with this experiment, I was told by someone who is actually involved in the rescue.

"They said, ``If the drone takes pictures of the situation at the scene of a disaster, it will clarify the rescue policy, and it will be very helpful for the scene." I was a little relieved when I was able to confirm that.

Matsuki himself belonged to the Wandervogel club when he was in college. He was well aware of the dangers of mountains and the difficulty of searching and rescuing victims.

"However, KDDI is neither a mountain professional nor a weather professional. We would like to ask for the help of each professional, and continue to work together to realize a mountain rescue support system. ”

The concept is safe and secure mountaineering (Yamap)

Mr. Yamap Hara, sales manager of Yamap Tokyo Branch, who provides mountaineering app YAMAP, which has been stamped with a stamp of approval by mountaineering enthusiasts and currently has over 1.07 million downloads. also witnessed this demonstration experiment.

“YAMAP recommends that everyone “get in touch with nature”. With the increase in the number of YAMAP users, YAMAP is getting richer and richer in information from mountain sites.”

Although it could not be used in this demonstration experiment, it is said that secret weapons for future mountain rescue by smart drones are also being prepared.

"This is a dedicated device that utilizes LPWA and is being jointly developed with KDDI."

LPWA = Low Power Wide Area. It is a mechanism that can communicate over a wide range with little power consumption, and is incorporated in small sensors. The amount of data that can be exchanged is small, but even if the battery of the smartphone runs out, it can continue to transmit radio waves for a long time. It can be said that it is a perfect communication format for victims to inform them of their whereabouts.

"We plan to roll out the service next spring, so please look forward to it."

The challenge of weather observation every 10m altitude (Weathernews)

Seiki Morita, Executive Officer of Weathernews, who has been involved in the development of the drone operation system with KDDI for many years, told me this.

"Today's demonstration experiment went very well. In the first place, rain and wind are inseparable factors for drone operation, and we have been working with KDDI to create a drone operation support system for a long time. This time it's an application of that."

Currently, the weather prediction model used in the drone operation support system that is in operation incorporates data on the altitude of the mountains and simulates the weather. It is said that they are conducting a demonstration experiment to see how much difference there is between the calculation and the actual weather.

"The technically difficult part is where the wind rises along the surface of the mountain. The wind is different between the flat land and the mountain, so we are observing that area. The simulation of wind direction and wind speed at every 10m altitude is a technical challenge.We still have to improve the accuracy while using it together with observation.”

Aiming for specific operations in the next season

We invited the firefighters, the Self-Defense Forces, and the local Gotemba City staff, who actually carry out rescue activities, and the demonstration experiment achieved reasonable results.

Aiming for the 2019 climbing season. Operation at Mt.Fuji. Assistant Professor Izumi of Tokyo Metropolitan University, who was running around the site, said:

"The current situation is that neither the fire department nor the police have trained young people for mountain rescue. On the other hand, the mountain climbing boom has increased the number of climbers and the number of accidents. State-of-the-art technologies such as mountain rescue systems using drones It would be ideal if we could reduce the burden on the exhausted site even a little by properly introducing it to the site.”

Finally, KDDI's Matsuki spoke about the outlook.

“Drone is currently undergoing various experiments, but the biggest challenge is how far we can create a system that is truly useful in the field for practical use. We believe that we have established a framework for practical application by developing an app that can determine the position of victims, and an aerial weather forecast for making actual flight decisions. We still have a lot to do, such as improving the quality of our products and creating systems, but I believe we can achieve this together with our partner companies.”

By combining communication with various aspects of life, a big change is born. In addition to the pursuit of security and safety in mountain climbing, communication will be linked with lifestyles in more scenes in the future, and will change it into something fun and exciting.