- Introduction
- Our Solution
- System Diagram
- System works this way
- The WebApp is hosting as a CloudFoundry App
- Doppler Drone Sigfox Module Circuit
- Real Module Photos
- Claw Bluetooth Module
- Claw BT Module Under The Drone
- Logistics Plan
- Financial Viability
- Command center
- Conclusions
México is a country prone to suffer different kinds of natural disasters. On September the 7th of 2017 there was an earthquake in Mexico City. At about 8.1 in the Richter scale, it caused structural damage to several buildings around the city and a couple of pedestrian bridges in the authors' University. And then we had a big earthquake on September 19th that decimated these damaged structures. In Mexico, it is hard to get immediate response and access to first aid support in case of a disaster. The first responders in charge are Civil Protection and the Military forces. But their actions could, and take a long time. The telecommunications were down and made very difficult to communicate to emergency lines. First responders were very slow to act. This was because of the traffic generated by the chaos and a massive walking exodus was seen in the principal avenues of the great city. It was virtually impossible to get to the affected areas in order to help and for the first responders, it was an abhorrent dilemma.
Fortunately, nowadays we have several technological tools that can provide a service in those minutes and hours that are key for the survival of hundreds to thousands of people.
As we went through the challenge’s documentation we noticed that all the drone projects did was only mapping structural damage. But the main problem is the people that need fast and quick aid in the immediate minutes after the disaster. Many kinds of circumstances may determine a big difference between life or death. Drone systems bring us a new way to mitigate some emergencies related to health care as we know. The kind of situation described previously makes difficult to send help and medical stuff.
So what do we do? Send a Drone with a medical package that can go past all the chaos and provide immediate response and aid to the disaster’s victims. And not only that but we produce real-time data analytics via Sigfox (LOPWAN and LoRA can be alternatives) powered devices which the drones drop in order to provide targeted and focused aid with a customizable medical package. Firstly the drone will drop on certain pre-identified hotspots a package containing an IoT device that can track the average number of people in said hotspot and most importantly the number of injured people. After getting that data a second drone will fly to the spot with a medical package customized according to that data in order to save resources and most importantly sent aid according to the emergency. We are not replacing or changing anything that is already working, we are just improving how to provide aid in those fatal first moments.
Our system has many advantages like:
It gets to the disaster zone earlier than Civil Protection or Military forces. Air transportation. Easy Access to difficult locations. Tracks the hot spots of disaster and provides real-time data analytics. Personal and reliable network to communicate the red zones. Improved logistics for services. We use drones to bring things people can use anytime at a disaster zone, apart from medical aid packages. It helps authorities with their tasks of saving lives.
This distribution will help give better logistics information and predictions to Civil Protection and the Military Forces to act in the most damaged places and map the hotspot saving resources time and lives. Also, this information can help improve the city’s infrastructure to prevent future disasters.
We will use this project hand by hand with Civil Protection to improve their services and with Military forces to guide them where the actual disaster is.
IBM Services:
- Watson IoT Platform.
- Watson Studio (Python)
- Cloudant DB.
- Cloud Foundry App. (WebApp Hosting)
Other Services:
- Google Maps API.
- SigFox Backend.
- The Sigfox module sends an encrypted message to the Sigfox Backend platform.
- Sigfox Backend communicates directly with Watson IoT platform with API Integration.
- To manage the communication between the devices and the website, we use a Python console in Watson Studio, the website doesnt work without this configuration.
- When a new call from the Sigfox module arrives, the information is sent to Cloudant for the database.
- Through Watson IoT we send the necessary information to the page.
- The data received by the page are the following:
- New alerts.
- Direct information from the database.
(We can control this claw with any System with BT)
We created a logistics plan only for Mexico City and we designed its logistics according to the density of population. (14)
We distribute drones efficiently with the data obtained from the government. The only problem is that the most recent data we have is 2016.
The more dense counties are:
The main area where we will focus our system will be these four Counties. They were also the most affected during the earthquake.
We designed our drone to carry a 7 kg. box and fly 10 kilometers, so our network is designed according that logistics.
The box will have a first aid kit (13), that includes:
-alcohol and peroxide -antacids -aspirine -hot water bag -plastic bag -baking soda -matches -tape -Qtips -bandaids (different sizes) -dropper -soap -first aid manual -merthiolate -a razor -cotton swabs -needles -gauze -water purification drops -thermometer -scissors -bandages
The map shown next, explains the distances in Mexico city (15). We have 12 kilometers around to access any point of the city, but we will locate the central station in Cuauhtemoc or Iztacalco at the left end. That way we can access the most dense parts of the city.
The economic benefits of drones are clear to see, comparing the resource to move a big number of people to attend and emergency in disaster situation. The market offers a big variety of drones that can be cheap and easy to control, related specifically in logistics the cost to move certain goods cost less in terms of money, energy and time. Drone commercial sector is expected to generate $2.3 billion in investments next year. By 2025, its economic impact is set to almost double, forecast to surpass $5 billion this projection reduces the cost of materials and make the organizations affordable to acquire a drone.
All emergency medical products are small and lightweight but they can also be expensive. For example, today it costs $10,000 USD to lift someone in a helicopter to go to a hospital, this is completely out of the question during a disaster. With a drone you are cutting the cost substantially and and also avoiding the delay that may be caused by the chaos and traffic (14).
There are several government expenses but the budget applied to disasters can sometimes rise to more than 100M USD. This amount includes people, logistics and transport, in which the risk and cost can be reduced dramatically using automated drones. Creating an alliance with big health companies we can establish an agile logistic channel to provide fast delivery and valuable data to medical companies and laboratories based on the situation.
Here is our infographic:
We have an operation center that allow us to manage, track and control our drone devices. The platform that we use to make this possible is via Ardupilot. This open source poject helps us to establish direct communication with each drone using Telemetry radios, Bluetooth, IP connections etc.
The flight computer has a powerful capability to perform multiple tasks that allow us to set different routes and actions in case of critical changes.
The drone features are:
- Drone Model F250
- Diagonal Wheelbase: 450mm.
- 2112 1000KV Brushless motor.
- HP Simonk 30A Speed Controller.
- Frame Weight: 282g.
- Takeoff Weight: 800g ~ 1600g.
- Landing gear: 17.5g each arm.
- 1 x APM2.8 Flight controller.
- Screws for landing gear: 6.86g (all screws)
The interface brings us the facility to set different parameters like Mission Waypoints and events. These commands brings secure drone driving because in case of losing connectivity, the drone will return to home immediately, applying a security process to avoid any obstacles like trees or buildings that can make it crash. At first instance, we monitor and program the drone routes. Using automation we want to launch tasks automatically in strategic zones previously set by the authorities to provide a fast response during disasters. The radio transmitter has a long operating range up to 10KM and above.
In the other hand the integration using UDP protocol facilitates the communication and interaction with drones via a mission planner to send and set new tasks with automatic operations based on the situation.
In operation mode the Ardupilot software allows us to set the points to deliver the IoT module with basic commands.
First response systems can improve, and it can be applied to several cities globally, not only Mexico. We can provide the required tools to improve those first responses. Drones are the most efficient and fast devices to send packages and they will be autonomous (already tested them this way and you can see in the video).
To continue working on this and in order to improve it, we wish to expand the possibilities of the project. We have access to 360 degree video cameras and we can develop VR applications, so that will be the next step. Not only delivering the goods but also mapping the terrain, like no other tech at the moment can. Using 360 degree and VR capabilities in order to provide a superior service to first responders.
Times of response right now average 1.3 days in an emergency situation. we want to trim that down substantially. With drones, we can get anywhere in the city in less than 45 minutes. Delivering first response even before authorities show up.
References
(1)https://www.gob.mx/cms/uploads/attachment/file/252641/Manual_de_Protecci_n_Civil_STCONAPRA.pdf (2)https://www.unam.mx/medidas-de-emergencia/que-hacer-en-caso-de (3)http://www.cenaprece.salud.gob.mx/programas/interior/emergencias/descargas/pdf/ManualRefugiosTemporales.pdf (4)https://www.ecri.org/Resources/Hurricane/Natural_Disasters(Healthcare-Hazard-Control).pdf (5) https://transportgeography.org/?page_id=6295 (6)https://www.usa.gov/after-disaster (7)https://www.disasterassistance.gov/information/immediate-needs/emergency-food-and-water (8)https://www.disasterassistance.gov/information/immediate-needs/emergency-medical (9)https://www.heart.org/ (10) https://www.gob.mx/sedena (11)http://www.proteccioncivil.gob.mx/work/models/ProteccionCivil/Resource/377/1/images/guia_pd.pdf (12)http://www3.inegi.org.mx/rnm/index.php/catalog/253/datafile/F104 (13)https://www.gob.mx/conagua/articulos/que-debe-de-contener-un-botiquin-de-primeros-auxilios?idiom=es (14)http://data.salud.cdmx.gob.mx/portal/media/agenda_2016/Paginas/1.12.pdf (15)https://descargarmapas.net/mexico/ciudad-de-mexico/mapa-ciudad-de-mexico-delegaciones-area-urbana (16) blogs-images.forbes.com/niallmccarthy/files/2015/10/20151019_drones_FO_2.jpg