{"id":80719,"date":"2023-10-31T19:35:56","date_gmt":"2023-10-31T19:35:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/posterboyedit.com\/?p=80719"},"modified":"2023-10-31T19:35:56","modified_gmt":"2023-10-31T19:35:56","slug":"body-of-missing-hiker-was-found-using-ai-drone-technology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/posterboyedit.com\/world-news\/body-of-missing-hiker-was-found-using-ai-drone-technology\/","title":{"rendered":"Body of missing hiker was found using AI drone technology"},"content":{"rendered":"
The body of a hiker who had been missing in the Scottish Highlands for six weeks was found after a mountain rescue team used A.I. drone technology.<\/p>\n
A major man hunt had been taking place after Charlie Kelly, 56, vanished after leaving his home, in Tillicoultry, Clackmannanshire, on September 6.<\/p>\n
Teams from the coastguard, RAF and police scoured the mountainous region for weeks in search of the avid hillwalker – who last contacted his family the day after he left at around 8pm.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After no sightings were recorded, the Lake District Search And Mountain Rescue Association (LDSAMRA) offered to use their new drone technology.<\/p>\n
The volunteers deployed two drones during the morning of October 24, with one picking up signals later confirmed as a body, in the Glen Etive area of Glencoe.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Charlie Kelly, 56, vanished after leaving his home, in Tillicoultry, Clackmannanshire, on September 6<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Teams from the coastguard, RAF and police scoured the mountainous region for weeks in search of the avid hillwalker<\/p>\n
The next day, Police Scotland released a statement saying the person had yet to be identified, but Charlie’s family had been informed of the discovery.<\/p>\n
They added: ‘There are no apparent suspicious circumstances and a report will be submitted to the Procurator Fiscal.’<\/p>\n
Despite some encouraging signs in the initial search, such as the finding of the missing persons rucksack, most of the search operations were scaled back by\u00a0Glencoe Mountain Rescue Team.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The team was approached by the\u00a0LDSAMRA about the use of their new technology and deployment plans were drawn using bespoke software that programs a flight path into a drone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The teams searched opposite faces in the valley where the missing persons rucksack had been found.<\/p>\n
The LDSAMRA’s software autonomously covers an area with a drone – taking multiple photographs as it goes.<\/p>\n
Each photo is overlapped, so objects that cannot be seen from one angle can be spotted from another.<\/p>\n
Those images are then analysed by the programme, which searches each image for unusually coloured clusters of pixels that don’t belong in the landscape.<\/p>\n
These anomalies are then viewed by the team on the hill, so they can determine if any require further investigation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Speaking about the new technology, a spokesperson from the LDSAMRA called it a “huge milestone” in search and rescue operations.<\/p>\n
They said: ‘This new technology has brought searching forward leaps and bounds, and while this find was a huge milestone for development, it would not have been possible without the incredible groundwork carried out by Glencoe MRT and all the other agencies involved.<\/p>\n
‘The area of the find in question had been searched by ground teams at least twice, all passing within 50 metres of the body.<\/p>\n
‘It had also been overflown with helicopters and dogs had searched nearby.<\/p>\n
‘The complexity of the ground meant that despite these efforts, the body remained hidden.<\/p>\n
‘This is a milestone case study in the future of drone use in Mountain Rescue.<\/p>\n
‘The hope is that this new technology can go on to save lives at risk, and bring answers and closure to the families of those whose time has passed.’<\/p>\n