Last year a 7.6 earthquake hit Japan’s Noto Peninsula, generating a 37-foot tsunami. Hundreds of aftershocks, nearly a thousand mudslides and rampant fires ripped through the region, damaging or destroying over 200,000 structures. Nearly 700 people died, a further 1,400 were injured, and thousands across the region were cut off, locked in place due to unusable roads. Elderly and rural residents had it the worst.
A week after the quake, a quadrotor drone buzzed over impassable terrain, eventually reaching an evacuation center where residents were sheltering. The drone was carrying medication that they needed and had no other way of receiving.
A heavy lift drone was used to haul diesel fuel to residents and rescue workers.
In addition to ferrying supplies, Japanese municipalities are finding that drones are useful during disasters in other ways. A Tokyo-based company called Blue Innovation has developed the BEP Port system, a series of unmanned, weatherproof drone docks that can be scattered across the region.
They serve two functions. One is that when a tsunami alert comes in, the drone launches itself and broadcasts evacuation messages through its loudspeaker. The second function is to record its surroundings following a disaster, capturing video of damaged areas so that officials can assess how and where to respond. Both of these things avoid the need to engander human workers who would ordinarily do those tasks in person.
The Noto Reconstruction Office recently revealed another drone dock system they’re using, this one by California-based drone manufacturer Skydio:
I wasn’t able to learn much about Blue Innovation’s product, but the Skydio dock’s specs are well-documented. The drones can be launched in 20 seconds (the delay is because the drones give themselves a pre-flight check), then flown autonomously or by a remote operator anywhere in the world.
When docked, they charge while being protected from temperatures ranging from -4°F to 122°F.
The drones can use radio, 5G and/or Starlink to stream video back to a base station.
Incredibly, San Francisco is using the Skydio dock and one of their X10 drones to catch thieves:
So is the NYPD, which has scattered Skydio docks around the city. Here we see a moped thief getting busted:
I wonder how New York’s criminals will adapt. Perhaps this will drive them to do their stealing underground, in the subway system?