A swarm of drones flying through heavy forest–while staying in formation

Re:A swarm of drones flying through heavy forest–while stayi... by notional on Friday December 18, 2020 @11:53AM (#25468968)

Speaking of SAR, well the other SAR (Synthetic-aperture radar) it was discussed yesterday that a radar reflector can be used to bounce SAR signals back, which would highlight your location, such as it's used for marine applications.

Perhaps carrying one of these folded up ready to deploy in an emergency wouldn't be a terrible idea as the availability of SAR imaging goes up. Much cheaper to carry that than some of the GPS/beacon devices sold to hikers. Image detection is already a common ML tool for Earth observation analysis so building in something that looks for that marker in a known area of forest sounds possible.

https://www.westmarine.com/WestAdvisor/Selecting-a-Radar-Ref...

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:A swarm of drones flying through heavy forest–while stayi... by meheleventyone on Friday December 18, 2020 @12:05PM (#25469147)

The traditional version of that is a bright orange square or signal mirror. They pack down really small and are extremely visible. Similarly little IR and retroreflective glint squares are handy for spotting people at night.

That said if you're doing anything serious away from people carrying a GPS and EPIRB/SPOT is way more effective. The latter working even in the most remote locations. It's no good being able to signal if no one is even looking for you.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:A swarm of drones flying through heavy forest–while stayi... by takk309 on Friday December 18, 2020 @07:32PM (#25473793)

There is already a product on the market call RECCO. It is a two part system very similar to what you described. The reflector is seen directly into coat, boots, you name it. SAR then uses a device that sends out a signal that bounces off the reflectors.

https://recco.com/technology/

[ Parent | on HN ]