Recovery

[Unkown]

Recovery in this since means finding human remains, this is obviously different from rescue. For the fortunate ou there rescue attempts last up until 72 - 96 hours after that generally a recovery operation.
Enough education, I am part of a group attempting to recover the remains of a 84:y/o female disappeared approximately 15 months ago. I have a new Mavic Air as well as GIS software and hardware.
Area to be surveyed initially is approximately 160 acres of humid sub-tropical rolling terrain with a large percentage a 25-35 year old pine trees. Any ideas how to use the Mavic Air to make our efforts more efficient.

 

[Meta4]

15 months ago.... humid sub-tropical
Any ideas how to use the Mavic Air to make our efforts more efficient.

What's the ground cover like?
Humid and subtropical sounds like what you are looking for will be covered by weeds etc
It's unlikely to be easily visible from the air, with a wideangle lens.

 

[Unkown]

Mature pine trees tend to leave a relatively clean understory. Plus at this time we are looking for bones, not even a skeleton. Skull, femur are largest we can logically hope for. Yes the fixed wide angle lens is a disadvantage. I was seriously thinking of fly at 15 feet under the canopy. If I can’t fly under treetops I will not get detail I need.
Humid subtropical zone extends to central Georgia not really close to coast, just an old climatic term

 

[Mossiback]

Set RTH to hover and use prop guards. It will be difficult but if the remains were not too scattered by wildlife you might also notice a small patch of lush growth. Good luck.

 

[TR Ganey]

Recovery in this since means finding human remains, this is obviously different from rescue. For the fortunate ou there rescue attempts last up until 72 - 96 hours after that generally a recovery operation.
Enough education, I am part of a group attempting to recover the remains of a 84:y/o female disappeared approximately 15 months ago. I have a new Mavic Air as well as GIS software and hardware.
Area to be surveyed initially is approximately 160 acres of humid sub-tropical rolling terrain with a large percentage a 25-35 year old pine trees. Any ideas how to use the Mavic Air to make our efforts more efficient.

Not the answer to your question but food for thought. Many of the old folks that I have searched for over the years and been lucky enough to find alive told us they were hiding from us. It was dark and they were scared and confused so when someone would get close they would hide. So search out places someone would hide.

Scent trailing dogs love a good game of hide and seek. In your case a scent hound may not help but a good cadaver dog certainly could. Make a point to search low lying areas first and work out from there. As mentioned above a small patch of lush growth that stands out from it's surroundings could be a good clue. Forget using logic because when very old or very young folks get lost they don't seem to do logical things or go in logical directions/routes. Good luck!

 

[Unkown]

Thanks, hadn’t thought of prop guards. Considered one of the cenematic routines to slow down drone reaction. Don’t expect lush growth but widely scatted remains, lots of coyotes.

 

[Unkown]

Not the answer to your question but food for thought. Many of the old folks that I have searched for over the years and been lucky enough to find alive told us they were hiding from us. It was dark and they were scared and confused so when someone would get close they would hide. So search out places someone would hide.

Scent trailing dogs love a good game of hide and seek. In your case a scent hound may not help but a good cadaver dog certainly could. Make a point to search low lying areas first and work out from there. As mentioned above a small patch of lush growth that stands out from it's surroundings could be a good clue. Forget using logic because when very old or very young folks get lost they don't seem to do logical things or go in logical directions/routes. Good luck!

 

[Mossiback]

Thanks, hadn’t thought of prop guards. Considered one of the cenematic routines to slow down drone reaction. Don’t expect lush growth but widely scatted remains, lots of coyotes.

Don't use Cinematic mode because it will slow down braking and will allow it to drift in a turn. Use Tripod mode instead.

 

[Unkown]

15 months gone. Had the dogs out day of and next three days. The switched to cadaver dogs after two weeks.
Since you have had experience you know what the first three days were like. Too many unqualified, but basically well intented people. Very little planning, being retired, I was not in a position to enforce organization. This is now just a recovery effort for the family’s sake. Thanks.

 

[Unkown]

Ok, I just knew it was one of the special modes.
Thanks

 

[Mossiback]

...Plus at this time we are looking for bones, not even a skeleton. Skull, femur are largest we can logically hope for...

You will also be looking for clothing.

 

[Unkown]

To all replyers:
Thanks to all of you, not finished I hope. I was surprised at the good common sense reply’s I was receiving, then I looked at who but also the ages of the persons responding. Don’t feel nearly as bad being a OG now.

 

[Canuk]

You have a very hard job ahead of you . I have went back to a animal kill site’s in the bush . After 3 weeks there was nothing left at the site . Coyotes and wolves will carry bones for miles .
Good luck

 

[Unkown]

Well, my expectation for success is not all that high. After three months there isn’t much left. After 15 months nothing, but bits of clothes, small pieces on bone, if we are lucky an intact femur or skull. The coyotes are generally last around here but the birds, small animals, then coyotes to drag things for miles, as you say, but also to their den. We hope to find enough to positively establish place, approx, of death and give the family closure. How accurate is the GPS positions established by drones. I am accustomed to x,y at two cm or less and z at 4-6 cm, post processed.
I want to establish ground control points with the Mavic, verify with hand held, but quality GPS and use existing USGS, USDA info for contours and wetland features. In my limited animals and people left undisturded will follow points of least resistance. Area has some wetlands that seems a likely spot, also some significant ditches.

 

[Meta4]

How accurate is the GPS positions established by drones. I am accustomed to x,y at two cm or less and z at 4-6 cm, post processed.

The GPS has standard consumer GPS accuracy.
For most points the error will be within 2 metres, some a little more.

 

[Canuk]

I am impressed how accurate the gps is on the DJI drones . I still carry a GPS in the glovebox of my canam maverick and I noticed that with 14 or 15 satellites it only gets as accurate as 50 or 60 feet . Mind you it is ten years old

 

[RayOZ]

I wouldn't have thought a Mavic Air would be up to the task. With WiFi connection between RC and AC, flying under canopy, transmission might be flaky. Maybe a M2P or M2Z might be the better option. They have more all-round obstacle avoidance. I dont have any experience with M2, but if waypoints is used, would OA still work and the M2 navigate around obstacles to reach each waypoint?

 

[Meta4]

I wouldn't have thought a Mavic Air would be up to the task. With WiFi connection between RC and AC, flying under canopy, transmission might be flaky. Maybe a M2P or M2Z might be the better option. They have more all-round obstacle avoidance. I dont have any experience with M2, but if waypoints is used, would OA still work and the M2 navigate around obstacles to reach each waypoint?

Yes, OA can still work in programmed flight modes.
But the big problem remains.
A drone with a wideangle lens is far from ideal for finding small items on the ground.
Especially in an 800 x 800 metre paddock with added trees to make things interesting.

 

[RayOZ]

I was thinking more in line with plotting waypoints, record the video of flight, and put the video in some application with some sort of image recognition software to flag potential interesting objects. Maybe easier to use dogs. They are still smarter than drones.

 

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