Direct Line donates Fleetlight drone technology to Caister Lifeboat Service
Melanie May | 2 October 2017 | News
Direct Line has donated its Fleetlight drone technology to Caister Lifeboat Service, to help its search and rescue missions.
Direct Line launched Fleetlights last year to help make people safer in darkly-lit areas through drones that light the way on the path ahead, working with Saatchi & Saatchi London. The technology enables a network of drones equipped with high-powered lights and HD cameras to perform semi-autonomous flights. Now Caister Lifeboat Service in Norfolk is using the drones to help spot people at sea following conversations between Direct Line and HM Coastguard, where it was decided that Caister would be the preferred location for the first roll-out of the Fleetlights, as the nearest helicopter is an hour away and very expensive to use.
In daylight, the drones provide an eye in the sky, providing an invaluable tool for spotting casualties that can be easily missed in the vast ocean. On reaching the search area, two drones are launched, one drone on each side of the boat, and using the open source tech, travel alongside the boat performing a zig zag search pattern within a pre-determined search area while crew members monitor the screens. At night, when rescuers are limited by how far they can see, the Fleetlights drones are fitted with powerful lights that act like floodlights in the middle of the ocean while feeding back essential visuals to the lifeboat team.
[youtube height=”450″width=”800″]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2x7MLZrIfHw[/youtube]
Direct Line has donated the technology to the Caister team ahead of a meeting with HM Coastguard and the Department for Transport where a full national rollout will be discussed.
Paul Garrod, Caister Lifeboats Chairman said:
“In the past, there have been instances where we have been unsuccessful when searching for someone in need of help. Perhaps if we had been equipped with the drone technology, these searches would have had a positive outcome. Improving visibility above and around boats, especially at night, will help us to locate those in danger much faster, meaning more lives could be saved.”
Mark Evans at Direct Line added:
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“Fleetlights has been really exciting for Direct Line; symbolic of our intent to develop high performance solutions to everyday challenges. It is incredibly exciting that Caister will now be utilising this ground-breaking drone hardware and software.
“Only a year ago, we predicted we might be using the Fleetlights technology in real-life situations by around 2021. We deliberately created the Fleetlights code on an open-source basis in the hope that this would help us to accelerate. Now that we are using the technology to develop the drones for sea rescue it has happened much faster than anticipated. It’s our hope that Caister can lead by example to inspire other sea rescue teams to adopt it across the country and improve the safety of British waters.”
Main image: drone in use by Caister lifeboat (still from Direct Line video)
About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.