Fundamental study on drone-based evacuation assistance system for person with special care needs

Abstract

Many organizations have prepared individual support plans to ensure the safe evacuation of people requiring special care, such as the elderly and disabled. This plan enables precise evacuation support to be provided to each individual's needs. However, there are issues such as the aging of the evacuation support personnel themselves and a shortage of evacuation supporters due to depopulation. In this study, we conducted experimental research on the construction of an evacuation support system using autonomous drones for individuals requiring special care who can walk independently. The experiments focused on the evacuation guidance and monitoring of evacuees. As a result, the drone was able to guide evacuees, whether they were alone or in groups, in any direction while maintaining a certain distance from them in the evacuation guidance experiments. In the evacuation monitoring experiments, the drone was able to track the number of evacuees using AR markers and monitor their movements.