InDro and partners advance AED drone delivery research

InDro and partners advance AED drone delivery research

Aug 18, 2025 | Drones for good, In the media, InDro News

By Scott Simmie

 

When someone goes into cardiac arrest, literally every second counts.

The chances of survival drop by between seven and 10 per cent for each minute that passes between the event and resuscitation. So getting an Automated External Defibrillator to the scene as quickly as possible can, literally, mean the difference between life and death.

Back in 2018, InDro partnered with the County of Renfrew Paramedic Service and Dr. Sheldon Cheskes, Affiliate scientist, Evaluative Clinical Sciences, in the Schulich Heart Research Program at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, to carry out field research that compares the speed of delivering an AED via drone versus ground-based EMS. We have also worked with Peel Regional Paramedic Services on these trials.

Research was well underway, with multiple successful trials, when the pandemic hit and the project was paused. It has now resumed, and was recently featured in this news article.

Below: A video showing one of our test trials, where we lowered an AED kit at a precise location via winch

THE BENEFITS

 

The benefits are clear: The faster you can get an AED to a cardiac arrest victim, the more likely they are to survive. In multiple trials we worked with the County of Renfrew Paramedic Service to compare the speed of drone delivery with that of ground-based EMS. A simulated emergency call was placed, and the paramedics hit the road at speed. At the same time, we dispatched a drone carrying an AED.

The drone was faster – as it can head directly to the scene as the crow flies. This is particularly important in rural and remote settings, where roads only rarely present a direct route to the target destination.

In fact, Dr, Sheldon Cheskes and colleagues have been carrying out research to determine the feasibility of AED delivery by drone and have published papers in peer-reviewed journals.

In a 2020 research paper published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, they wrote about the results of six simulations in two rural areas. In one of those tests, the distance ground EMS had to travel was 20 kilometres, versus nine kilometres for the drone.

“During each flight, the AED drone arrived on scene before the ambulance, between 1.8 and 8.0 minutes faster,” they wrote. “This study suggests AED drone delivery is feasible, with the potential for improvements in response time during simulated sudden cardiac arrest scenarios.”

 

THE CHALLENGES

 

Getting the drone to the precise location is no problem. In fact, a 911 call contains the coordinates where the drone must be dispatched to – and that data can be automatically integrated into our flight planning software.

But because speed is of the essence, the research is also exploring how to most quickly get the AED from the drone into the hands of those awaiting the device on the ground. Is it faster to land the drone? Drop the device in a well-padded enclosure from a low height? Land and disarm the drone?

Then there’s the issue of instructing the Good Samaritans on the ground on how to effectively use the AED. In one of our trials, a cellphone was included with the AED. That cellphone was preset to a live video call with a First Responder. The moment someone opened the package, there was a professional on the other end who could offer instructions.

Below: Television coverage of when InDro first began exploring drone delivery of AED – all the way back in 2014

 

INDRO’S TAKE

 

As you just saw, we actually explored this use-case on Salt Spring Island long before the pilot project, with some tests back in 2014. So we could see the benefits of this use-case early on. Drone technology has improved immensely since then – meaning we can fly greater distances at greater speeds.

“We are immensely pleased to see this research get back underway after the pause forced by the pandemic,” says InDro Founder and CEO Philip Reece. “We’re also in a position now where we can explore using fixed-wing VTOL for greater speed and integrate more robust command and control protocols. Our ultimate, long-term vision includes the potential for a series of strategically placed docks in rural areas that contain drones and AEDs that can be automatically and autonomously dispatched the moment that 911 call comes in.”

We look forward to updating you after the next trial.

Canadian Startup KiDrone has big plans – and technology – for reforestation

Canadian Startup KiDrone has big plans – and technology – for reforestation

Jul 13, 2023 | Drones for good, Environment, Industry News, Scott Simmie

By Scott Simmie

 

A Canadian startup has ambitious plans to deploy long-range, high-payload drones for reforestation at scale.

Using an extended-range, heavy-lift drone and patent-pending Machine Learning, the company calculates it could drop one million seeds in a single mission. Not only that, but it could plant seeds for different species in the most appropriate locations.

“We are a reforestation technology company,” explains CEO and Founder Trevor Grant. “We are going to be deploying heavy-lift unmanned helicopters coupled with AI machine learning to scale reforestation to industrial levels.”

That’s an impressive goal. Let’s look at how KiDrone plans to achieve it.

 

GENESIS

 

Many of the startups we’ve met over the years were founded by engineers. But CEO/Founder Trevor Grant is a lawyer by trade. So how did he wind up starting a venture involving drones and reforestation? Well, a couple of things happened.

First, he happened to watch a documentary on Netflix called Breaking Boundaries: The Science of Our Planet. It was about climate change, and the need to take urgent action on a global level. The following day, he happened to be reading an article about Beyond Visual Line of Sight flights. And then he started thinking.

“It tweaked in my head, perhaps the largest impediment to this (reforestation) is labour supply. And fleets of autonomous drones might be able to tackle such a problem at scale,” says Grant. Plus, he was also thinking about his children, living during an unprecedented era for planet earth.

“There was a genuine desire to leave the world to my kids better off than it was left to me,” he said during an interview at Toronto’s Collision conference.

And so KiDrone was soon born, with a mission to drop enough seeds to truly make a difference. But not just haphazardly. To ensure the best results, seeding would need to be targeted – with the correct species dropped in locations best suited to their survival and the broader ecosystem. Plus, the seeds would need to be coated.

“Seed encapsulation technology has been around for a very long time, but mainly in the agricultural sphere, not much for the reforestation or restorations sphere,” explains Fatima Mahmud, KiDrone’s Chief Scientific Officer. Mahmud is an environmental scientist born in the Middle East and who studied at the University of California, Berkeley, before obtaining her Masters degree in Toronto.

“Some of the reasons for encapsulating a seed, for aerial seeding specifically, is number one: It increases the flowability of the seed through the (dispersal) mechanism. Number two: It adds weight to the seed so the seed drops to the site. You can also add materials or compounds to the encapsulation that can deter pests and predators. And making the seed uniform allows it to find a suitable microsite in the soil once it’s dispursed.”

Below: Encapsulated seeds at KiDrone’s Collision display

 

 

 

KiDrone seeds

GETTING STARTED

 

Going from an idea to a viable product or service is a voyage – just ask any Startup. And the first part of KiDrone’s path has been to demonstrate that this is a viable, doable solution.

“It’s been a two-year journey to validate our hypothesis and validate where direct seedings works and where it doesn’t work,” explains CEO Grant. “Because direct seeding isn’t a cure-all for all reforestation needs. It’s highly effective in many situations – but not all.”

Post-wildfires (and Canada has had many this year), is a very promising use-case. Grant says high-intensity fires can consume the natural seed inventory that might be on the forest floor.

“So there’s a need for direct seeding at that point. Where direct seeding struggles is in drought-prone conditions,” he says.

 

TARGETED SEEDING USING AI

 

It’s not that difficult to deliver seeds via a drone. In fact, some companies have been dropping seeds and seed pods successfully. What differentiates KiDrone is its planned use of AI – and a proprietary seed dispenser capable of holding the seeds of 12 different species and disbursing them selectively. By examining multiple data points during flight, the drone will autonomously dispense the seeds best suited to particular locations based on the mission profile.

“There’s thousands of data points for any given site – climactic, GIS, various forms of imagery or LiDAR, soil lab results – an endless amount of data you can get to classify or gain conditions on a site,” explains Grant.

“And that will all lead to whether certain species may or may not be optimal (for a specific location), and what other species might be supportive. Our AI will be able to determine which trees are more likely to succeed in which areas. Because we’re not interested in monoculture or pine nurseries. We’re very interested in a more holistic reforestation approach that includes many different species, supported species, and Indigenous species of medicinal worth and spiritual worth.”

That last part is very important to KiDrone.

“Our biggest commitment is to work alongside the Indigenous communities where we operate. It’s their land and it’s their traditional territory. They should be the ones directing how reforestation happens. We simply view our roles as facilitating the reforestation goals that they have.”

Below: Founder/CEO Trevor Grant at the Collision conference.

 

KiDrone

THE NUTS AND BOLTS

 

It’s clear, speaking with CEO Grant, the company is working toward its goal via a methodical, evidence-driven trajectory. There’s been a lot of work on seed encapsulation so far though a partnership with the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT), as well as a flight using a crewed helicopter for dropping encapsulated seeds. It successfully seeded 40 hectares.

“Our largest concern is validating where the seeds will grow, not where the drone will fly,” he says. “We’re concerned about the science behind encapsulation and determining where it’s effective to seed and where it’s not. We’re putting the science first, because we’re looking to do this for the next 20 years and not simply flip a carbon offset project.”

Existing startups doing seeding tend to use multi-rotor designs, which limits the distance they can cover per mission. Here, KiDrone differentiates itself by planning to use a much longer-range drone. The company has established a relationship with Scheibel, a manufacturer of UAVs (and landmine detectors). The company has a long-range uncrewed helicopter called the S-100. It can carry 50 kilograms of payload (seeds plus dispersal mechanism), and has an incredible range – up to 1000 kilometres, says Grant.

“The great thing about having such a large airframe that we’re looking to deploy – we’re able to carry 12 different species in one flight,” he says.

“So mid-flight, while travelling at 100 kilometres an hour, the system will be able to disperse an entirely different species, change the ratio of species being disbursed, add different nitrogen fixers or supportive species, all autonomously, based on AI and a seed-planting pattern that is pre-loaded to the mission.”

 

Below: A seedling that germinated from one of KiDrone’s encapsulated seeds. Image courtesy of KiDrone

KiDrone

THE BUSINESS CASE

 

There can be no question there’s an environmental demand for reforestation at scale. KiDrone’s pitch deck states “Reforestation in Canada is broken.

“Since 2010, Canadians have lost more than 44 million hectares of tree cover due to timber harvesting, wildfires, and commercial development. This represents an urgent, unmet need and opportunity to radically transform how industry & government deliver and scale reforestation in Canada.”

And with the devastating and deadly wildfires of 2023, the country has lost even more of that tree cover. The current system, of using human beings to plant seedlings, simply cannot keep up with the demand. It’s also inefficient – and there are vast tracts of forest in Canada that are simply inaccessible.

The big forestry companies also tend to have reforestation deficits, where they simply have not been able to reforest at a rate equal to the harvesting of timber. Plus, the KiDrone deck points out, “Corporate Canada’s demand for carbon offset opportunities vastly outweigh the current supply.”

So there’s not only an environmental imperative, but there’s also a strong business case. The company has been targeting three different sectors:

  • Top 12 Canadian forestry companies, each with reforestation requirements > 25k hectares
  • Federal & provincial forestry departments “focused on post-wildfire timber supply mitigation”
  • Carbon credit offset buyers and sellers

It all equals huge demand for a service like this, says Grant.

“Endless,” he says. “I think the wildfires we’ve had to date are a good example of of how large the reforestation required is in Canada alone – let alone globally.”

The company’s business model projects dropping 10k seeds per hectare in the future, with a 20 per cent viability rate. That comes out to 2,000 trees per hectare, at $.50 per tree. That’s $1,000 per hectare. Based on operating one drone and starting operations in 2024, its revenue projections climb to more than $1.2M by 2026 – and that’s with a single drone deployed. And because costs are low when compared with traditional tree seeding/planting methods, nearly all of that revenue would be profit.

The company is currently in a seed round (and we’re talking capital here, not trees), which its hoping to close late this summer or early fall. Once complete, there will be some additional immediate hires and KiDrone will be in “an early operational state.”

Grant is aware that BVLOS permission won’t be automatic, so he anticipates some of the early deployments will be VLOS, or operating with specific SFOCs.

INDRO’S TAKE

 

We’ve been through the Startup path, and know of the many challenges that come with the territory. But we also know a good idea when we see it. KiDrone has clearly identified its market and has laid out a solid path to commercialisation. It’s also a perfect application of autonomous technology for the Three Ds – taking on jobs that are dirty, dull and dangerous.

“In an era of climate change and with record-setting temperatures, getting more trees on the planet at scale helps all of us. I see this as definitely a Drones For Good application,” says Indro Robotics CEO Philip Reece. “I also really like seeing that KiDrone is taking it slow with an evidence-based approach – and a solid business plan. I look forward to hearing about their first deployment.”

You can learn more about KiDrone here.

Public perception of drones mixed depending on use-cases

Public perception of drones mixed depending on use-cases

Apr 24, 2023 | Drones for good, Education, Industry News, Scott Simmie

By Scott Simmie

 

What does the public think about drones?

That’s a very good question. And the answer has implications for the industry at large.

Is the public ready to embrace drones becoming a more ubiquitous part of everyday life? Are people ready for drones to be flying overhead in urban settings – whether they’re gathering data, delivering critical supplies, or simply dropping off a bagel and latte for the sake of convenience?

As the industry moves ahead to more routine Beyond Visual Line of Sight Flights utilising pre-programmed and autonomous technologies, the answer – or answers – could have a significant impact on the speed of adoption.

Do people want drones buzzing in their neighbourhoods? WING certainly had some pushback when it began trials of convenience deliveries in Australia. And what about concerns over privacy?

There are plenty of questions. And some intriguing answers.

Below: InDro delivers prescriptions to remote Gulf Island communities in a trial using drones for critical deliveries of medications

Public Perception of Drones

CANADIAN RESEARCH

 

Before we dive into the nuts and bolts, some context: We’ll be referring to two scientific papers just published by Canadian-led research teams based out or Carleton University in Ottawa. One of these papers reviews existing research and draws conclusions, while the other involves original data on public perceptions gathered in Canada. Though we’ll dip into both, we’ll focus primarily on the paper called “Public perception of remotely piloted aircraft systems in Canada” – which appears in the May 2023 issue of Technology In society.

That study was authored by Dr. Nick Tepylo, Leilah Debelle, and Jeremy Laliberté. Dr. Tepylo is both a pilot and an aircraft systems engineer who holds a PhD; Professor Jeremy Laliberté leads a 22-person Carleton research group that focusses on the advanced use of drones and Advanced Air Mobility (AAM). Leilah Debelle is a research assistant (Co-op) in the Department of Psychology.

Together, this group carried out the first original research on this topic in Canada since 2014. Back then, there was considerable opposition to drones. As the paper’s abstract points out:

“The last major survey performed in Canada was done in 2014 and found the public was rather opposed to the use of drones and preferred traditionally piloted aircraft in all 38 applications polled. Much has changed over the past eight years as the findings presented herein show the public is supportive of the technology in most applications… Applications of drones that were perceived to further the public interest such as search and rescue, firefighting, and climate research were also viewed more positively. Most drone user groups were viewed favorably except for journalists and corporations.”

Below: A Draganfly drone designed for medical deliveries

 

Canada Drones

WHAT DO CANADIANS THINK?

 

Well, in large part, it depends on what use-cases are involved.

The respondents in the survey (there were 1,022), showed a clear preference for use-cases such as Search and Rescue, disaster response and scientific research. At the bottom of the list? Drone delivery.

We spoke with Jeremy Laliberté about the results; he agreed that people surveyed were more inclined to support what could be termed “positive” use-case scenarios.

“In general, the public is accepting of these technologies, but it varies strongly,” says Laliberté.

“If you look at the Canadian context, who is using the RPAS influences heavily the level of acceptance. So for example, public safety applications, Search and Rescue, things that are for the public good…have very high levels of acceptance. And we found in our literature review, that’s also the case in other countries.”

Intuitively, that makes sense. But what are the applications where the public is less likely to embrace drone use?

“Where the acceptance falls off, interestingly enough, is around delivery – delivery of just regular goods and services…packages, parcels, things like that. As well as journalism – using drones to monitor the public in any way or for news gathering – those get lower levels of acceptance,” he says.

You can see the varying levels of acceptance, pending use-cases, in the graphic below from the research paper. About 87 per cent of respondents strongly or somewhat support use-cases like Search and Rescue, firefighting and disaster response. Only 1.6 per cent of respondents oppose the use of drones in these scenarios.

“At the other end of the spectrum, package delivery had the lowest level of support with 44.9% in favor, 25.7% opposed, and 29.4% neither supporting nor opposing this mission type,” states the paper.

“Newsgathering and surveillance missions received just shy of 60 per cent support, while all other missions received at least 75% support. Additionally, only three missions (newsgathering, surveillance, and package delivery) received more than 10% opposition.”

 

Canada Drones

CONCERNS OVER MISUSE

 

The research also asked about the potential misuse or drones. Three different scenarios were presented to respondents: The use of drones for smuggling, flights over public spaces and flights over residential properties.

“Participants were most concerned about the potential misuse of RPAS by smugglers with 34.1% expressing a high level of concern and an additional 44.2% indicating a moderate level of concern,” states the report.

Reported cases of smuggling usually involve criminals dropping contraband into prison facilities. So while there is concern about such activities, these use-cases are generally rare and don’t directly impact members of the public or legitimate drone service providers. Arguably more relevant to the industry is concerns about flights over public spaces and homes, with the latter something that could become routine if and when urban drone deliveries take place.

Canada Drones

PRIVACY

 

Respondents were given the opportunity to get a little more specific about their concerns, with the option of entering their thoughts in a text box. Of the 1022 people surveyed, 611 (nearly 60 per cent) took the opportunity to offer additional information. And it’s clear: People are concerned about privacy.

“Responses relating to privacy concerns were the most common with 58.3% of responses highlighting some sort of privacy concern. Privacy was the most common word used, followed by variations of the words spy and surveillance,” states the report.

“Other words such as filming, video, pictures, etc. were entered and included under the privacy category. Government users were the most mentioned user of concern, followed by law enforcement, and hobbyists. Other issues raised related to the risk of collisions or drones falling out of the sky, hacking and cybersecurity, misuse by criminals, and the potential for weaponizing drones to target civilians.”

And there’s a lesson here, says Laliberté, for service providers. The public wants to know what these devices are doing when in public spaces or over residences, and what data is being collected.

“Things like package delivery…those are the ones (use-cases) where there will definitely need to be clear and transparent sharing of information: What are you doing? Who’s operating the aircraft? What kind of data is being collected? How’s the data being protected?” he says.

“I think the operators will have to be proactive about that sort of thing and really sort of get out there and explain their operations and be clear and transparent, and explain what they’re doing, how they’re doing it and how they’ve ensured that it’s safe.”

Laliberté suggests it could also be useful for drone operators in such use-cases to clearly mark their drones with company names and/or colors so that the devices can be identified from the ground. That way they’re not seen as an anonymous device with an unknown operator – which could contribute to concern/suspicion.

Below: First Responders operate a drone while trying to locate a missing person

Canada Drones

NOT JUST CANADA

 

It’s not just Canadians who have concerns about privacy. The paper cited three other research papers – two from the United States and one from Switzerland – that showed similar concerns.

“Similar to other democratic countries, the Canadians surveyed in this study expressed privacy concerns regarding the use of RPAS. Most of these concerns were related to surveillance by individuals, news organizations, or the government,” states the paper.

“The major concern with government users and law enforcement is surveillance, while with corporate entities, data collection for marketing is the largest concern, whereas with hobbyists, people are concerned about potential spying and recording of one’s actions. Future policy should be written to address each of these unique scenarios to improve the social acceptance of drones.”

The research also found there are differences in public acceptance based on perceived use of drones. If the drones can be obviously seen as a tool, their deployment is likely to be seen more favorably when compared with other forms of sensor-based data acquisition.

“The Dutch team of Bart Engberts and Edo Gillissen make the designation between the use of drones for sensory applications and their use as a tool,” explains Dr. Tepylo.

“Applications falling under the tool category such as using drones for firefighting or disaster monitoring typically have higher levels of support; however, the public is more weary when drones are used for sensory applications. These could include crime scene surveillance and even using drones to issue speeding tickets. People are used to a certain level of privacy and when drones are added to the mix, even without knowing how the drones are being used, they feel that their privacy is being taken from them.”

 

THE GOOD NEWS

 

It’s worth noting that the Carleton research indicates a shift in public opinion since the last major Canadian survey on the topic in 2014. People are more supportive of drones across all use-cases, with very strong support for First Responder use, disaster response and scientific research.

Also worth noting is that younger people and those with a background in RPAS tend to be more supportive than older Canadians and those who are less familiar with the technology. It also appears that words matter: The study used the word “drone” in half of its surveys and “Unmanned Aerial Vehicle” in the other half. Those surveyed were significantly more likely to support use-cases when the word “drone” was used rather than “Unmanned Aerial Vehicle.”

In fact, users were asked to identify their feelings on spotting a “drone” vs. an “Unmanned Aerial Vehicle” in the sky. People were more excited at the prospect of seeing something identified as a drone than an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle. Women expressed less enthusiasm than men regardless of the word used, and far greater concern than men at seeing an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle.

And why is that? The research revealed that more people are familiar with the term “drone” and could easily identify a quadcopter and associate it with the word. There was more confusion around “Unmanned Aerial Vehicle” – with respondents more likely to associate that term with a military device such as a Global Hawk.

Public Perception of Drones

AND THAT OTHER STUDY?

 

At the outset, we mentioned that there was a second paper which reviewed existing literature around public perceptions. Entitled “Public perception of advanced aviation technologies: A review and roadmap to acceptance,” the paper was published in April of 2023. In addition to Dr. Nick Tepylo and Professor Jeremy Laliberté (who authored the Canadian study), they were joined by Dr. Anna Straubinger from the Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research. In addition to drones, the review paper covers public perceptions of Urban Air Mobility and such technologies as air taxis (where Anna Straubinger has extensive expertise).

Because this is a long-ish post already, we’ll briefly hit some of the takeaways. The following highlights are taken directly from the review paper:

  • Interest in public perception of drones has been increasing since 2015
  • Awareness of drones is between 93 and 97% in North American and European countries
  • Support for drones increases with the level of awareness among the population
  • Support for air taxis has steadily increased and sits around 40–60%
  • Improving public perception is the key to widespread adoption of the technology

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION

 

Interestingly, the data shows that public perception can be influenced by where you live. In Switzerland, for example, support for package deliveries was 18 per cent. In Singapore, meanwhile, support was in the low 80s. High rates of public acceptance, says Professor Laliberté, will likely lead to earlier adoption in those countries – including technology such as air taxis.

“Especially with Urban Air Mobility (UAM) some of the initial trials were being done and proposed in countries where definitely the level of acceptance is higher,” he says. And as for Singapore and package deliveries?

“Singapore is relatively small, high density, and fairly urban. So it actually makes sense to try these (use-cases) out in some of these areas.”

Even a single drone service provider, doing work that’s perceived as good, can influence overall acceptance rates – which ultimately impact speed of adoption.

“Despite the lack of research data, Africa is a very promising location for the adoption of drone technology due to the work of Zipline,” says Dr. Tepylo.

“The company operates two medical supply distribution centres in Rwanda which can provide coverage for most of the country. When they see a drone in the sky, many Rwandans think of the potential life-saving mission that vehicle is completing so reactions are very positive. If the Zipline model is able to be replicated in other parts of Africa and rural areas around the world, it has the potential to accelerate the adoption of drones globally.”

Below: Graphic showing public acceptance of various use-cases by country. Locations with higher rates of public acceptance could well adopt these technologies at scale sooner than those with lower acceptance rates

Canada Drones

INDRO’S TAKE

 

We’re pleased to see these new papers – and particularly pleased to see researchers from Carleton University taking a lead in this field. These findings are tremendously useful to operators – and offer some useful takeaways when it comes to being transparent about operations due to the level of concerns around privacy. It’s also clear that public perceptions can play a role in influencing regulators when it comes to the pace of change.

At InDro, we’ve long emphasised what we would term ‘positive’ use-case scenarios. These include specialized products and training for First Responders, trials of prescription medication and COVID test supplies via drone – even the delivery of Automated External Defibrillators. It’s nice to see that these use-cases strongly align with high levels of public acceptance/support.

“It may well be inevitable that packages are delivered in urban settings down the road,” says InDro Robotics CEO Philip Reece. “But that’s still several years away. We see greater importance in delivering critical supplies like medications to cut-off and isolated communities and in developing specialised drones for First Responders and scientific data acquisition. We also believe these are the kinds of use-cases that – at least for the moment – are more likely to be viewed as both useful and safer when it comes to Transport Canada and BVLOS permissions.”

We recommend taking a deeper dive into this excellent research. You’ll find the paper on Canadian perceptions here, and the review paper on broader global data here.

Indro Robotics provides live drone video feed at Montreal Marathon in pilot medical project

Indro Robotics provides live drone video feed at Montreal Marathon in pilot medical project

Sep 27, 2022 | Case Studies, Drone News, Drones for good, InDro News, Scott Simmie

By Scott Simmie

 

The Montreal Marathon, 2022 edition, was held over the weekend. The main event, the signature 42-kilometre run, took place early Sunday. And three InDro Robotics engineers were there.

They weren’t running, but were instead providing a live feed from drones. Those live feeds were being monitored on large video monitors by dedicated research assistants. They were assessing the quality of the feeds and their usefulness in detecting runners who might be in need of medical assistance.

Below: Team InDro, wearing safety vests, with Montreal Marathon runners on the right

Montreal Marathon

Research project

 

InDro became involved with this through Dr. Valérie Homier, an Emergency Physician at McGill University Health Centre. She has long had an interest in how drones can be used in the health care sector, and has collaborated with InDro on two previous research projects.

One of those projects evaluated whether drones or ground delivery could transport simulated blood products more efficiently to a trauma facility – the Montreal General Hospital. Drones were faster.

The second project studied whether drones could help identify swimmers in distress at an IRONMAN event in Mont-Tremblant. You can find that research here.

With the Montreal Marathon coming up, Dr. Homier knew there would likely be medical events. There generally are.

“In these long-distance sporting events there are usually some significant injuries, including cardiac events and heat strokes,” she says.

These tend to be more likely in the later phases of events like marathons, after the athlete has already been under stress for an extended time. The thinking was that perhaps drones could be a useful tool.

Dr. Homier was particularly interested in whether two drones in the air, covering two critical segments toward the end of the marathon, could provide useful data. Specifically, would the live video feed be consistent enough in quality and resolution to be a useful tool?

This pilot aimed to find out.

Below: An uphill segment near the Montreal Marathon finish line. This is was the target area for one of the Indro Robotics drones 

 

Montreal Marathon

InDro’s role

 

There was a lot of planning required for the mission to ensure the drones could provide continuous coverage and be safe for flying in an area with so many people. Project Manager Irina Saczuk (who happens to also be an RN) worked closely with Dr. Homier to help figure out the nuts and bolts of the InDro side of things.

InDro assigned three employees from the Area X.O facility to the project: Software developers Ella Hayashi and Kaiwen Xu, along with mechatronics specialist Liam Dwyer. All three hold Advanced RPAS certificates and took part in planning meetings to understand the mission and their roles. They also looked into optimising the drones’ video feeds to ensure the best quality would reach those monitoring remotely on large screens.

“At big-scale events such as this marathon, lots of people could go down with injuries,” says InDro’s Ella Hayashi. “But it can be hard to get timely support because roads are blocked. So drones have the potential to really help with sharing the precise location and other information when a person may need help.”

Worth noting here: The InDro engineers/pilots were not to be actively ‘looking’ for people in medical distress. Their role was simply to pilot the drones at the assigned locations and maintain a video feed that offered those watching the large-screen monitors with good situational awareness. In the event of an emergency, the pilots were to follow instructions, including moving in closer to a runner in distress.

 

Sub-250 grams

 

The team took four DJI Mini 2 drones to Montreal. Though InDro has a fleet of much larger and sophisticated drones the company has built, these consumer drones were perfect for the job. That’s because the Mini 2 is a sub-250 gram drone that can be flown near and over people. In the exceedingly rare event of a failure, the small device is unlikely to cause any substantial injury to someone on the ground. They’re also capable of very good video quality.

The team also used a third-party app – Airdata – to carry the video streams. The app created secure links for each drone’s feed that could be shared with those who would be monitoring the feed. Three drones were to be used in rotation so that two drones were always in the air providing live video at any given time. A fourth drone was onsite for backup.

“We modified the parameters and were streaming in 720p,” explains Dwyer. “We selected a lower resolution because on the bigger screen it didn’t have to be crystal clear but it needed to be smooth.”

There was, initially, some concern over whether the local LTE network would be able to handle the feed due to the large number of people using cellphones to capture and stream from the finish line.

“The night before the mission, a medical person told us there were going to be 20,000 people around the stadium,” says Xu. “We were worried about network connectivity, it was possible that our video streaming would not work. But actually the network was pretty good that day.”

Below is a drone selfie of the InDro team: From left to right, Kaiwen Xu, Ella Hayashi, Liam Dwyer

 

Live Drone Video Feed

A useful exercise

 

Remember: This was simply a pilot project to determine if drones could provide a clean video stream that might be useful. The pilots were to focus on hovering the drones in two specific adjacent locations, with some overlap in their video to ensure they were not missing a spot of this critical part of the marathon.

“Our job was 100 per cent flying the drones,” says Dwyer. “Just straightforward, wide-angle shots with all runners in the field of view.”

We should mention here that InDro also took part in a simulated cardiac event prior to the marathon reaching this area. A medical dummy was placed in a location and one of the drone pilots was instructed to get closer for a better look. A small electric vehicle – think a large golf cart adapted for First Responder use – was dispatched. Chest compressions were performed on the dummy, which was then loaded into the vehicle. A drone followed as the vehicle drove to a nearby stadium and the victim was transported inside to the treatment area. The feed gave others on the Medi-Drone team an opportunity to see, in real-time, the progress of the patient’s arrival.

“The drone response really gave them an active timeline of when they should expect to receive this patient,” says Dwyer.

So the drones proved useful during a simulation. But how would they perform with runners during the actual marathon?

Below: The downhill segment monitored by InDro Robotics

Montreal Marathon Drone Video

From simulation to real-world

 

As the lead runners came in, the field wasn’t crowded. But, of course, it would become more congested.

When athletes are moving together en masse like this, Dr. Homier says there’s a certain flow that can be observed from the drone. Because that flow is consistent and smooth, a runner in distress literally pops up as looking out of place.

And it happened. Those watching the live feed spotted someone who appeared to be in distress. They had stopped, were hanging on to a railing on the side of the course. Then they fell over the railing, dropping to the grass. A drone pilot was asked to move in for a closer look. It was clear this runner needed help.

In fact, while the pilots were intended to simply hover their drones, Dr. Homier had anticipated such a scenario, and built it into the protocol for the pilot project. Suddenly, an InDro pilot had become part of a First Responder team, providing much-needed situational awareness.

“It was embedded in the research protocol, that eyes on the event becomes what is required,” she explains. “It was called into dispatch and pilots were able to provide eyes on the incident. That was amazing; dispatch came down after and brought us a radio.”

 

Lessons learned

 

For Dr. Homier, there’s still work ahead and a lot of data to be analyzed.

“There’s a lot to learn from this project, and there’s a way forward for multiple surveillance methods,” she says.  “And the drones are way up there. The view from above when monitoring moving crowds is just incomparable.”

Plus, says Dr. Homier, the project sparked a tremendous amount of interest from other healthcare professionals on site.

“The interest was incredible, coming from the drone pilots, the students, the medical directors, the medical staff – they all thought it was so cool,” she says.

“We’re talking about 250 people involved in the medical team. Many came to see the viewing station, so in terms of letting people know about this new use of the technology – that was also a great success.”

Below: Mission accomplished! Team InDro is joined by key members of the marathon’s medical response team for this post-race drone selfie

Montreal Marathon

InDro’s take

 

We’re proud to be involved with this project – just as we’re proud to have collaborated previously with Dr. Valérie Homier on other research projects involving drones. In fact, we find this kind of research particularly meaningful.

“For us, using drones for good is much more than a catchy hashtag,” says InDro Robotics CEO Philip Reece. “Aerial and ground robots can perform so many useful tasks. We’ve helped securely deliver prescriptions to remote locations, COVID test supplies, and more. But playing a role in helping to ensure that someone in medical distress receives timely assistance is up near the top of the list. We look forward to the next project with Dr. Homier.”

And nice job, Ella, Kaiwen and Liam.

PS: We’ve issued a news release about this project. You can read it here.