EMILY, the robotic buoy saving lives. While some inventions can be a boondoogle, the latest robotic buoy, called EMILY, is making a positive splash. The remote controlled Emergency Integrated Lifesaving Lanyard may be the latest addition to beaches and search and rescue missions. (via Kimball Hall)
In inspiring news, a robot that can help save lives! While there is much news about inventions of robots and AIs that are simply created because they can be created, or because they can replace existing jobs, it is nice to know that people are inventing robots with a higher purpose.
This current robot is meant to act as a lifeguard for the Malibu beach and could help save conscious victims on the coast of this beach town. It is a robotic buoy that can ‘swim’ at 22 mph, even through riptides; meaning this robot is 15 times faster than a human lifeguard. This speed can help save lives as it allows the victim to rest while holding onto the buoy until lifeguards can reach and recover the victim.
It is called the EMILY, or Emergency Integrated Lifesaving Lanyard. The name is based upon the inventor’s daughter’s friend who was tragically killed in a car accident. In honor of her commitment to service, they named this robot EMILY in the hopes that her legacy may live on.
EMILY swims through the water via water jet propulsion with an inlet grate, like a water ski jet; this ensures that victims are not accidentally harmed by more dangerous methods of propulsion, like rudders or propellers. It’s 50 inches long and 15 inches wide with a Kevlar reinforced hull (to endure impact with underwater objects like reefs, rocks, and more).
All in all, it’s a pretty simple design with high aspirations. It is currently remote contol operated and set for use this summer at Malibu beach. Next year, they are planning to utilize sonar technology and integrate the control system and sensors with an iPhone app that can control EMILY and detect riptides and underwater objects.
However, the EMILY isn’t just stopping at Malibu beach, it has also been used in recovery and rescue efforts in flash flood incidents. Further, the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) research team has recently adopted an EMILY, but they have fitted it to withstand hurricane winds. Their EMILY is a 65 inch unmanned surface vehicle (USV) fitted with tons of kit and sensors made to drive into the eye of hurricane storms to gather data. In future, the NOAA hopes that the EMILY will not only gather data from existing storms, but be capable of enhancing hurricane forecasts and predictions.
All-in-all, Tony Mulligan and his family, the inventors of the EMILY USVs, are surely making a splash that can make our beaches and shorelines more safe. Hopefully the implementation of robots, like EMILY, will limit summer death tolls at beaches and provide more successful rescue missions from flash flooding and other disasters.