Designing an Autonomous Drone to Locate Avalanche Victims

Abstract

Avalanches cause a significant number of winter recreational fatalities, including about 150 deaths around the world each year. With a survival probability of 30% after only 35 minutes, it is critical to locate and rescue avalanche victims quickly. This thesis describes the design and implementation of a drone for autonomously locating buried avalanche victims. With widespread use, a commercial adaptation of this drone could reduce the average burial time of 25 minutes and increase the survival probability of buried victims.