Technology and digitalization are responsible for boosting our economy, improving our education and boosting the labor market, but also for simple things like enjoying the beaches in summer. What was once a rarity is now almost an everyday occurrence. More and more beaches have a drone surveillance service to ensure the safety of bathers.

Without collecting personal data – facial recognition is strictly forbidden – these drones allow for to know at the moment the actual capacity of the beachesbut also approaching life jackets to bathers in distress quickly and safely, approaching places where a lifeguard often cannot reach, or at least not in the time frame necessary for a rescue.

Last July 5, one of the drones monitoring the coast of Sagunto prevented the death of a 14-year-old boy by dropping a life jacket on him when the waves threatened to sink him. The child was able to hold on to the vest until the arrival of the emergency services of the Valencian town, who came by jet ski to rescue him and take him to the beach.

It is one of the first cases this summer, but the truth is that this surveillance system can be seen in more and more Spanish beaches. In the Valencian Community alone, last year six drownings were prevented in direct rescue actions, thanks to 851 flights over a total of 2,137 kilometers of coastline.

Councils such as Benalmádena or Fuengirola (Málaga), Ribadesella (Asturias), Isla (Cantabria) or Cartagena (Murcia), were pioneers in monitoring their beaches from the air, but there are a large number of municipalities that resort to these services. Sagunto has been doing so since 2017 and Playa de Muro, in Mallorca, since 2018, although the vast majority of beaches incorporated this service in the wake of the pandemic, starting in 2020.

Drones can also be used to control the capacity of beaches, which is especially useful in times of social distancing, but also if you are one of those who do not like crowds. Some of this data can be go live through an app, such as those on the beaches of Benalmádena or Mijas, in Málaga. This way you can decide whether or not you are interested in approaching before leaving home.

0 to 60 km/h in six seconds under full load

Although there are different drone models, most are capable of reaching very high speeds in a short period of time. This is the case of the Auxdron LFG model, which has a maximum acceleration from 0 to 60 km/h in six seconds at maximum load and total braking stability.

This model is composed of a loudspeaker to warn of your presence, the life jacket and a camera to follow you from land, although it can be customized on demand. It has a 50 km/h wind resistance, sand and rain protection and uses a two life jacket delivery system by means of a mechanical fuse for controlled release, thus ensuring buoyancy to the victim.

In addition to Sagunto, where it has been operating since 2017, this drone can be found on the beaches of Alboraya, Cullera, Gandía, Jávea, Denia, Benidorm and Guardamar del Segura.

Another model, capable of taking off from its base in just five seconds and arriving at a speed of 85 kilometers per hour to the place where the emergency is being detected, is being used this summer on the beaches of Burriana, Vinaròs, Peñíscola, Moncofa, Alcalà de Xivert and Oropesa.

The drones that are changing our summer

Although few stories are as eye-catching as that of the drone saving lives on beaches, the fact is that these unmanned vehicles, supported by enabling technologies such as 5G, are increasingly present in our lives, making, for example, the tomatoes we eat in summer better and tastier.

This is the case of two pilot projects led by Orange that we recently talked about in the DigitalES podcast: the Rajalu farm, and in Galicia, the Agroamb farm. Both are aimed at optimizing production and improving fruit quality, while contributing to environmental sustainability.

At these two casesthe use of fixed sensors in the field and drones with multispectral and high-resolution camerasThe 5G network, connected through a central node with 5G, allows farmers to optimize resources and obtain higher quality products, while also contributing to water savings and environmental sustainability.

 

Another relevant case is the one developed by Grupo Masmovil, Cellnex Telecom, Mobile World Capital Barcelona and SITEP under the ‘5G Barcelona’ initiative to fight fires . This work requires having global information about the affected area, as well as knowing the position of the different troops involved. For this purpose, the use of a drone, which provides the area vision, together with the processing of the information for the geolocation of the fire and of the firefighters in the field, is very useful.

The drone pilot allows remote assistance in firefighting and perimeter control thanks to drone control, image retransmission and temperature sensor reading. In this way, it offers the sending of georeferenced images, with temperature scale and position of the troops deployed in the field, through a broadband communications network for real-time visualization.