Lifesaving Drone Concept Art Turns Killing Machines into Caretakers

Josh Engen

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Aug 19, 2013
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Lifesaving Drone Concept Art Turns Killing Machines into Caretakers



A concept art collection produced by Frog Design reevaluates the function of drone technology

Unmanned drones don't have the reputation for being particularly concerned with human life. Well, to be fair, they don't really care about anything. They're drones. But even though drones are typically used for controversial purposes, like secretive surveillance and aerial attacks, they're perfectly capable of becoming the kind peace-loving, aeronautical helper-bots that we've always hoped for.

Frog Design is a multi-national product strategy and design firm that works with companies like Microsoft, Apple, Disney, and Sony. Cormac Eubanks, Frog's product development director, produced a collection of concept drones that could " improve people's lives - and possibly even save them."

"This is our vision of a future where drones are not spies, weaponry or scary agents of evil," says Eubanks in a blog entry Frog Design's website [http://designmind.frogdesign.com/blog/these-drones-will-save-your-life.html]. "They can be trusted aids that assist humans tasked with doing some of the most dangerous work we know. In this world, these devices -- with their sensors and bleeding edge technology -- become extensions of our society's infrastructure and essential to our well-being."

Four pieces of concept art were produced, each showcasing a different drone design. The Snow Cyclops, for example, would spend its time on the snowiest mountains. It would use explosives to trigger preventative avalanches and a thermal imaging camera to aid in search-and-rescue missions.

The Cyclodrone, on the other hand, would make the roads safer for solo bicycle riders by traveling ahead or behind the rider to warn approaching vehicles. It would also take a slick video of the trip.

The Firestorm drone would scout burning buildings before the rescue squad entered the area. This could potentially decrease the risk to firemen while improving the likelihood that a survivor would be found. The drone would carry a battery of sensors that would warn rescuers of any potential danger, and LED lights would guide disoriented victims in a smoke-drenched environment.

Hummingbird and Beetle are a pair of "autonomous agriculture vehicles." Hummingbird would have the ability to fertilize soil and map topography, while Beetle harvests the crops and packages them into crates.

Sadly, none of these lifesaving drones actually exist, but the world would be a lot cooler if they did.

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Source: Frog Design [http://designmind.frogdesign.com/blog/these-drones-will-save-your-life.html]



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FalloutJack

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Nov 20, 2008
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Good title to get people to read, but the bad rep machines get is purely fictional...or related to not working properly.

Anyway, this is a good thing if it works. 'Course, all the rescue dogs will be out of work...
 

Rednog

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I don't understand why so many sites found this as "news"...seriously it's just concept art, we're no where near any of it actually being feasible. I might as well just post a picture of a gun, throw on some lazer scopes and call each one a different thing, bone fixing ray, burn healer, etc and say omg look at this amazing concept art that turns a killing machine into a caretaker! This will revolutionize medicine!

In the end these are just a bunch of pretty pictures, considering the reach goal for amazon to just carry boxes is what 2 years away, there's just a ton of engineering leaps you have to make to get these thing feasible.
 

Ed130 The Vanguard

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Sep 10, 2008
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Rednog said:
I don't understand why so many sites found this as "news"...seriously it's just concept art, we're no where near any of it actually being feasible. I might as well just post a picture of Rosie the Robot and call it news because that's what the future will bring, robots to help humanity!

In the end these are just a bunch of pretty pictures, considering the reach goal for amazon to just carry boxes is what 2 years away, there's just a ton of engineering leaps you have to make to get these thing feasible.


Well considering when you say 'drone' most people automatically picture this:



You have to agree drones have an image problem. Its silly articles like this that will help people realise that a drone doesn't necessarily mean 'rocket spewing death machine' and stop stupid kerfuffles like the one where they wanted to use drones to search for that cop killer and everyone leapt to the 'logical' conclusion that he would be targeted by a Reaper Drone.
 

Albino Boo

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I know that in Europe, TV broadcasters have been experimenting with drone equipped with cameras to cover things like downhill skiing and the tour de france. Those are the kind of things that where drones could be of use. The ideas here make very little sense. Fires produce strong air currents making using something that flies in a small space unworkable. The weight of fertilizer that an average size field uses means that it is not cost effective to haul that weight into the air against the current muck spreaders. The weight of crop in an average field is just too much for drone to haul about compared to the current combine and trailer system.
 

yamy

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Aug 2, 2010
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albino boo said:
I know that in Europe TV broadcasters have been experimenting with drone equipped with cameras to cover things like downhill skiing and the tour de france. Those are the kind of things that where drones could be of use. The idea here make very little sense. Fires produce strong air currents making using something that flies in an small space unworkable. The weight of fertilizer that an average size field uses means that it is not cost effective to haul that weight into the air against the current muck spreaders. The weight of crop in an average field is just too much for drone to haul about compared to the current combine and trailer system.

I think the fire idea is workable but not in the context it's being portrayed. Instead it could be useful in preventing forest fires by regularly patrolling national parks and either quickly detects them or preventively stamps it out.

Of course there's the problem of the size of woodlands, but I think it would be much less labour intensive then manual searches or installing detectors as the drones would be mobile.

That's actually what I thought the picture was before I enlarged it - a drone putting out fire in a forest.

Also it'd be more likely that, if drones do become a fire fighting tool indoors they will most likely be miniture tanks/rvs rather than air-borne quadcopters, which most people seem to equate to drones in general.
 

Denamic

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Skynet propaganda! Don't listen to it! Protect yourself from the mind-altering wi-fi signals!
 

PuckFuppet

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"Artist envisions drones being used for search and rescue etc., revolutionary stuff and concepts no one has ever come across before"
 

Atmos Duality

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It's OK. In 20 or so years, DocWagon will be employing both types of drones as support for their helicopter response teams.
 

Dalisclock

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I still find it kind of weird that people act like drones are some kind of magical new technology that no one has ever seen before and somehow change the world around them.

Let's face it. They're unmanned aircraft, with a camera and sometimes missiles on board(if they're military). We've been doing both of these with normal aircraft for decades. We were using balloons for battlefield surveillance as far back as the American Civil War.

So why is it suddenly amazing that now we're doing the same thing but without a pilot? Even more so, why are drone become "flying death machine" as opposed to rockets and manned aircraft?
 

Strazdas

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May 28, 2011
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Just like with most high-end technology, military purposes come first, then in a decade or so once it seeps into commercial availability to the point of easy manufacturing and modification it can be used for a lot of good as well. always happened like that, though the gap between military and commecial use seems to be getting smaller lately (which is good), so we may even see that sooner. heck, we got delivery drones coming next year supposedly.