same distance below the left nipple.
Press them down to make sure they
are stuck to the patient’s skin and
stand back.“
As the AED is analyzing the
patient’s condition, you hear a faint
whine. You then hear the person tell
you to depress the flashing red
button, which you do. The AED
begins to deliver a series of shocks to
the patient and he reacts with a
movement of the chest, but not quite
as severe as you’ve seen in movies.
You then see that there are no more
whines as the AED is no longer
charging and the patient’s eyes flutter
and open.
“What happened?” he asks. “A
flying robot came down from Heaven
and brought you back to life,” you tell
him. “Yeah, sure,” your friend says.
About that time, you hear a helicopter
landing in a clearing 100 meters off to
the south. The voice from the drone
tells you, “A rescue team is coming
through the woods to where you are,
sir. You did a good job with your
Could this Drone be
in Our Future?
As there are so many categories
of robots, I am concentrating mostly
on medical and assistive types, and
also delivery robot drones, but what a
neat glimpse into the future. Too bad
it couldn’t happen today. Except that,
if researchers at the Delft University of
Technology (also known as TU Delft in
Delft, Netherlands) have their way, it
could soon be a reality. I took some
information from articles about the
drone developed by the university and
developed the above scenario, tossing
in a few of my own ideas of the
possibilities.
Trials have already been
completed as the scene in Figure 3
attests to. A graduate student at the
university has developed what is called
an ‘ambulance drone.’ It can be
delivered much more quickly to the
scene of a sudden cardiac
arrest than delivered by a fire
department’s rescue
ambulance or similar vehicle.
This is especially the case when
emergencies happen in a more rural
or wooded area such as in my
scenario here.
At the Delft University’s site, they
state: “For the Ambulance Drone, a
new type of airframe was developed
that is a compact flying toolbox
containing essential supplies for
advanced life support.” The simulation
shown in Figure 3 depicts the
Ambulance Drone in use in an
emergency situation. Portability and
fold-ability as shown in Figure 4 allow
the drone to be used anywhere,
including indoors.
The first prototype focuses on the
delivery of an AED. In the European
Union, around 800,000 people per
year suffer from a cardiac arrest — an
upsetting number considering that
only 8% survive this incident. The
main reason for this high number of
casualties is the relatively slow
response time of emergency services
( 10 minutes). Brain death and
permanent death start to occur in just
four to six minutes (refer to Figure 2).
Delft University also states: “With
the Ambulance Drone, we want to
dramatically increase this survival rate.
The incorporation of a two-way video
supported communication channel in
the drone between 112 operators and
the first responders will improve first
care. Successful AED usage by lay-persons is currently at 20%.
With personalized instructions
and communication on the
Ambulance Drone, this can be
increased to 90%. In short, the
Ambulance Drone helps to save lives
by extending existing emergency
infrastructure with a network of fast
and compact UAVs capable of
bringing emergency supplies and
establishing communication,
anywhere.” I’m going to add some
thoughts later in this article about
coupling another technology to the
Ambulance Drone concept.
Delft University has
the Right Idea
The previously described scenario
has a vivid meaning for me, and
possibly for some readers as well.
When I was just 14, I got a call that
my dad had experienced a heart
attack and I was to bring him his
heart medicine. Rapidly riding my
bicycle to the site where he was
already on the ground, I pushed my
way through the crowd and
attempted to place a nitroglycerine
tablet under his tongue. It was to no
avail as he died in my arms.
I was finally gently pulled away
from him by a caring bystander who
saw me desperately trying to revive
him with the old style ‘artificial
respiration’ that I learned as a Boy
Scout.
He was only one block from our
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December2016_ThenandNow_Robots-of-Future.
Advances in robots and robotics over the years.
SERVO 12.2016 61
Figure 4. Folded AED drone is
ready for emergency use.
Figure 3. Time is very critical from a heart attack to
the application of an AED.