Dogs and drones are executing some heroic feats. They are teaming up to save Florida’s avocado trees along with its guacamole, a vital part of the state’s business that millions of people enjoy every year. They are also working together to save people in natural disasters in ways that are faster and safer for everyone involved, including human first responders. And for their part, drones are returning the favor by saving stray dogs in cities such as Houston and Detroit.

Environment

Florida’s multimillion-dollar business is being threatened, that’s where drones and dogs come in to zap millions of beetles and save the day. They are teaming up to defend Florida’s avocado trees from incoming hordes of Redbay Ambrosia Beetles. The beetles will be accompanied by a fungus, Raffaelea lauricola, which causes a vascular disease in trees called laurel wilt. So deadly is laurel wilt that in many cases over 90% of infected trees will die. The drones have been deployed and are now flying above orchards to pinpoint distressed trees using thermal digital imaging. However, the drones cannot determine on their own if the trees are suffering from laurel wilt or something else. That’s where the dogs come to the rescue. With their acute sense of smell, the dogs sniff out the distressed tress and determine which ones have laurel wilt. Those trees are then quarantined and the rest of the orchard (and our guacamole) is saved.

Disaster Response


And that’s not all. Drones and dogs are joining forces to rescue people, too. The SERS project is creating cyber-physical systems to drastically improve search and rescue in emergency situations. It combines dogs with drones, robots and other new technologies and is led by pioneering researchers from North Carolina State, MathWorks, the University of North Texas, the University of Washington, MIT, BluHaptics, National Instruments, Boeing and Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Part of the SERS program has modified dog harnesses, allowing dogs and their handlers to communicate back and forth like never before and in coordination with other rescue elements such as drones. The harnesses are equipped with microphones, speakers, cameras, gas sensors, and in some cases even Geiger counters. Though the technology has not yet been deployed, the advances are so promising that members of the SERS project recently performed a demo for the White House. “After that, we plan to continue to engage emergency response personnel to identify and overcome any obstacles to putting these smart-recovery techniques to work in the field,” explained David Roberts of NC State. Wonder if they can attach a red cape to that harness?

Stray Dogs


Meanwhile in Houston, drones are returning the favor by locating stray dogs that desperately need rescuing. World Animal Awareness Society (WA2S), a cutting edge non-profit, is using high-tech drones to help volunteers map, count and track stray dogs across the vast city. With the aid of GPS services and volunteers on the ground, our hero drones will be able to determine how many stray dogs are in Houston and exactly where those pups are so they can be helped. “It’s a first step to try and tackle a humongous problem,” Erika Emal, the founder of Southside Street Dogs, recently told USA Today. Sounds like a job for a superhero indeed!

We know that drones and dogs can rescue guacamole and save the day. Oh Lordy! Just think of all the possibilities for the rest of the world.