---
title: Disaster Drones to the Rescue
date: 2023-09-26T05:30:00-04:00
author: University of Maryland
canonical_url: "https://today.umd.edu/disaster-drones-to-the-rescue"
section: Articles
---
# Disaster Drones to the Rescue

*September 26, 2023* — by [Georgia Jiang](/author/georgia-jiang)


> Computer Science Major, Assistant Professor Design System to Locate Trapped, Injured Victims After Catastrophes

*23255280179716 1920x1080 — Rescuers mass atop a building in Marrakech, Morocco following a devastating earthquake in the country earlier this month. UMD researchers are working on a drone system that could pinpoint the locations of cell phones—and thus people who could have survived—in the rubble.*

[Natural disasters](https://ourworldindata.org/natural-disasters) around the world kill an estimated 45,000 people every year. The deadliest events, usually earthquakes and tsunamis, can push fatalities to tens or hundreds of thousands. Often, deaths continue for days after the initial disaster because people are trapped by damaged infrastructure or collapsed buildings.

While such disasters themselves are not preventable, some losses in human life may be. A University of Maryland computer scientist and an undergraduate student have designed a drone system that can help firefighters, first responders and other disaster management services locate people who need help during or after a natural disaster. It quickly detects radiofrequency (RF) waves given off by mobile phones and other devices and relays information about those wave sources back to the drone operators.

“Imagine that a building has collapsed, and people are trapped inside. There are piles of debris blacking their way out, but not the radiofrequency waves emitting from their phones,” said Assistant Professor Nirupam Roy. “Being able to track RF waves somehow will also help us find the people carrying the devices emitting them.”

The system he developed with computer science major Neil Sorkin ’24 requires at least two small drones placed in different locations and bearing lines, or the angles between the primary compass directions. Each drone will point in the direction of the RF source from its respective location. The system can calculate the intersection of these two directions—where the RF-emitting device should be.

The idea for this project began in summer 2022 when Sorkin interned at AT&T and worked on a [cellular signal-finding robot](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJ7PuIwggM4) that helps boost mobile hotspots in remote or rural areas.

“The robot finds the best direction to point an antenna toward in order to maximize signal strength,” he said. “As I was working on it, I realized that there were many other problems that this type of technology could potentially solve.”


*A student on a rooftop with devices*




**Topics:** [Research](https://today.umd.edu/tags/research)


**Tags:** [Computer Science](https://today.umd.edu/topic/computer-science), [Research Impact](https://today.umd.edu/topic/research-impact), [Research](https://today.umd.edu/topic/research)


**Units:** [College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences](https://today.umd.edu/topic/college-computer-mathematical-and-natural-sciences)