Missing person search device costs nearly 100 million VND of Hanoi student

The missing person search system of a group of students from the Academy of Posts and Telecommunications Technology won second prize in the Youth Innovation Contest organized by Hanoi University of Science and Technology on March 23.

Dinh Huu Hoang, a third-year student majoring in Multimedia Technology and team leader, said the idea of ​​creating a system to serve search and rescue operations has been in his mind since high school.

It was in 2020 that Hoang learned about the story of 17 missing and dead workers in a landslide at the Rao Trang 3 Hydropower Plant. “Although everyone tried their best to search for them, they still had no results,” Hoang recalled. Since then, the male student has always had the idea of ​​creating a device to help find victims of landslides and flash floods.

According to Hoang, in search and rescue work, time is always the most important factor. However, currently, the average time to find a missing person is up to more than 240 hours. This will lose the "golden time" to save the victim's life.

Always struggling with that thought, in July 2022, after entering university, Huu Hoang began searching for related documents and building algorithms. Having read a scientific article mentioning WiFi probe request frame technology, Hoang came up with the idea of ​​creating a missing person search and location system based on the algorithm of detecting wifi waves from personal devices.

With the savings of 3 million VND, Hoang started to create a microprocessor for testing. After finishing, because he did not have a flying device, the male student thought of a way to connect 3 pieces of bamboo 20m long, then attach the microprocessor to the top, standing on the roof to test it as close to reality as possible.

According to Hoang, to increase the ability to access difficult areas, the system can use drones in the future. This helps reduce technical requirements for control, while increasing the accuracy in the search area. Data will be continuously updated in real time, locations will be indicated to suggest the location of the missing person.

After coming up with the idea, Hoang invited three friends to join him in designing the product prototype. The group began calculating the raw materials using a carbon frame and programming the central processor to receive and transmit waves and signals. By April 2023, Hoang's group had released the first test product.

“During the testing process, the number of search devices was up to 500 with a search area of ​​about 10,000m2, a flight ceiling of up to 100m, a maximum continuous flight time of 30 minutes with an error of only about +-2m,” said Hoang.

The group then tested it in many different conditions and environments such as Soc Son (Hanoi) or Quang Xuong (Thanh Hoa) - a place near the sea, with rain and wind gusts of level 7, from there, they fine-tuned the system to achieve the highest accuracy.

After many improvements, the flight time in the most recent time increased to 43 continuous minutes, the search area per flight increased to 14,300m2, the error reduced to +-1.5m.

Compared to the search equipment currently used in search and rescue, Huu Hoang commented that using Flycam, although covering a large area, cannot accurately indicate the location of missing people and requires a professional to use because it cannot set up a flight path.

For search robots, although equipped with cameras, sensors, radars... to detect victims, there are also limitations when deploying searches over large areas, on rough, complex terrains and requiring many robots.

“Our product can find the location of a missing person at what altitude and what specific coordinates right on a map displayed directly in real time on the software, so it is quite intuitive. In addition, the team has also recently developed and tested the tracking feature. Previously, the product only stopped at flying to find the victim when they were missing. Currently, the product can fly to three locations, creating a safe triangle. When detecting the victim leaving the safe zone, the system will issue a warning, display the last location and wait for a search command.”

After optimizing the product, Hoang's team sent it to 20 rescue organizations. The product was evaluated to help shorten search time compared to traditional methods, and has the ability to access difficult terrain.

Having heard this idea from his student, Dr. Nguyen Viet Hung, Director of the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Academy of Posts and Telecommunications Technology, was surprised because “he did not think he could come up with the idea and develop the algorithm himself, even though he was not an Information Technology student”. After that, Dr. Hung decided to support Hoang in terms of algorithms.

According to Mr. Hung, in fact, since 2018, Japan has developed a similar idea of ​​searching for victims buried in earthquakes based on wifi waves and personal devices. However, in Vietnam, there is still no similar system.

“Hoang’s team has developed a device that solves the problem in a way that is suitable for the conditions in Vietnam, where there are not only earthquakes but also frequent landslides and flash floods. This is a feasible solution that can be applied to search and rescue work in our country,” said Dr. Nguyen Viet Hung.

Huu Hoang said that after the competition, the team will continue to optimize and add some features to the product such as combining a thermal camera to increase accuracy, adding a wave amplification antenna to ensure the stability of the transmission line.

As for the aircraft, the team will research to increase battery life and improve payload, helping the product to fly in harsh conditions such as rain, wind, storms, etc.

The finished product costs from 3 to 100 million depending on additional equipment such as thermal sensors, flycams, transmitters, etc.