The Office of Emergency Management hosted the Center for Robot-Assisted Search and Rescue as they demonstrated a new drone platform that OEM and the Fire Marshal’s Office is considering using. The DJI Matrice 210 RTK is an advanced industrial-grade drone that is weather-ready and able to fly in support of Emergency Management and Fire missions.
It supports dual bottom-mount cameras with infrared-vision to help inspect burning and burnt buildings as well as assisting in search-and-rescue operations, and can mount a camera on the top to assist in bridge inspections after a disaster. The advanced multi-spectrum sensor payloads can also help assess vegetation, monitor chemical spills, and perform advanced analysis over multiple observations. This advanced functionality gives the County even more opportunities to use the equipment, even when skies are blue.
Last year, in response to Hurricane Harvey, Fort Bend County led the nations largest drone response ever in the response to a natural disaster (Video: YouTube).
Officials from the Fire Marshal’s Office, Sugar Land Airport, Sugar Land OEM, Fort Bend County Drainage District, the FAA, and OEM discussed the platform and then got to see it in action. The Fort Bend County Office of Emergency Management hosts regular drone practice flights and information sessions for public drone operators in the county through the Unified Public Drone Operators Group.
