Autonomous Lifeguard Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Prototype for Information-Weighted Optical Flow Analysis and Rip Current Detection with Depth Risk Models

An Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) lifeguard scout quadcopter is implemented to detect rip currents and threats. Requirements for scout UAVs are discussed and applied to the scout UAV configuration. The scout UAV is equipped with an AI-capable mission controller, triple communication and control radio links, and 6.7×9.8N thrust from actuator and propeller combination to handle additional payload such as large-capacity battery for extended flight duration. The scout UAV conducted multiple flight missions to collect 11.8k ocean images with 10.9km flight mileage. Using the collected images, optical flow is analyzed, and a new information-weighted scaling with image gradient density is developed and demonstrated for a reliable optical flow result. A channel current flow analysis with depth and risk models is proposed to estimate net channel current risk and to detect rip currents.