The Challenge 

Currently, there is a problem of labor shortage in nursing homes, especially during weekend- and nightshifts. In case a fire would start when there is only 1 nurse, that particular nurse is forced to leave the building (due to safety regulations). If that 1 nurse is outside, there is no one to guide the elderly out of the building, meaning that they don’t know where to go. It takes 10-15 minutes before the fire brigade arrives, which means that there is a large time span in which there is no one helping the elderly get to safety.

The Solution

We are designing an autonomous drone. As soon as a fire alarm goes off, the drone receives a message that it should start flying. Then, it will go to the room where the fire alarm has gone off. Using a camera, our drone will check whether there is a person in that room. If there is no person in that room, the drone will go to the next room. If there is a person, the drone will make clear that it must be followed, using LEDs and eyes on the screen. Then, the drone will guide the person towards safety.

The Mission

With our 23 members want to contribute to society through the use of drones. In the short history of Blue Jay, we have shown that drones can be used for a wide range of tasks, such as preventing people from drowning and bringing beers around. These ideas were good, but not technically advanced. In the past year, we decided to take one concept and technically develop it, so that one day, our drones can be put in practice.

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