Drones are becoming more and more incorporated in disaster situations. They are an essential aspect on a post-disaster area, where they can help in a variety of ways. For the most part, drones act as an aid to first responders in a situation.
Recently, a drone proved vital in locating a kidnapped girl within minutes of the call. For Search and Rescue, as well as Police work, an eye in the sky is a great advantage. However, drones do not stop just there. While useful as flying cameras, drones still have much to offer in emergency situations and disaster areas.
Mud Shell Drone
A new drone tested by French architect Stefanie Chaltiel may prove useful in creating temporary homes in case of evacuation scenarios. The Mud Shell drone sprays a stream of clay to its target. The target, especially in post-disaster situations, would usually be a dome-shaped tent made of hay and wood.
The Mud Shell drone sprays it to toughen the hay tent’s exterior, making it a suitable makeshift emergency shelter. The exterior can withstand harsh weather conditions, while also maintaining warmth inside. The hay tent part is quick enough to build; but without the clay coating it would not be as durable. The process has been used in disaster situations in the past, but not without the Mud Shell present. Here, they realized that manually building the tents and coating them afterwards was very inefficient and time consuming. Not to mention, they have to do it multiple times for the occupants’ tents. The time difference is staggering. Manual coating takes at the least a few weeks to finish. The Mud Shell does the same job in minutes.
With the Mud Shell drone, it streamlines the process of coating and cuts building time to a fraction. The base tent made of hay must still be built by hand, but now at least half the job involves automation.
