KT unveils emergency platform using drones

KT Corp., South Korea's second-largest mobile carrier, on Monday unveiled an emergency network service platform that features unmanned drones for search and rescue operations.

Skyship, co-developed by local drone maker Metismake Inc., features a helium-powered airship and a high-resolution camera that can scan for mobile signals of people in need of rescue.

The airship, which can scan for LTE or high-end fifth-generation signals, can determine a person's position to within 50 meters before sending drones to find their exact location.

Once the airship picks up a signal of a survivor, the platform will deploy smaller drones that will deliver emergency kits and supplies before actual rescue personnel arrive at the site.

"Skyship can find the name, age and other personal information when matched with their telecommunication data," the company said, adding that the information will be sent to the hospitals and emergency crews as well.

KT forecasts the platform to be further utilized once the commercialization of 5G technology, currently slated to start next March, is completed.

KT plans to complete the platform based on 5G technology and further feature up to eight drones by 2020 and unveil Skyship3 that allows 11-hour flights.

"Skyship can fly unmanned drones up to 100 kilometers away from a control center, which is up to 20 times farther than conventional drones," said Oh Seong-mok, president of the network business at KT. (Yonhap)