Denver Drone Company: 'Reconnect Disconnected Villages' In Nepal
DENVER (CBS4)- A Denver-based drone company is partnering with a humanitarian relief organization to help Nepal with relief efforts in the aftermath of last month's earthquake.
"We are trying to reconnect disconnected villages that are up in the mountains," said Unmanned Experts pilot Chris Huston.
Unmanned Experts Inc. is sending a drone crew of two to Nepal to help with damage-assessment mapping and relief efforts in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake. They're supporting Global Medic, a humanitarian relief organization while deployed in Nepal.
The company will be using a drone called the Sky Ranger that can fly alone for nearly an hour and withstand winds of 25 mph.
"It allows us to import maps, as you can see here," said Huston. "It's very intuitive, everything is tablet-based."
The pilots will spend a month in Nepal flying drones over damaged areas in order to study and map some of the hardest hit places.
More on Nepal Earthquake from CBSNews.com.
"With this drone we can do very accurate maps," said Huston.
The company hopes that by using 3-D imaging and infrared technology, they can reconnect rural towns, document damage done to some of the country's historical sites and possibly predict where future landslides could happen.
With the damage in Nepal, it can take hours to travel to a destination, but a drone can get there in just minutes.
"The feature we are using now is called a stare point, so I can click on the video screen and it will re-center on that," said Huston.
