How long does it take The identification of a missing climber in a 183 -hectare mountain area, analyzing 2600 frames taken by a drone is approximately 50 meters? If done with the human eye, weeks or months. If analyzed by an artificial intelligence system, one afternoon. The National Alpine and Spylological Rescue Corps, known by the CNSAS Italian initiative, trusted AI to find a person missing the person in the Pyramont area of Italy on the northern face of Monviso – the highest peak of cotton alps – since September 2024.
According to Saverio Isola, a CNSAS drone pilot who intervened with his colleague Giorgio Viana, the operation – including searching for any missing climber signs, discovering and restoring his body and stopping due to bad weather – is less than three days.
Recovery operation
With the back of the ground, his look at the mountains was proved, 600 meters under the summit, the body of the 64 -year -old ligament physician Nikola Ayolado was found on Thursday morning, July 31, more than 10 months after his disappearance, thanks to a helmet conflict with the rest of the scenery.
Isola explains: “It was artificial intelligence that identified some pixels of different colors in the images taken on Tuesday.”
The team collected all the images in five hours with only two drones on Tuesday morning, July 29, and analyzed them using AI software on the afternoon of that day. Until that night, rescuers had previously had a series of “suspicious points” to investigate. Only the bad weather the next day delayed the operation.
“We woke up at 4am to reach a very distant point in the channel where the red pixels were discovered and used this drone to see if it is a helmet,” Isola says. “Then we took all the necessary photos and measurements and sent the information to the Rescue Coordination Center, which was able to send the fire helicopter to recover and operate police.”
The Role of Artificial Intelligence
Each drone operation is part of a precise method built by CNSAS in coordination with ENAC, the National Agency that monitor civil aviation. Isola explains: “We have been using drones for about 5 years, and we have merge color and shape detection technologies for about a year and we are developing them monthly.” “But all this will be useless without the technician team.”
IVALDO’s mobile information was immediately valuable. The two drone pilots traveling in the area contributed to the experience and knowledge of four mountain specialist rescuers. “This is a human achievement, but without technology, this will be an impossible mission. This is a team success,” Isola said.
