MedEvac! The Drones are Here

Ripping a page out of science-fiction, Boeing has filed for a software patent to protect the concept of drones rescuing personnel trapped in a hostile environment. The wounded soldier will hitch a ride on a UAV back to safety, thus sparing the lives of the brave search-and-rescue souls.

The well-written application states “Due to unforeseen circumstances, personnel may become stranded in an unfamiliar and/or hostile location. Such personnel typically need to be rescued and/or retrieved from the unfamiliar and/or hostile location. Before the personnel can be retrieved, however, the feasibility of the rescue operation is often evaluated. […] The proximity and intensity of hostile activity around the personnel may be considered. For example, hostile forces aware of the stranded personnel may attempt to ambush any attempted rescue operation. […] The method includes receiving a radio signal indicating a real-time position of personnel to be retrieved, deploying an unmanned aerial vehicle to the real-time position, receiving an indication that the personnel to be retrieved is on-board the unmanned aerial vehicle, and operating the unmanned aerial vehicle to move the personnel to a different location.”

Claim 1 is both broad and narrow, with a specificity that may not have been necessary: query why the claim must include the language “aerodynamic fairing”, and whether a competitor without such a fairing would go around the patent. Only time will tell.

Here is Claim 1: A method for retrieving personnel, said method comprising:

• receiving a radio signal indicating a real-time position of personnel to be retrieved;
• deploying an unmanned aerial vehicle to the real-time position, wherein the unmanned aerial vehicle is deployed with a rescue pod sized to house the personnel, the rescue pod including at least one aerodynamic fairing at an end of the rescue pod and at least one door, the aerodynamic fairing detachable from a body of the rescue pod such that the personnel can exit the rescue pod through the end;
• receiving an indication that the personnel to be retrieved is on-board the unmanned aerial vehicle;
• and operating the unmanned aerial vehicle to move the personnel to a different location.