In recent years, with the frequent occurrence of water safety incidents, beach rescue drones have gradually become one of the important equipment for major coastal cities, scenic spots, and water law enforcement departments. Compared with traditional manual patrols and ship rescues, drones have shown significant advantages in response speed, positioning accuracy, and cost efficiency.
As one of the world's leading industrial drone brands, Autel Robotics has deployed its advanced flight platform in beach and water rescue scenarios in many countries around the world, providing a new solution for protecting coastline safety.
Why do we need beach rescue drones?
In traditional water search and rescue, there are the following pain points:
The limited field of view of manual patrols makes it difficult to find drowning people in time
It takes a long time to dispatch rescue boats, and it is easy to miss the best rescue time
In complex sea conditions, manual entry into the water is dangerous and the rescue efficiency is low
Drones equipped with high-definition cameras, thermal imaging equipment, and remote throwing systems can quickly fly to the target area to achieve "first-time discovery + first-time response".
These drones integrate monitoring, rescue and search functions. They can help lifeguards monitor the beach in real time, locate victims or dangerous animals in the sea, and control peak hours.
Which Autel drones are suitable for beach rescue?
Autel has a variety of industrial-grade drones suitable for beach and water environments. These search and rescue drones are designed to adapt to the harsh conditions of the beach (level 6 wind, rain, sand and dust). The following are recommended models:
Autel EVO Max 4T - an all-around drone designed for complex emergency scenarios
Autel Robotics EVO MAX 4T Rugged Bundle
$8999.00 USD
- Quadruple-sensing system: infrared thermal imaging + wide-angle camera + telephoto lens + laser ranging
- Supports remote shouting and night vision patrol
- Equipped with A-Mesh networking technology, multi-machine collaborative search
- Can quickly locate the target person and track the flight
- Can be equipped with a throwing device to drop lifebuoys, life ropes, etc.
Applicable scenarios:
Beach fast patrol, drowning person positioning
Night search and rescue, severe weather response
Smart patrol of high-traffic places
Autel Dragonfish e-VTOL UAV Drone - the first choice for long-flight, large-scale coastal patrols
- Easy to take off and land, with a maximum battery life of 180 minutes
- Maximum control radius of 30 km
- Equipped with high-magnification zoom and infrared thermal imaging, it is suitable for searching large areas of water
- Supports automatic execution of mission routes and target lock tracking
- Fixed-wing and tilt-rotor can be switched automatically to cope with complex flight conditions
Applicable scenarios:
Long-distance coastline inspection
Safety monitoring of water events
Maritime law enforcement assistance
Autel drone for beach rescue real application case
Coastal patrol and search and rescue in southern coastal cities of China
The local water rescue department deployed the Autel Dragonfish Pro UAV drone for daily patrols and sudden drowning search and rescue. It only takes a few minutes to fly to the sea area where the incident occurred, and quickly locks the target through thermal imaging, and deploys life-saving buoys to buy precious time for subsequent manual rescue.
Drill project in southern coastal cities of China
In 2024, the fire and emergency management department of a certain place carried out the "smart rescue drill in waters", and Autel EVO Max 4T became one of the main technical platforms. Through one-click delivery of lifebuoys and remote voice calls, the drill was widely reported by central media.
Typical configuration of beach-rescue drone
| Functional | Module Description |
| Thermal imaging camera | Quickly identify human heat sources in seawater |
| Long-distance loudspeaker | Command drowning people and calm emotions |
| Thrower | Remotely release lifebuoys, ropes, and smoke bombs |
| Obstacle avoidance system | Ensure safe flight in complex crowds and sea breeze environments |
| Automatic route | Set patrol routes and automatically patrol at fixed times |
Summary
Drones have gradually transformed from auxiliary tools in traditional marine security to truly front-line intelligent response equipment. Especially in the context of the "golden 4 minutes" of drowning, Autel's drones provide faster, safer, and more accurate solutions for various water emergencies.
Governments, scenic spots, maritime law enforcement teams, and rescue organizations have begun to notice the importance of "beach rescue drones". Now start deploying your own "beach rescue drone" system! We can also customize software platforms and industry solutions in combination with the Autel Intelligent Command Center. Come and learn more from us.
