Finding missing people and obtaining an overview of complex emergencies is very demanding and requires costly resources. I have on a few occasions sought after my grandfather, who, when he got Alzheimer, liked to go for a stroll at night (!) when my grandmother was sleeping. Those kind of situations are very stressful, especially a cold winter night. During my first 25 years I was part of a dedicated outdoor culture with countless ski trips, mountain hikes, mountain bike trips and many hours in primarily Swedish nature. It happened on a few occasions that we came in contact with people who worked with rescue operations in this type of environment. It could be about hikers who strayed away or been injured in the inaccessible nature, lost skiers in the mountain massifs around Riksgränsen, berry pickers in the Västerbotten forests etc. There are many examples of this type of situations and it's reflections on these scenarios and similar current problem which is the basis for this project.   Every year, about 7000 people are reported missing in Sweden. Of these remains about 30-35 vanished. Globally, the figure is huge. Earthquakes, floods and other hit by natural occurs despite various preventive measures. There are many occasions where the search, reconnaissance and location of individuals as well as physical problems play a critical role, but where human capacity seldom is sufficient. Search party chains (organized by organisations like Missing People) requires significant human resources and costs precious time, police helicopter reconnaissance is economically very costly, not environmentally friendly and involves a significant margin of error. With these statements as background, I would look at the possibility of creating a thorough design solution that contributes to people in need can be located, provided security and helped significantly faster than today without requiring significant resources. With this as a backdrop, I wanted to create a concept that would contribute to that more people were found and could be saved. Through an extensive research of how a rescue operation is conducted, interviews with police and Missing People, as well as observations during actual operations, I identified a few main problem areas that my concept generation would center around. Together with my sponsor, we wanted to create something that can best be described as a robotic eagle with hyper vision, long flight time and a positive association for the victim. The result is Aetos (Greek for eagle). A modular drone-system with innovative features to handle with long flights and demanding rescue missions. Thanks to an aerodynamic shape and a remote-controlled system Aetos requires minimal resources to create overview and help in locating the missing person. We want to save lives, and it can Aetos that.

<p dir="ltr">This dissertation presents the design, development, and testing environment of a low-cost, self-built ground based Counter Unmanned Aerial or Aircraft Vehicle (CUAV) system aimed at providing effective aerial security solutions in resource-limited environments. The kinetic CUAV technique was selected and identified for the current study as it is the most feasible, low-cost and reusable mitigation path as last-resort defense. Utilizing commonly available materials, including parts from online retailers and hardware stores, and incorporating a self-made pneumatic system with a reusable 3D-printed projectile and interchangeable parts design. This study explores the feasibility of cost-effective drone defense and introduces a short-range accuracy metric to evaluate the system’s trajectory behavior. Through rigorous indoor testing in Purdue University Hangar 4, the research evaluates the system's performance in terms of projectile height, range, and accuracy under various environmental conditions. A 90 degrees field of view of pneumatic launcher was tested with a small error margin comparison table to highlight on areas for potential technical refinement. TPU filament was found to be the best material for this study, with 10% infill, printing temperature in 225°C (437°F), and 70 mm/s printing speed settings for the 3D-printed projectile (4.16a). These findings in Figures 4.10, 4.11, 4.12, 4.13 will significantly advance the research of low-cost drone defense technologies by providing empirical evidence on material and design choices that will impact the system performance. Findings indicate that the system’s performance is affected by the climate temperatures, which influences its consistency in different settings. This offers practical implications for enhancing security measures against unauthorized drones using similar technology. The study fills a significant gap in current drone defense technologies with kinetic apprehension by proving that effective solutions can be both affordable and accessible. This work not only contributes to the advancement of counter drone technology but also encourages ongoing design innovation in the field, paving the way for further research and development into scalable and adaptable drone defense systems.</p>