The device has GPS, four motors on either end, a high-resolution underwater camera, searchlights, a beacon siren, and cameras at the front end.
New Delhi: In 2018, the state of Kerala witnessed unusually heavy rainfall, leading to a flood-like situation the state hasn’t seen in decades. Millions were evacuated from their homes as water barged in. Over 483 people died and 15 missing during the crisis period, as per various reports.
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This story is about Anoop AB, the founder and CEO of Dexter Innovation Technologies Pvt Ltd, registered with the Kerala Startup Mission and Startup India.
In 2023, Dexter Innovation Technologies patented their product ‘Rescue Ranger’, an innovative drone technology based device that can rescue affected people during floods, detect corpses in water, map underwater terrain, and provide relief to those stranded in distress.
The visuals of 2018 Kerala floods motivated Anoop to take a less treaded path. Even as he offered whatever help he could to the rescue and relief team, the images of people being washed away by raging water inspired him to come with this innovative product called Rescue Ranger to help suffering people.
Many times, life experiences or persons act as motivators for people to take the least trodden path. For Anoop A B, it was the harrowing visuals of the 2018 Kerala floods which made him think differently. While offering his unstinting support to the district administration by volunteering in rescue and relief operations, Anoop was left looking on as people got swept away by the raging water.
Anoop and his business partner Akhil together started Dexter Innovation Technologies Pvt Ltd.
“Emergency situations were out of hand. Dams were opened. There was a lack of coordination between different departments. It was flooding everywhere–in rivers, in the forest, and landslides were hampering rescuing operations,” Anoop told YourStory.
Anoop has spent the last four years researching the development of the remote-controlled machine that can be deployed to rescue a person in such a situation.
The device is, according to Anoop, the world’s first multi-purpose life-saving equipment that acts as an exclusive quick and safe search and rescue device in water.
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“When a person gets carried away by the gushing water, it is difficult to perform a rescue operation simultaneously. If Rescue Ranger is sent into the water, the person can just hold on to the device and the one who controls the product on shore can direct the operation,” he told The New Indian Express.
The device has GPS, four motors on either end, a high-resolution underwater camera, searchlights, a beacon siren, and cameras at the front end.
“We were able to drop off food packets, send ropes to connect people, rescue the stranded, and also help in flood mapping. We also helped bring in drones from Tamil Nadu for those stranded in Wayanad,” said Anoop.
The 2018 Kerala floods have been disastrous. After witnessing the situation, seeing lives and livelihoods crumble before their eyes, Anoop and his business partner began their research on how they could build a device that could combat every situation in a natural disaster that involves water.
“I kept remembering how people were saved with great difficulty. There were so many people stuck in landslides with no one to help. These images kept us going,” Anoop said.
The duo first designed a U-shaped buoy and attached four motors to it. They named it Rescue Ranger. It can be sent to water and a person could hold on to it until he/she reaches a safe point.
“When the equipment is working on two motors, it can carry a load of up to 120kg. However, when it is running on all four motors, the load-carrying capacity is around 240 to 300kg. If the device is unable to track the person, it returns on its own,” Anoop said.
The next problem they faced was the recovery of dead bodies. “It takes a long time to recover bodies during a flood. We also discovered the kin were not receiving insurance because of non-recovery. We attached a sensor to the buoy that will record the temperature of a person to determine if he is dead or alive,” he explained to YourStory.
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The third addition they made to the device was an underwater terrain mapping system.
“In Kerala, a lot of people go to the rivers and water bodies to swim. They are not aware of the depth or the current of the water, and a lot of them drown. The attached sensor can gauge the depth of a water body up to 40 metres and map the underwater terrain and give us the exact graph,” Anoop said.
Structure Of Rescue Ranger
A Rescue Ranger consists of a front-view camera, flashlight, walkie-talkie of up to 5 km range with a siren attached to alert people on ground. The underwater camera provides a 360 degree view that can transmit visuals.
Rescue Ranger wasn’t an overnight product. The first two prototypes they developed failed.
Funding Crisis
Lack of funds stalled their project for four years until 2023, when they received a bank loan of Rs 10 lakh with the help of the Ministry of Industry, Government of Kerala. The first Rescue Ranger was ready in three months. It was tested at Pazhassi Reservoir in Kannur, and finally launched by P Rajeev, Minister for Law, Industries & Coir, in Kochi. The company is registered with Startup India and the Kerala Startup Mission.
However, funding remains a crisis for the startup to begin operations on a large scale. Anoop is hopeful that the talks they held with government will yield fruitful results soon. He also admits that the lack of a formal degree and networking skills have been an impediment in receiving grants or funds.
“Most investors would want us to follow a structured process or timeline, and we are unable to work like that. We are passionate about what we do, and committed to the cause,” he added.
What is encouraging is that Rescue Ranger have been receiving a lot of enquiries from people in India and abroad. Their requirements could range from a simple attachment for a ferry boat to terrain mapping and rescue features for the fire and safety department.
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Anoop also said that emphasises that the disaster management, fire safety teams, and government agencies will be given first preference during production, and Rescue Ranger will be supplied to others later.
“The basic model of the device costs around Rs 3 lakh. This can be attached to a ferry. But deploying Rescue Ranger to deep sea and other complicated terrains would require additional features and hence can cost between Rs 25 lakh to Rs 30 lakh,” Anoop told The New India Express.
