ROBINSON TEAMS AUTOMATED DRONES WITH CREWED FLEETS
Robinson Helicopter Company (RHC) is well aware of the fatigue factors associated with airborne SAR. In response, RHC is rolling out a commercial MUM-T framework that shifts the search phase to automated drones while the helicopter serves as the airborne command and rescue hub.
“The MUM-T solution features a mix of our Spirit UAS with our manned R44 and R66 helicopters,” said David Smith, RHC’s president and CEO. “The system uses cameras mounted on the helicopter and cameras mounted on the UAS to coordinate and pass information from zone-to-zone or aircraft-to-aircraft using Swarm AI software that self-organizes the flight path and coverage approaches. For a typical ‘find the missing hiker’ mission, this is invaluable as it allows for several air-deployed or ground-deployed drones to work collaboratively with the aircraft cameras to find the target,” Smith said. “It requires a very low workload to paint the zone of interest” using this software. Once that has been done, the drones take care of the “entire pathing and distribution while the tactical flight officer
manages communication with ground personnel and uses the larger camera on the helicopter to confirm what the UAS finds,” he said.
The best part is that the helicopter crew does not need to manually fly the drones while trying to manage a rescue. “The UAS would fly themselves in our MUM-T application,” said Smith. “It uses our sophisticated AI swarm software that keeps them separated from each other and the manned command helicopter.” At the same time, Smith said, “All of the camera feeds are available to the TFO on their multifunctional controller, keeping the helicopter crew fully updated on the drone’s search progress.”
Looking ahead, he envisions a highly distributed SAR ecosystem where crewed and uncrewed assets deploy together. “We see a future where UAS are pre-positioned in secure boxes that can augment a search-in-progress and the manned helicopters will have onboard units to deploy if/when needed,” Smith said. “Demonstration flights already prove this teaming concept works, as drone agility made for a significant increase in the speed of finding the target.”
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July/Aug 2026
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