 A proposed high-rise rescue device is Dr. David Metreveli's EAGLE Vertical Take-off and Landing Aerial Rescue Platform.  The EAGLE platform is designed to rescue up to 10 people at a time, and can moor itself to any floor of the high-rise building or tower. The platform can also be used for rescue at natural disasters, and any other places which could not be reached by conventional fire escape or helicopter. EAGLE can be equipped with floats for water rescue operations as well.
The design uses four protected ducted fans, powered by a number of internal combustion engines, on top of which a double-deck area is mounted. This VTOL aerial platform is more maneuverable than a helicopter and can fly close to buildings, and under obstacles. The fans are interconnected. Altitude is controlled by changing the pitches of all four fans together. Pitch, roll and yaw are controlled by "applying pitch differentials between pairs of fans, fore and aft pairs for pitch, laterally pairs for roll and diagonal pairs for yaw. Tilting the whole vehicle forward attains forward motion". Such devices have been built, and are quite stable.   
The diagram at the right, which we obtained from the Eagle Rescue site at http://www.dmaerosafe.freeservers.com shows the limitations of both helicopter basket rescue technology and aerial ladder equipment. Clearly neither of the latter methods are adequate to rescue people from most of the floors of a modern high rise building. The current Eagle technology is still in the experimental stage. An investor has been found willing to fund the production of a prototype, an unmanned 5.5 x 4.5 metre remotely controlled 'concept demonstrator platform'. The company responsible for the development of this aerial mobile platform, DM AeroSafe Group of Israel, is seeking financial support for the rest of the project. It is estimated that the development of a full-size working model would require up to 4 million dollars over the period of a few years. Eventually it is believed that the EAGLE aerial rescue platform could be mass-produced for about $ 500,000 per copy. |