Trigger posts
Posts along both banks. A press opens a call to the operator, shows them the post's camera and releases a ringbuoy.
Autonomous water rescue · Ireland
Flotation in their hands inside sixty seconds.
Fly Buoy is rescue infrastructure for Irish waterways. A press on a trigger post or the alert app, an operator's confirmation, and a cluster of drones carries flotation to the person in the water, even when nobody else is on the quay.
In development · first corridor: the River Liffey, Dublin
Our mission
No more preventable drownings.
Someone who falls into cold water has about a minute of cold shock, then roughly ten minutes of useful movement before their arms and legs stop working. A lifebuoy on the quay helps only if someone is there to throw it, and throws it far enough.
Fly Buoy brings flotation to the person instead. Trigger posts, an alert app and thermal sensors on bridges raise the alarm. A trained operator confirms it, and drones from the nearest nests fly flotation to the person, guided by thermal cameras, by day or by night.
How it works
From alarm to flotation, in four steps.
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1
Raise the alarm
Anyone presses a trigger post on the quay, or the red button in the Fly Buoy alert app. On busy bridges, thermal sensors see someone enter the water even when nobody presses anything.
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2
An operator confirms
A trained operator sees the post's camera, talks to the caller on the intercom, and confirms the incident. Nothing ever launches on a sensor alone.
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3
A cluster launches
Three drones lift off from at least two nests, so a single fault can't ground the response. Each has a job: Deliver, Track and Backup.
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4
Flotation delivered
In still water the Deliver drone drops a self-inflating pod on the operator's mark. In moving water it lowers a pod on a line to the person's hand and lets go when they take it.
Still water
Holding the quay wall
Someone holding the wall or treading slack water by the bank, usually seen by a bystander. The operator marks them on the thermal view and the pod lands within reach.
Moving water
Carried by the current
Someone who fell from a bridge or was swept past a post. The drones fly to where they'll meet the person, track them as they drift, and ride alongside with a held pod on a glowing line.
The platform
Everything the rescue needs, on one system.
The alert app
One red button. It sends the phone's location, pings any trigger post in range to confirm it, and opens a call to the operator.
Bridge thermal sensors
Cameras on high-risk bridges watch for anyone entering the water and raise the alarm for an operator to confirm.
The operator console
One screen, built for pressure: the next step and its button, a sixty-second clock, the drones, the thermal view and the caller.
Drone clusters with roles
Deliver puts flotation in reach, Track holds the thermal lock, Backup waits with more pods. Roles hand on if a drone has to leave.
Thermal tracking
Drone and bridge cameras follow a person in moving water, so the drones aim where they will be, not where they were.
Coverage you can see
Every point on the corridor is covered by at least three ready drones from two nests. The console shows when wind or a fault erodes it.
Conditions on the water
Wind, river level, tide, water temperature and Met Éireann warnings, judged for the rescue and shown only when they matter.
Drone health
Every drone reports its self-test. Amber cautions say what they change; a red fault grounds the drone until it's cleared.
A complete record
Every press, decision and command is logged with its time and who made it, so each rescue can be replayed and reviewed.
Phase 1 targets
Measured on every incident.
- ≤ 5 s
- from a press to the operator hearing the caller
- ≤ 10 s
- from a press to three drones in the air
- ≤ 60 s
- from the alarm to flotation in hand, in moving water
- 90%
- of drops landing within 3 m of the mark
These are the programme's targets. The platform measures each one from the incident log.
First corridor
The River Liffey, Heuston to East Link.
The first corridor runs about 4.5 km through Dublin city centre. Its planned layout puts drone nests roughly every 550 m, alternating banks, close enough that every cluster can come from two nests in winds up to about 12 m/s.
- 9
- drone nests
- 28
- drones
- 23
- trigger posts
- 6
- bridges with thermal sensors
Bring Fly Buoy to your waterway.
We're preparing the first corridor on the Liffey. If you look after a river, a harbour or a lake, or work in water safety or the emergency services, we'd like to hear from you.
hello@flybuoy.ie