A Survey on Man Overboard Accident Search and Rescue Technology by Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

The booming development of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technologies has accelerated the application of UAVs in various fields. This survey first introduces the demands of man overboard (MOB) accident search and rescue (SAR) mission and the applicability of UAV to MOB accident SAR. And then, the survey reviews the development of UAV, UAV SAR strategies and object detection methods. This survey briefly introduces the development status of UAV and summarizes the functions applicable to MOB accident SAR. The search and rescue strategy of single or multiple UAVs covering the divided task area is analysed. This survey reviews the development of UAV image object detection methods and discusses the advantages and disadvantages of different methods. Finally, the research status of UAV MOB accident SAR technology is summarized and the future development of this field is discussed.