Technology Report

September 28, 2026

RECCO R9 on a Drone

After an avalanche, rescuers either walk the debris with a handheld detector, exposing themselves to the risk of a second slide, or wait for a helicopter. A paper in the proceedings of the International Snow Science Workshop (ISSW), which opened in Whistler, British Columbia, on September 28, 2026, describes a third option: the RECCO R9 detector flown on a small drone. The authors, from the drone maker Drone Amplified of Lincoln, Nebraska, the Swedish company RECCO AB and Juneau Mountain Rescue in Alaska, say the platform fills a niche between handheld RECCO detectors and helicopter-mounted systems.

RECCO is a two-part rescue technology. Small passive reflectors, with no battery, are sewn into many ski jackets, boots and helmets. A rescuer’s detector sends out a radio signal, and a reflector bounces it back, guiding the searcher toward a buried person. The R9 is RECCO’s current handheld detector. Traditionally the rescuer follows an audio tone that gets stronger as they get closer.

The main engineering problem, the paper says, was electromagnetic interference, or EMI: electrical noise from the drone’s motors, power system and electronics that can swamp the detector’s very sensitive receiver. The team says it built a payload with RF (radio-frequency) shielding to keep that noise out and to reduce the risk of misleading signal returns.

The authors call the result a “dual-mode” feedback system. A new digital data link shows the signal in real time and tags each detection with GPS coordinates on a map on the drone’s controller, while the R9’s original analog audio is kept so experienced rescuers can still “search by ear.” The drone can also fly autonomous grid patterns, back-and-forth lines programmed to cover an area completely, which the authors say removes the gaps and overlaps that come from people steering a search by hand and significantly cuts the time needed to cover avalanche debris.

The paper frames the system as a force multiplier that responders on site could launch quickly and remotely, particularly where secondary avalanche hazard keeps people off the slope. The published abstract says the presentation would include data on search speed and signal resolution at different altitudes, but those figures are not in the abstract, and the paper does not announce a product, price or release date. The proceedings entry is a short conference paper, pages 2477 to 2479, with Ralph Blumberg of Drone Amplified listed as presenter.