Developments in tracking systems will have a major impact on the future of travel. In previous articles I have described vehicle tracking systems and looked forward to a future in which you can locate your own luggage when it accidently gets lost. But this time the subject is tracking dogs!
On a recent short break in Cornwall, we enjoyed several bracing coastal walks. On our first morning we ventured onto the cliff-top path around the Lizard.
We had just rounded the most southerly point in mainland Britain, when a woman rushed up to us. First impressions were that her over-enthusiastic Alsatian was dragging her for a high-speed walk, but on hearing her breathless plea for a mobile phone it soon became clear that all was not well.
It soon emerged that she and her husband has been looking for a dog that had been missing since its owners had been walking in the area the previous day.
They had spotted their beloved animal at the bottom of the Lions Den, a collapsed sea cave with extremely sheer sides.
Her husband had been seeking an alternative route down to rescue the dog. But he too had disappeared. She had shouted and searched for him for 10mins, but with no success.
While the woman went for help,I was relieved to locate her husband almost immediately.
He had fallen down a steep scree to the water’s edge. Although he was unable to scramble back up, he was uninjured barring a few scrapes and badly bruised pride.
The lighthouse keeper soon arrived to assess the situation, and summoned the local coastguard.
As a communications engineer I was engaged by the simplicity of the signalling system that they used. One rocket for the coastguard, two for a lifeboat and three for a helicopter.
They assured us that this was justa backup for more modernsolutions!
Ten coastguard volunteers used ropes to retrieve both man and subsequently dog, neither of whom appeared much the worse for the experience. Indeed the dog proved to have such energy we were concerned it might scamper straight back into the abyss from where it had been rescued.
Although windy, it was a pleasant sunny day and there was no great urgency about the rescue.
The 2hr incident was indeed little more than a training outing for the coastguard crew, but in other circumstances it could have been a very different prospect, and the role for tracking in this story becomes very clear.
If the dog had been wearing a tag that enabled it to be tracked, the owners would have immediately known that it had fallen into the Lions Den. They could have called the coastguard 24hrs earlier when it was first lost.
Equally, if our gallant rescuer had been tagged, his wife would not have been subjected to such a harrowing ordeal when he first went missing.
Extensions to other travel related applications involving tagging of luggage and passengers are legion.
The accompanying box outlines the benefits of keg tracking to the brewing industry. Other benefits from tagging and tracking of husbands are left as an exercise for the reader!
This week: tracking systems