Fawn Rescue Drone Ops

A mission management tool for volunteer drone pilots who use thermal-imaging drones to locate fawns hidden in tall grass before farmers mow their fields. Every spring, thousands of fawns are killed or injured by mowing machines across Germany — this tool helps coordinate the rescue effort.

The Problem

Each spring, farmers need to mow their fields, but fawns instinctively hide in tall grass rather than flee. Volunteer drone pilots with thermal cameras can locate them before mowing, but coordinating missions across dozens of fields, pilots, and farmers is logistically complex — especially at 4 AM when missions typically start.

The Solution

A lightweight mission management platform that connects farmers requesting field scans with available drone pilots. Handles mission scheduling, field location sharing, pilot assignment, and status tracking — all optimized for early-morning, time-critical operations.

Key Features

• Farmer field-scan request workflow with GPS location
• Pilot availability and assignment management
• Mission scheduling optimized for dawn operations
• Real-time mission status tracking
• Seasonal statistics and impact reporting

My Role

Designed and built the platform to support a local volunteer network. Worked directly with drone pilots and farmers to understand the operational constraints and built the simplest tool that could reliably coordinate rescue missions.