SAFER: Search and Find Emergency Rover

When disaster strikes and causes a structure to collapse, it poses a unique challenge to search and rescue teams as they assess the situation and search for survivors. Currently there are very few tools that can be used by these teams to aid them in gathering important information about the situation that allow members to stay at a safe distance. SAFER, Search and Find Emergency Rover, is an unmanned, remotely operated vehicle that can provide early reconnaissance to search and rescue teams so they may have more information to prepare themselves for the dangers that lay inside the wreckage. Over the past year, this team has restored a bare, non-operational chassis inherited from Roverwerx 2012 into a rugged and operational rover with increased functionality and reliability. SAFER uses a 360-degree camera to deliver real time visual reconnaissance to the operator who can remain safely stationed on the outskirts of the disaster. With strong drive motors providing enough torque to traverse steep obstacles and enough power to travel at up to 3 ft/s, SAFER can cover ground quickly and effectively over its 1-3 hour battery life, maximizing reconnaissance for the team. Additionally, SAFER contains 3 flashing beacons that can be dropped by the operator in the event a victim is found so that when team members do enter the scene they may easily locate victims. In the future, other teams may wish to improve upon this iteration by adding thermal imaging, air quality sensors, and potentially a robotic arm with a camera that can see in spaces too small for the entire rover to enter

Propostas para a otimização do sistema de apoio à tomada de decisão das operações de busca e salvamento na search and rescue region de Santa Maria

Dissertation presented as the partial requirement for obtaining a Master's degree in Geographic Information Systems and ScienceConsiderando a importância que a dimensão geográfica assume no domínio das operações de Search and Rescue (SAR), a techne proporcionada pela Geospatial Intelligence (GEOINT), é basilar no apoio à tomada de decisão. O crescente tráfego aeronáutico e marítimo que é realidade latente das últimas décadas tem motivado o investimento em setores da prevenção e gestão de desastres naturais, monitorização e análise de risco, bem como nas operações SAR. Este trabalho compreende dois domínios. Por um lado, visam-se ilustrar as dificuldades do analista face ao “mundo” de dados com que tem que lidar, e que nem sempre estão acessíveis. Complementarmente, pretende-se evidenciar, através do auxílio de análises espaciais, realizadas num ambiente inserido em Sistemas de Informação Geográfica (SIG), as vantagens que a GEOINT proporciona para a solução de problemas de caráter espacial. Metodologicamente, partindo da análise do espaço aéreo e dos diferentes aeroportos da Search and Rescue Region de Santa Maria, realizada com base nas ferramentas SIG, Spatial Analyst (ArcGIS 10.4), demonstra-se como integrar dados espaciais e informações operacionais relativos à realidade dos Centros Coordenadores de Busca e Salvamento poderá ser particularmente útil no apoio à tomada de decisão nos domínios da gestão de rotas e alocação das unidades aéreas.Considering the geographic dimension significance in Search and Rescue (SAR) operations, the techne provided by Geospatial Intelligence (GEOINT) is a basis for decision support. The increasing aeronautical and maritime traffic, that has been a reality over the recent decades, driven investment in various sectors of natural disaster prevention and management, risk analysis, monitoring in a wide range of subjects, as well as Search and Rescue. The present work comprises two complementary domains. On one hand, it aims to illustrate the analyst's difficulties with the "world" of data with which he must deal, although challenging to reach. On the other hand, it is intended to show, with spatial analysis support, the GEOINT advantages in spatial problems solving. In practical terms, based on the analysis of Santa Maria’s Search and Rescue Region airports influence area, based on Geographical Information Systems (GIS) tools, ArcGIS 10.4 Spatial Analyst software, it is shown how spatial and operational information integration with Search and Rescue Coordination Centers work routine could be particularly useful in decision-making supportin route management and airside allocation tasks

A generic operational simulation for early design civil unmanned aerial vehicles

Contemporary aerospace programmes often suffer from large cost overruns, delivery delays and inferior product quality. This is caused in part by poor predictive quality of the early design phase processes with regards to the operational environment of a product. This paper develops the idea of a generic operational simulation that can help designers to rigorously analyse and test their early product concepts. The simulation focusses on civil Unmanned Air Vehicle products and missions to keep the scope of work tractable. The research agenda is introduced along with ideas, initial results and future work. Designers specify details about their product, its environment and anticipated operational procedures. The simulation returns information that can help to estimate the value of the product using the value-driven design approach. Information will include recurring and non-recurring mission cost items. The research aim is to show that an operational simulation can improve early design concepts, thereby reducing delays and cost overruns. Moreover, a trade-off between mission fidelity and model generality is sought along with a generic ontology of civil Unmanned Air Vehicle missions and guidelines about capturing operational informatio

Responsibility modelling for civil emergency planning

This paper presents a new approach to analysing and understanding civil emergency planning based on the notion of responsibility modelling combined with HAZOPS-style analysis of information requirements. Our goal is to represent complex contingency plans so that they can be more readily understood, so that inconsistencies can be highlighted and vulnerabilities discovered. In this paper, we outline the framework for contingency planning in the United Kingdom and introduce the notion of responsibility models as a means of representing the key features of contingency plans. Using a case study of a flooding emergency, we illustrate our approach to responsibility modelling and suggest how it adds value to current textual contingency plans

MONALISA 2.0 and the sea traffic management - a concept creating the need for new maritime information standards and software solutions

Postprint (published version

Research Directions in Information Systems for Humanitarian Logistics

This article systematically reviews the literature on using IT (Information Technology) in humanitarian logistics focusing on disaster relief operations. We first discuss problems in humanitarian relief logistics. We then identify the stage and disaster type for each article as well as the article’s research methodology and research contribution. Finally, we identify potential future research directions