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

Aerial-Ground collaborative sensing: Third-Person view for teleoperation

Rapid deployment and operation are key requirements in time critical application, such as Search and Rescue (SaR). Efficiently teleoperated ground robots can support first-responders in such situations. However, first-person view teleoperation is sub-optimal in difficult terrains, while a third-person perspective can drastically increase teleoperation performance. Here, we propose a Micro Aerial Vehicle (MAV)-based system that can autonomously provide third-person perspective to ground robots. While our approach is based on local visual servoing, it further leverages the global localization of several ground robots to seamlessly transfer between these ground robots in GPS-denied environments. Therewith one MAV can support multiple ground robots on a demand basis. Furthermore, our system enables different visual detection regimes, and enhanced operability, and return-home functionality. We evaluate our system in real-world SaR scenarios.Comment: Accepted for publication in 2018 IEEE International Symposium on Safety, Security and Rescue Robotics (SSRR

Best Practices in Disaster Grantmaking: Lessons From the Gulf Coast

Summarizes NYRAG members' response to hurricanes Katrina and Rita, highlights innovative grantmaking, and outlines best practices, practices to avoid, and strategies for promoting the recovery, transformation, and revitalization of the Gulf Coast

Wearable Architecture: Fashion to the Rescue

This dissertation, titled “Wearable Architecture: Fashion to the Rescue,” studies fashion and architecture in order to assess if the emerging urban nomad fashion trend can inform a new direction in temporary disaster relief for the families of Hawai‘i. The intention is to discover whether the clothes and accessories worn by survivors of natural disasters in bicoastal cities can provide shelter and relief to survivors between the event and the supply of government issued temporary housing. The methodologies used to prove the need for a wearable disaster relief kit are organized into three parts. The first topic researched is natural disasters. Analysis and observation of natural disasters support and demonstrate the need for a kit in times of a natural disaster. This section covers the various needs and problems of a disaster victim and thus reveals what design features should be incorporated into the proposed prototype. The second topic researched is minimalist shelters, which include indigenous shelters, low-income housing, and homeless shelters. This study is crucial as it explores the world of people who live with only the most basic and simple items that are necessary for survival. The resulting information is aimed at defining the basic essentials of everyday survival and how these necessities can be incorporated into a wearable disaster relief kit. The third topic researched is current related technologies. While the first two parts focus on the needs of people following a natural disaster as well as on a day-to-day basis, this part focuses on the tools and inventions that people have created to help address those needs. The information gathered concentrates on portable architecture, wearable architecture, survival kit tools, and materials. With this information, ideas for the prototype arise as the potential and constraints of each invention are examined, thus paving the way for design features that can be incorporated into the proposed prototype. Based on the information gathered, the design parameters were created and this list served as a guide for the wearable disaster relief kit prototype. By establishing the limitations and structure of the design, it paved the way for the design of The Compleat Retreat. The Compleat Retreat is an all-in-one shelter, jacket, floatation device and emergency kit

Rebuilding a Better Response

What is one thing in the world that we have little control over? Mother Nature. We as humans have tried to alter our natural environment countless times, and she has fought back twice as strong, leaving trails of devastation behind. The number of natural disasters has drastically increased, especially in the Southeast Asian region. The aftermath of a tsunami has left a large number of people homeless and lives forever changed. The current recovery process is chaotic and leaves affected individuals stranded without the means of rebuilding for long periods of time. This thesis aims to re-evaluate the recovery relief procedures and provide a better means of rebuilding their lives and community

Operationalising learning from rare events: framework for middle humanitarian operations managers

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the learning from rare events and the knowledge management processinvolved, which presents a significant challenge to many organizations. This is primarily attributed to the inability tointerpret these events in a systematic and “rich” manner, which this paper seeks to address. We start by summarizing therelevant literature on humanitarian operations management (HOM), outlining the evolution of the socio-technical disasterlifecycle and its relationship with humanitarian operations, using a supply chain resilience theoretical lens. We then out-line theories of organizational learning (and unlearning) from disasters and the impact on humanitarian operations. Subse-quently, we theorize the role of middle managers in humanitarian operations, which is the main focus of our paper. Themain methodology incorporates a hybrid of two techniques for root cause analysis, applied to two related case studies.The cases were specifically selected as, despite occurring twenty years apart, there are many similarities in the chain ofcausation and supporting factors, potentially suggesting that adequate learning from experience and failures is not occur-ring. This provides a novel learning experience within the HOM paradigm. Hence, the proposed approach is based on amultilevel structure that facilitates the operationalization of learning from rare events in humanitarian operations. Theresults show that we are able to provide an environment for multiple interpretations and effective learning, with emphasison middle managers within a humanitarian operations and crisis/disaster management context

Earthquake Impact Mitigation Plan

Earthquakes are considered as one of the most dangerous, destructive, and unpredictable natural disasters. Throughout the centuries, millions of people and thousands of structures have perished in earthquakes all over the world. Nepal is the 11th most earthquake prone country and has a history of devastating earthquakes as it falls within high seismic region. The geological structure and presence of active tectonic plates are the main reason behind occurrence of earthquakes. However, the impact of earthquakes in the capital city Kathmandu has continued to grow due; population growth, high rate of unplanned urbanization, use of inappropriate design in the construction of buildings, lack of basic infrastructures, inappropriate organization system, and lack of awareness. This project aims to reduce the impact of earthquakes in the life and property of the Kathmandu community by developing a risk management and response plan. The project analyzed the status of preparedness and prevention measure adopted by the community, vulnerability of buildings, people’s awareness, and proposed the best strategy to reduce the impact of earthquake to the local people. The objectives were completed by the analysis of data obtained through the literature review, interviews and survey conducted by Community Disaster Management Committee at the study area. Detailed study of the mitigation measures of earthquake followed by other earthquake prone countries was done

Operationalizing Learning from Rare Events: Framework for Middle Humanitarian Operations Managers

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the learning from rare events and the knowledge management processinvolved, which presents a significant challenge to many organizations. This is primarily attributed to the inability tointerpret these events in a systematic and “rich” manner, which this paper seeks to address. We start by summarizing therelevant literature on humanitarian operations management (HOM), outlining the evolution of the socio-technical disasterlifecycle and its relationship with humanitarian operations, using a supply chain resilience theoretical lens. We then out-line theories of organizational learning (and unlearning) from disasters and the impact on humanitarian operations. Subse-quently, we theorize the role of middle managers in humanitarian operations, which is the main focus of our paper. Themain methodology incorporates a hybrid of two techniques for root cause analysis, applied to two related case studies.The cases were specifically selected as, despite occurring twenty years apart, there are many similarities in the chain ofcausation and supporting factors, potentially suggesting that adequate learning from experience and failures is not occur-ring. This provides a novel learning experience within the HOM paradigm. Hence, the proposed approach is based on amultilevel structure that facilitates the operationalization of learning from rare events in humanitarian operations. Theresults show that we are able to provide an environment for multiple interpretations and effective learning, with emphasison middle managers within a humanitarian operations and crisis/disaster management context

Social and technological aspects of disaster resilience

Large scale projects tasked with designing infrastructures and urban networks resilient to disasters face a common challenge, i.e. the need to address concomitant technological issues and social problems. What is more, conflicting technologies and the diverse philosophical underpinnings of distinct academic disciplines pose difficulties in the collaboration among experts of different fields. These difficulties and possible ways to tackle them have been highlighted by a questionnaire developed in the framework of an EU project named ANDRDD (Academic Network for Disaster Resilience to optimize Educational development). More specifically, the project investigated the level of interdisciplinary work in current research and educational projects within the field of disaster resilience. findings illustrate the number and types of disciplines involved in disaster resilience projects and suggest that a higher degree of integration between different disciplines in tertiary education could promote a transdisciplinary approach to disaster resilience, resulting in design efficiency and innovation