Viewfinder: final activity report

The VIEW-FINDER project (2006-2009) is an 'Advanced Robotics' project that seeks to apply a semi-autonomous robotic system to inspect ground safety in the event of a fire. Its primary aim is to gather data (visual and chemical) in order to assist rescue personnel. A base station combines the gathered information with information retrieved from off-site sources. The project addresses key issues related to map building and reconstruction, interfacing local command information with external sources, human-robot interfaces and semi-autonomous robot navigation. The VIEW-FINDER system is a semi-autonomous; the individual robot-sensors operate autonomously within the limits of the task assigned to them, that is, they will autonomously navigate through and inspect an area. Human operators monitor their operations and send high level task requests as well as low level commands through the interface to any nodes in the entire system. The human interface has to ensure the human supervisor and human interveners are provided a reduced but good and relevant overview of the ground and the robots and human rescue workers therein

Flood Disaster Relief Operation: A Systematic Literature Review

A flood is natural disaster that often occurs in many regions. Flood has a significant impact on the nature conditions, local communities, and regional economic losses. The flood can happen due to a damaged environmental system; therefore, it needs deeper study and extra effort to prevent it. Thus, an appropriate and right Disaster Relief Operation (DRO) is needed in responding to flood disaster. In this research, 50 articles categorized in "flood disaster relief operation" published in the range 2012 to 2022 have been reviewed. This review is conducted by using the Systematic Literature Review (SLR) method. This study aims to explore and analyze flood DRO. The findings reveal that the flood DRO still has several weaknesses in the current system that should be improved: the lack of an integrated information system, not enough collaboration of the stakeholders, the lateness of information exchange, and unplanned relief operations through the preparation. For further research, it is recommended to implement the proposed system in the relief operations execution

Alive Human Detection Robot using PIR sensor

Modern technology has paved the way for the construction of tall buildings and houses, which increases the risk of life loss during both natural and human-made disasters. To address this issue, we propose a recommended approach involves using a robot equipped with sensor technology to locate and determine the status of humans. The proposed solution is a robot based on passive infrared sensors (PIR). The robot is equipped with a set of sensors, including the micro controller using ultrasonic and PIR sensors, to detect signs of life from humans. If the person is found to be alive, a buzzer is activated. The robot then shares the person's location through a global positioning system(GPS) module, sending this information to the receiver via message. This way, timely assistance can be provided to individuals in need, potentially saving lives in critical situations. However, in harsh weather conditions, people may be stranded at various locations, making it challenging to find and assist them. The robot is operated via a Bluetooth module and utilizes an ultrasonic sensor to navigate autonomously

Realistic deployment of hybrid wireless sensor networks based on ZigBee and LoRa for search and rescue applications

Search and Rescue operations in emergency response to natural or human catastrophes have the main objective of locating and rescuing potential victims as fast as possible, thus quick response and accurate actions are mandatory. While standard communications may be affected, a Wireless Sensor Network can be deployed to support the rescue team. This kind of network allows data acquisition close to events and enables persistence over time, among other advantages. However, enhancements must be made to improve the adaptation to this kind of scenario. This work presents two Hybrid Wireless Sensor Networks, based on ZigBee and LoRa, developed to address some of the challenges that Search and Rescue operations pose to the use of Wireless Sensor Networks, and tested in realistic scenarios in cooperation with first responders. Likewise, several software developments that increase the performance of the networks are described. Finally, the conclusions presented, and the lessons learnt are supported by a high amount of data, gathered in realistic exercises in cooperation with civilian and military first responders.Spanish Project RTI2018-093421-B-I0

Opportunistic communication schemes for unmanned vehicles in urban search and rescue

In urban search and rescue (USAR) operations, there is a considerable amount of danger faced by rescuers. The use of mobile robots can alleviate this issue. Coordinating the search effort is made more difficult by the communication issues typically faced in these environments, such that communication is often restricted. With small numbers of robots, it is necessary to break communication links in order to explore the entire environment. The robots can be viewed as a broken ad hoc network, relying on opportunistic contact in order to share data. In order to minimise overheads when exchanging data, a novel algorithm for data exchange has been created which maintains the propagation speed of flooding while reducing overheads. Since the rescue workers outside of the structure need to know the location of any victims, the task of finding their locations is two parted: 1) to locate the victims (Search Time), and 2) to get this data outside the structure (Delay Time). Communication with the outside is assumed to be performed by a static robot designated as the Command Station. Since it is unlikely that there will be sufficient robots to provide full communications coverage of the area, robots that discover victims are faced with the difficult decision of whether they should continue searching or return with the victim data. We investigate a variety of search techniques and see how the application of biological foraging models can help to streamline the search process, while we have also implemented an opportunistic network to ensure that data are shared whenever robots come within line of sight of each other or the Command Station. We examine this trade-off between performing a search and communicating the results

The multi-agent flood algorithm as an autonomous system for search and rescue applications

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