The Use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles by Urban Search and Rescue Groups

Abstract

In the case of natural or man-made disaster, the top priority of urban search and rescue (USAR) groups is to localise the victim as quickly as possible. Even minutes might play a crucial role in the victim's survival. A number of standard operating procedures may be applied to achieve best performance. Rescue dogs are trained to search for alive victims; special inspection cameras are used, before heavy equipment is being implemented. To improve the effectiveness of USAR group operations, innovative technologies might be implemented. The most recent solution is currently designed in MOBNET project, founded by EU under the Horizon 2020 programme. The scope of the project is to combine both cellular technology and early Galileo services to localise the smartphones of potential victims. Integration tests give some promising outcomes. The following chapter looks at typical applications, real needs of public services as well as the performance of the novel system.

Reliable Long-Range Multi-Link Communication for Unmanned Search and Rescue Aircraft Systems in Beyond Visual Line of Sight Operation

“…Missions are dangerous for manned vehicles, therefore the usage of robotics for safe operation is close at hand [4]. The concepts for the usage of UAVs for missing person detection [5] and drowning prevention [6] have been proposed in various publications [7]. Besides the major challenge of the detection, flight operation is another big issue.…”

Unsupervised Human Detection with an Embedded Vision System on a Fully Autonomous UAV for Search and Rescue Operations

“…The faster these operations are designed and executed, the greater the chances of success they get. Thus, this application area can greatly benefit from aerial robots capable of detecting and rescuing humans facing dire straits in, mainly but not only, maritime critical events [1,2,3,4]. Rescue UAVs are valuable during crisis management due to their maneuverability and versatility.…”

Study and implementation of an innovative fully autonomous flying robotic system for life-saving services

“…1.2. One of the most challenging application areas of UAVs is SAR missions, as these operations can greatly benefit from such aerial robots owed to the fact that their efficacy is abundantly depended on the instantaneous and precise detection of humans whose physical integrity is under threat [1,[24][25][26][27][28][29]. In particular, the contribution of UAVs in SAR missions is indisputable as they are capable of:  reducing the critical response time  mapping areas where an emergency event occurs, directly detecting potential victims and providing assistance to them until the rescuers arrival  providing access into hazardous terrains  providing crisis event aerial visibility event's overview for the rescue workers' accurate situational awareness  transporting and delivering the appropriate rescue apparatus much faster than rescuers  ensuring first responders safety UAVs and UASs 1 technologies keep up growing in terms of sophistication and complexity.…”