Tolt, G., Rydell, J., Tulldahl, M., Holmberg, M., Karlsson, O., & Bissmarck, F. (2023). The MAX Drone for Autonomous Indoor Exploration. In Jaziar Radianti, Ioannis Dokas, Nicolas Lalone, & Deepak Khazanchi (Eds.), Proceedings of the 20th International ISCRAM Conference (pp. 220–230). Omaha, USA: University of Nebraska at Omaha.
Abstract: This paper presents the concept and prototype implementation of a drone for Multi-purpose Autonomous eXploration of indoor environments – MAX. The purpose of MAX is to support first responders in the difficult task of assessing unknown and potentially dangerous or hostile situations in indoor or underground environments. The approach for addressing challenges associated with this task has been to construct a custom-designed drone based on requirements and conditions of first responder missions. This paper reports on the first phase of development of the MAX drone, aimed for experimentation with autonomy functionality in first responder contexts and for enabling further development of advanced higher-level planning functions. It describes the overall design of the MAX drone, its capabilities in terms of robust positioning and autonomous mission execution, along with the status of key enabling algorithms for exploration, such as target point selection and path planning.
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Kyriaki Christaki, Dimitrios Tsiakmakis, Ivanka Babic, Guillaume Inglese, Konstantinos Konstantoudakis, Gabriele Giunta, et al. (2022). Augmented Reality Points of Interest for Improved First Responder Situational Awareness. In Rob Grace, & Hossein Baharmand (Eds.), ISCRAM 2022 Conference Proceedings – 19th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 755–770). Tarbes, France.
Abstract: Situational awareness is a vital component of any disaster response mission, both in terms of first responder (FR) safety and efficiency. Points of interest (POI) can pertain to hazards known beforehand, risks discovered during the course of a mission, victims, entry and exit routes, important equipment, and more. Although communications and technical means can expand an individual FR’s situational awareness, they depend on clarity and can increase cognitive load, as this expanded volume of information must be held in each FR’s memory. Augmented reality (AR) can visualize POIs in context with the environment in a clear and intuitive way and reduce cognitive load as the don’t rely on a user’s memory. This paper presents an AR solution for FR team situational awareness, comprising four interconnected and collaborating situational awareness tools sharing a common pool of virtual POIs, alongside a range of different functionalities particular to each.
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Lennart Landsberg, Alexandra Braun, Ompe Aimé Mudimu, & Klaus-Dieter Büttgen. (2021). Considering end user needs when developing new technologies – a new plug and play sensor technology for locating trapped victims. In Anouck Adrot, Rob Grace, Kathleen Moore, & Christopher W. Zobel (Eds.), ISCRAM 2021 Conference Proceedings – 18th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 922–928). Blacksburg, VA (USA): Virginia Tech.
Abstract: Building collapses often happen unexpectedly and suddenly. Consequently, people are often buried under the debris. What follows is a complicated search by first responders, which is characterized by time pressure and danger. In the research project SORTIE, a modular and UAV-based technical system is being developed to support the first responders in their search efforts. During the first phase of this project, an extensive requirements analysis was conducted with the involvement of end users. This ensures that the developed technology meets the requirements for later use under realistic circumstance. The project consortium has good experience with this operational approach and is in close cooperation with end users who are part of the consortium. In addition to a comprehensive understanding of building collapses and prevailing conditions, the technical partners were also able to identify requirements that they might not have discovered without the involvement of end users and the appropriate methods.
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Enrique Caballero, Angel Madridano, Dimitrios Sainidis, Konstantinos Konstantoudakis, Petros Daras, & Pablo Flores. (2021). An automated UAV-assisted 2D mapping system for First Responders. In Anouck Adrot, Rob Grace, Kathleen Moore, & Christopher W. Zobel (Eds.), ISCRAM 2021 Conference Proceedings – 18th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 890–902). Blacksburg, VA (USA): Virginia Tech.
Abstract: Recent advances in the Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) sector have allowed such systems to carry a range of sensors, thus increasing their versatility and adaptability to a wider range of tasks and services. Furthermore, the agility of these vehicles allows them to adapt to rapidly changing environments making them an effective tool for emergency situations. A single UAV, or a swarm working in collaboration, can be a handy and helpful tool for First Responders (FRs) during mission planning, mission monitoring, and the tracking of evolving risks. UAVs, with their on-board sensors, can, among other things, capture visual information of the disaster scene in a safe and quick manner, and generate an up-to-date map of the area. This work presents a system for UAV-assisted mapping optimized for FRs, including the generation of routes for the UAVs to follow, data collection and processing, and map generation.
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Dimitrios Sainidis, Dimitrios Tsiakmakis, Konstantinos Konstantoudakis, Georgios Albanis, Anastasios Dimou, & Petros Daras. (2021). Single-Handed Gesture UAV Control and Video Feed AR Visualization for First Responders. In Anouck Adrot, Rob Grace, Kathleen Moore, & Christopher W. Zobel (Eds.), ISCRAM 2021 Conference Proceedings – 18th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 835–848). Blacksburg, VA (USA): Virginia Tech.
Abstract: Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are becoming increasingly widespread in recent years, with numerous applications spanning multiple sectors. UAVs can be of particular benefit to first responders, assisting in both hazard detection and search-and-rescue operations, increasing their situational awareness without endangering human personnel; However, conventional UAV control requires both hands on a remote controller and many hours of training to control efficiently. Additionally, viewing the UAV video-feed on conventional devices (e.g. smartphones) require first responders to glance downwards to look at the screen, increasing the risk of accident. To this end, this work presents a unified system, incorporating single-hand gesture control for UAVs and an augmented reality (AR) visualization of their video feed, while also allowing for backup remote UAV control from any device and multiple-recipient video streaming. A modular architecture allows the upgrade or replacement of individual modules without affecting the whole. The presented system has been tested in the lab, and in field trials by first responders.
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