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Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Robot search and rescue'
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Litter, Jansen J. "Mobile robot for search and rescue." Ohio : Ohio University, 2004. http://www.ohiolink.edu/etd/view.cgi?ohiou1176921842.
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Cavallin, Kristoffer, and Peter Svensson. "Semi-Autonomous,Teleoperated Search and Rescue Robot." Thesis, Umeå University, Department of Computing Science, 2009. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-31928.
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<p>The interest in robots in the urban search and rescue (USAR) field has increased the last two decades. The idea is to let robots move into places where human rescue workers cannot or, due to high personal risks, should not enter.In this thesis project, an application is constructed with the purpose of teleoperating a simple robot. This application contains a user interface that utilizes both autonomous and semi-autonomous functions, such as search, explore and point-and-go behaviours. The purpose of the application is to work with USAR principles in a refined and simplified environment, and thereby increase the understanding for these principles and how they interact with each other. Furthermore, the thesis project reviews the recent and the current status of robots in USAR applications and use of teleoperation and semi-autonomous robots in general. Some conclusions that are drawn towards the end of the thesis are that the use of robots, especially in USAR situations, will continue to increase. As robots and support technology both become more advanced and cheaper by the day, teleoperation and semi-autonomous robots will also be seen in more and more places.</p><p> </p>
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Akdemir, Gümüş Derya Keçeci Emin Faruk. "Design of a rescue robot for search and mapping operation/." [s.l.]: [s.n.], 2006. http://library.iyte.edu.tr/tezlerengelli/master/makinamuh/T000546.pdf.
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Thesis (Master)--İzmir Institute of Technology, İzmir, 2006.<br>Keywords: Robot design, mechanical applications, rescue, mapping, search robot, rescue robot. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 65-66).
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Topal, Sebahattin. "Multi-robot Coordination Control Methodology For Search And Rescue Operations." Phd thesis, METU, 2011. http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12613841/index.pdf.
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This dissertation presents a novel multi-robot coordination control algorithm for search
and rescue (SAR) operations. Continuous and rapid coverage of the unstructured and
complex disaster areas in search of possible buried survivors is a time critical operation
where prior information about the environment is either not available or very
limited. Human navigation of such areas is definitely dangerous due to the nature
of the debris. Hence, exploration of unknown disaster environments with a team of
robots is gaining importance day by day to increase the efficiency of SAR operations.
Localization of possible survivors necessitates uninterrupted navigation of robotic
aiding devices within the rubbles without getting trapped into dead ends. In this
work, a novel goal oriented prioritized exploration and map merging methodologies
are proposed to generate efficient multi-robot coordination control strategy. These
two methodologies are merged to make the proposed methodology more realistic for
real world applications.
Prioritized exploration of an environment is the first important task of the efficient coordination control algorithm for multi-robots. A goal oriented and prioritized exploration
approach based on a percolation model for victim search operation in unknown
environments is presented in this work. The percolation model is used to describe
the behavior of liquid in random media. In our approach robots start prioritized exploration
beginning from regions of the highest likelihood of finding victims using
percolation model inspired controller.
A novel map merging algorithm is presented to increase the performance of the SAR
operation in the sense of time and energy. The problem of merging partial occupancy
grid environment maps which are extracted independently by individual robot units
during search and rescue (SAR) operations is solved for complex disaster environments.
Moreover, these maps are combined using intensity and area based features
without knowing the initial position and orientation of the robots. The proposed approach
handles the limitation of existing works in the literature such as<br>limited overlapped
area between partial maps of robots is sufficient for good merging performance
and unstructured partial environment maps can be merged efficiently. These abilities
allow multi-robot teams to efficiently generate the occupancy grid map of catastrophe
areas and localize buried victim in the debris efficiently.
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Guirguis, Maria (Maria A. ). "Robot search and rescue : a comparison of 3D mapping techniques." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/61000.
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Thesis (M. Eng.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2010.<br>This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.<br>Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis.<br>Includes bibliographical references (p. 25-26).<br>Modern robots are involved in sophisticated manipulations of their environment, and for that they need extensive knowledge of their surroundings. 3D mapping allows for the creation of such complex maps, and here we explore some of the options available for the creation of 3D maps. We consider using 2D and 3D sensors to see how helpful the extra information is.<br>by Maria Guirguis.<br>M.Eng.
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Mirhassani, Seyedmohsen <1989>. "A Ground Robot for Search And Rescue in Hostile Environment." Doctoral thesis, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, 2018. http://amsdottorato.unibo.it/8416/7/Mirhassani_final.pdf.
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The recent sheer developments in the field of robotics has encouraged the researcher to consider the robots assisting human in different aspects of life. In this context, search and rescue is a very interesting ambient where the capabilities offered by the robots can be used to not only augment the quality of service but also impose lower risk to the human members of the rescue team. To this purpose, project SHERPA has been defined to investigate an intelligent heterogeneous robotic team in a search and rescue mission.
The robotic team includes flying robots such as fixed wing and quad copters for the purpose of patrolling and surveillance and a ground rover that is mainly considered to provide a mobile power replenishment service for the quadrotors.
Navigation of the ground rover on the unstructured outdoor environment defined by the SHERPA is of the main focuses of this thesis. Due to roughness of the terrain, there are a lot of issues on the way of a successful localization. Moreover, the planning has to be compatible with the robot and environment constraints to avoid imposing a risk of mechanical damage to the system.
To accomplish the battery exchange operation, the rover is equipped with two auxiliary devices namely "Sherpa box" and "Sherpa robotic arm". In this thesis, firstly, designs of the two devices are introduced to the reader in details. Secondly, their integration with the ground rover will be covered.
Finally two important benchmarks of the SHERPA project, namely "human leashing" and "battery exchange operation", will be addressed.
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Ryu, Kun Jin. "Autonomous Robotic Strategies for Urban Search and Rescue." Diss., Virginia Tech, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/19194.
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This dissertation proposes autonomous robotic strategies for urban search and rescue (USAR) which are map-based semi-autonomous robot navigation and fully-autonomous robotic search, tracking, localization and mapping (STLAM) using a team of robots. Since the prerequisite for these solutions is accurate robot localization in the environment, this dissertation first presents a novel grid-based scan-to-map matching technique for accurate simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM). At every acquisition of a new scan and estimation of the robot pose, the proposed technique corrects the estimation error by matching the new scan to the globally defined grid map. To improve the accuracy of the correction, each grid cell of the map is represented by multiple normal distributions (NDs). The new scan to be matched to the map is also represented by NDs, which achieves the scan-to-map matching by the ND-to-ND matching. In the map-based semi-autonomous robot navigation strategy, a robot placed in an environment creates the map of the environment and sends it to the human operator at a distant location. The human operator then makes decisions based on the map and controls the robot via tele-operation. In case of communication loss, the robot semi-autonomously returns to the home position by inversely tracking its trajectory with additional optimal path planning. In the fully-autonomous robotic solution to USAR, multiple robots communicate one another while operating together as a team. The base station collects information from each robot and assigns tasks to the robots. Unlike the semi-autonomous strategy there is no control from the human operator. To further enhance the<br />efficiency of their cooperation each member of the team specifically works on its own task.<br />A series of numerical and experimental studies were conducted to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed solutions to USAR scenarios. The effectiveness of the scan-to-map matching with the multi-ND representation was confirmed by analyzing the error accumulation and by comparing with the single-ND representation. The applicability of the scan-to-map matching to the real SLAM problem was also verified in three different real environments. The results of the map-based semi-autonomous robot navigation showed the effectiveness of the approach as an immediately usable solution to USAR. The effectiveness of the proposed fully- autonomous solution was first confirmed by two real robots in a real environment. The cooperative performance of the strategy was further investigated using the developed platform- and hardware-in-the-loop simulator. The results showed significant potential as the future solution to USAR.<br>Ph. D.
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Hunt, Alexander. "A Biologically Inspired Robot for Assistance in Urban Search and Rescue." Cleveland, Ohio : Case Western Reserve University, 2010. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1270137669.
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Thesis (Master of Sciences (Engineering))--Case Western Reserve University, 2010<br>Department of EMC - Mechanical Engineering Title from PDF (viewed on 2010-05-25) Includes abstract Includes bibliographical references and appendices Available online via the OhioLINK ETD Center
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Giamou, Matthew Peter. "Place recognition for GNSS-denied autonomous multi-robot search and rescue." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/112422.
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Thesis: S.M., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2017.<br>Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.<br>Includes bibliographical references (pages 77-85).<br>Teams of agile unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) possess great potential for search and rescue missions requiring a rapid response over a large region of interest. With proper coordination, these robotic vehicles can leverage affordable hardware to efficiently search a remote region or disaster site for lost or injured people. However, effective search coordination requires that the robots successfully fuse information from their environment into an accurate and consistent localization and mapping scheme in order to ensure the entire region of interest is explored. This requires that the robots communicate observations of their environment or other robots to produce inter-robot trajectory and map constraints. The difficulty of this task is exacerbated in areas without Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) coverage, as absolute pose measurements are unavailable. This thesis explores solutions to the place recognition problem for UAVs under a dense forest canopy. The perception and communication challenges in a forest environment are explored for a multi-UAV system. A survey of existing place-recognition and multi-agent simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) systems is conducted and several candidate approaches are discussed, and a multi-agent pose-SLAM formulation is introduced as a practical framework. A state-of-the-art laser-based place recognition system is implemented and augmented with a Dirichlet process means (DP-means) clustering for stable feature selection. Finally, recent results describing some graph theoretic properties of SLAM problems are used in a resource-constrained SLAM framework. Experimental data collected from Middlesex Fells Reservation is used to validate the algorithms presented.<br>by Matthew Peter Giamou.<br>S.M.
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Nanjanath, Maitreyi. "Scale estimation by a robot in an urban search and rescue environment." Thesis, Texas A&M University, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/519.
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Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) involves having to enter and explore partially collapsed buildings in search for victims trapped by the collapse. There are many hazards in doing this, because of the possibility of additional collapses, explosions, fires, or flooding of the area being searched. The use of robots for USAR would increase the safety of the operation for the humans involved, and make the operation faster, because the robots could penetrate areas inaccessible to human beings. Teleoperated robots have been deployed in USAR situations to explore confined spaces in the collapsed buildings and send back images of the interior to rescuers. These deployments have resulted in the identification of several problems found during the operation of these robots. This thesis addresses a problem that has been encountered repeatedly in these robots: the determination of the scale of unrecognizable objects in the camera views from the robot. A procedure that would allow the extraction of size using a laser pointer mounted on the robot's camera is described, and an experimental setup and results that verify this procedure have been shown. Finally, ways to extend the procedure have been explored
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Bin, Yusof Mohd Ismail. "The development of mobile robot platform for urban search and rescue environment." Thesis, University of Sheffield, 2013. http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/5075/.
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Search and rescue (SAR) mission always takes place when disasters happen. Disaster could be defined into two categories, namely natural disaster and man-made disaster. Natural disasters normally cover a large area making the SAR mission’s team require an aerial view from airplane. This is because it changes the geographical landscape of the affected areas in huge perimeters. The impact is not only changing the whole landscapes, but it also impacts on residences, commercial buildings, transportations and communication infrastructures. This is always the primary reason of choosing an air vehicle as a first respond for any natural disaster. Meanwhile, made-made disasters occur in small areas relative to natural disaster. Terrorist bombing, structural collapse because of human failures or serious accident are some examples of man-made disaster. In addition, the effect from natural disaster such as earthquake also resulting horrendous structural collapse. The challenges for this rescue operation are focused on the interior of the rubble and entire external extent of the damage often not as primary interest because most victims are trapped inside, under the rubbles. Locating, extracting and rescuing any survivors will become the main goal for any rescue mission. Besides, the mission also deals with a lot of potentially dangerous situation such as further collapse, explosions, hazardous gas leaks and fire. Extreme high temperature from fire or explosions prevent rescuer to go down further into rubbles. Urban search and rescue (USAR) is the term that is being used recently for the rescue operation after man-made disaster. Conventionally, dog has been used to identify location of any potential survivors in the rubble. Again, capabilities of dog rescuer are restricted by certain working temperature, uncertainty of void size and fatigue factor. USAR operation is like race against time where trapped survivors cannot wait any longer. Further collapse or explosion may happen anytime. Therefore, the rescue team should have ideal strategy and tactic in order to maximize numbers of survivors being extract from rubble but also minimise the risk face by rescuer. Hazards is everywhere at disaster site. Human rescuers as well as dog are exposed to danger such as further collapse which would trap them in rubble and resulting an increased number of victims. This kind of situation make USAR uncertain. As a result, hazard identification and situation awareness have to be conducted concurrently with finding survivors. Robotic system, in many ways, have shown its versatility in wide range of applications. For instance, a modern and sophisticated automative assembly plant employ robotic systems in the production line in order to fullfil a specific part assembly task. On the other hand, robotic systems also started to be used as exploration vehicle in unknown world such as deep sea and outer space exploration purposes. In many aspects, the implementation of robotic systems in these applications have a significant impact to the overall process flow of the specific application. Having said that, mobile robots use in many deep sea explorations help scientists to discover the 'underworld' where human cannot explore. Therefore, implementation of robotic system in USAR operation is inevitable. In fact, it has been used in several USAR operation including the 9/11 World Trade Centre tragedy and Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. The physical design of mobile robot is one of the main challenges to implement robotic system in USAR operation. The ability to manouver and negotiate with rough terrain is highly essential. In addition, the physical design is also need appropriate sensors in order to sense the environment. Therefore, the overall mechatronic structure must consist a robust platform equipped with sensors and actuators and able to navigate seemlessly on extreme rough terrain as well as perform designated task (e.g., find survivors, clean debris or conduct onsite disaster assessment). In order for a mobile robot to operate in unknown world such as USAR environment, it is crucially important for the mobile robot to have certain level of autonomy to plan a desired behaviour and act according to the surrounding. Eventhough it is very challenging to program a mobile robot for this type of environment, a comprehensive control architecture provide a systematic overview of the overall programming structure whilst simplifiying the programming procedure. On top of that, the ability of the overall robot system to plan and track its mission is clearly present in the control architecture. Navigation problem, which is one of the common problem in any exploration robot, also can be solved systematically. In general navigation task, a mobile robot is required to move according to the prior designated trajectory, normally in 2-dimension (flat surface). However, a mobile robot that is design for the USAR operation should be able work and navigate in unknown, uncertain and complex environment. This thesis describes the development of a mobile robot system motivated by the shape-shifting or variable geometry tracked vehicle (VGTV) configuration. The mobile robot is designed with expectation to be able to traverse on various types of terrain and enhance stability to prevent tip-over mishap. The practical work is evaluated by experimental trials on prepared terrains such as staircase, ramp and curb. On top of that, the control framework is outlined to set the objectives of the mobile robot system based on the control hierarchy. This set of works is further simulated with the aim to solve navigation problems as well as to determine the mobile robot behaviour when it is required to travel on uneven surface.
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Tian, Yulun. "Reliable and resource-aware collaborative SLAM for multi-robot search and rescue." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2019. https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/122417.
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Thesis: S.M., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2019<br>Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.<br>Includes bibliographical references (pages 67-74).<br>Collaborative simultaneous localization and mapping (CSLAM) is a core capability for many multi-robot systems operating in GPS-denied environments. Motivated by the application of forest search and rescue, this thesis presents two contributions that advance state-of-the-art CSLAM systems. The first part proposes a reliable loop closure procedure for the forest environment. Complex occlusions and strong perceptual aliasing often make it extremely difficult to detect previously visited areas. By leveraging stable tree features extracted from the environment, our approach significantly improves precision and recall during loop closure detection. The proposed technique is fully integrated into a centralized CSLAM system, and is extensively validated during real-world collaborative exploration missions in the forest. The second part of this thesis proposes a resource-aware framework for distributed loop closure detection in CSLAM. Detecting inter-robot loop closures is a resource-demanding process that involves exchanging observations and verifying potential matches. This poses severe challenges for mobile robots as they are frequently limited by available onboard resources. We propose a principled framework for robots to seamlessly adapt to such resource constraints while maximizing performance. Given budgets on computation and communication, our proposed method maximizes a task-oriented performance metric by selecting and verifying a budget-feasible set of potential loop closures. We show that this problem is NP-hard in general. Then, we provide simple approximation algorithms and leverage results on monotone submodular maximization to establish provable performance guarantees. The proposed framework is extensively evaluated on real and synthetic SLAM benchmarks.<br>"Work supported in part by the NASA Convergent Aeronautics Solutions project Design Environment for Novel Vertical Lift Vehicles (DELIVER), and by ARL DCIST under Cooperative Agreement Number W911NF-17-2-0181"--Page 5<br>by Yulun Tian.<br>S.M.<br>S.M. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics
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Beck, Zoltan. "Collaborative search and rescue by autonomous robots." Thesis, University of Southampton, 2016. https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/411031/.
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In recent years, professional first responders have started to use novel technologies at the scene of disasters in order to save more lives. Increasingly, they use robots to search disaster sites. One of the most widely and successfully used robot platforms in the disaster response domain are unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). UAVs allow remote inspection and mapping. They are able to provide high resolution imagery and often need minimal infrastructure to fly. This allows settings where multiple UAVs are airborne accelerating the information gathering from the disaster site. However, current deployments use labour intensive, individually teleoperated UAVs. Given this, there is a drive toward using multiple robots operating with a certain level of autonomy, in order to decrease the operators' workload. One approach for utilising multiple robots in this way is semi-autonomous operation supervised by a small number of professionals; only requiring human experts for crucial decisions. Current commercial UAV platforms also allow the deployment of a diverse group of robots, allowing them to combine their individual capabilities to be more ecient. For example, xed-wing UAVs are capable of flying faster and carry larger payload, but when they do so, they should be deployed with higher safety measures (safety pilots are required for non-lightweight aircraft). On the other hand, small rotary-wing UAVs are more agile and can approach and provide imagery about objects on the ground. To this end, this thesis develops a number of new approaches for the collaboration of a heterogeneous group of robots in disaster response. More specifically, the problem of collaborative planning with robots operating in an uncertain workflow based setting is investigated by solving the search and rescue (SAR) collaboration problem. Of course, the problem complexity increases when collaborating with dierent robots. It is not different in this setting, the actions of dierent types of robots need to be planned with dependencies between their actions under uncertainty. To date, research on collaboration between multiple robots has typically focused on known settings, where the possible robot actions are dened as a set of tasks. However, in most real world settings, there is a signicant amount of uncertainty present. For ii example, information about a disaster site develops gradually during disaster relief, thus initially there is often very little certainty about the locations of people requiring assistance (e.g. damaged buildings, trapped victims, or supply shortages). Existing solutions that tackle collaboration in the face of uncertain information are typically limited to simple exploration or target search problems. Moreover, the use of generic temporal planners rapidly becomes intractable for such problems unless applied in a domain-specific manner. Finally, domain specific approaches rarely involve complex action relations, such as task dependencies where the actions of some robots are built on the actions of others. When they do so, decomposition techniques are applied to decrease the problem complexity, or simple heuristics are applied to enhance similar collaboration. Such approaches often lead to low quality solutions, because vital action dependencies across different roles are not taken into account during the optimisation. Against this background, we oer novel online planning approaches for heterogeneous multi-robot collaboration under uncertainty. First, we provide a negotiation-based bidirectional collaborative planning approach that exploits the potential in determinisation via hindsight optimisation (HOP) combined with long-term planning. Second, we extend this approach to create an anytime Monte Carlo tree search planner that also utilises HOP combined with long-term planning. In online planning settings, such as SAR, anytime planners are benecial to ensure the ability of providing a feasible plan within the given computational budget. Third, we construct a scenario close to physical deployment that allows us to show how our long-term collaborative planning outperforms the current state of the art path-planning approaches by 25 %. We conclude that long-term collaborative planning under uncertainty provides an improvement when planning in SAR settings. When combined, the contributions presented in this thesis represent an advancement in the state of the art in the eld of online planning under uncertainty. The approaches and methods presented can be applied in collaborative settings when uncertainty plays an important role for defining dependencies between partial planning problems.
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Zaharans, Eriks. "Indoor robot localization and collaboration." Thesis, Linköpings universitet, Institutionen för datavetenskap, 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-102604.
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The purpose of this thesis is to create an indoor rescue scenario with multiple self-localizing robots that are able to collaborate for a victim search. Victims are represented by RFID tags and detecting them combined with an accurate enough location data is considered as a successful finding. This setup is created for use in a laboratory assignment at Linköping University. We consider the indoor localization problem by trying to use as few sensors as possible and implement three indoor localization methods - odometry based, passive RFID based, and our approach by fusing both sensor data with particle filter.The Results show that particle filter based localization performs the best in comparison to the two other implemented methods and satisfies the accuracy requirements stated for the scenario. The victim search problem is solved by an ant mobility (pheromone-based) approach which integrates our localization method and provides a collaborative navigation through the rescue area. The purpose of the pheromone mobility approach is to achieve a high coverage with an acceptable resource consumption.Experiments show that area is covered with approximately 30-40% overhead in traveled distance comparing to an optimal path.
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Forsslund, Patrik, and Simon Monié. "MULTI-DRONE COLLABORATION FOR SEARCH AND RESCUE MISSIONS." Thesis, Mälardalens högskola, Akademin för innovation, design och teknik, 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mdh:diva-54439.
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Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), also called drones, are used for Search And Rescue (SAR) missions, mainly in the form of a pilot manoeuvring a single drone. However, the increase in labour to cover larger areas quickly would result in a very high cost and time spent per rescue operation. Therefore, there is a need for an easy to use, low-cost, and highly autonomous swarm of drones for SAR missions where the detection and rescue times are kept to a minimum. In this thesis, a Subsumption-based architecture is proposed, which combines multiple behaviours to create more complex behaviours. An investigation of (1) what are the critical aspects of controlling a swarm of drones, (2) how can a combination of different behavioural algorithms increase the performance of a swarm of drones, and (3) what benchmarks are necessary when evaluating the fitness of the behavioural algorithms. The proposed architecture was simulated in AirSim using the SimpleFlight flight controller through experiments that evaluated the individual layers and missions that simulated real-life scenarios. The results validate the modularity and reliability of the architecture, where the architecture has the potential for improvements in future iterations. For the search area of 400×400meters, the swarm consistently produced an average area coverage of at least 99.917% and found all the missing people in all missions, with the slowest average being 563 seconds. Compared to related work, the result produced similar or better times when scaled to the same proportions and higher area coverage. As comparisons of results in SAR missions can be difficult, the introduction of Active time can serve as a benchmark for others in future swarm performance measurements.
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Springer, Bradley Mark. "The development of the control for an urban search and rescue robot manipulator arm." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/5468.
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Includes abstract.<br>Includes bibliographical references.<br>The University of Cape Town (UCT) Robotics and Agents Research Laboratory (RARL) began research into developing a USAR robot in 2006. The final design of the fourth generation USAR robot developed by UCT [is] named RATEL... This document reports on the research and development of the control for the four degree-of-freedom manipulator arm and pan/tilt system located on the RATEL USAR robot. The report initially discusses control methods used on previously developed teleoperated manipulators in the fields of kinematic modelling, motor control, communications architectures, teleoperative interfaces as well as collision detection and proceeds to discuss the development of the control for the RATEL manipulator.
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Ward, Paul A. "Coordinated search with unmanned aerial vehicle teams." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2013. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:37407b90-51e7-4814-936c-4817ea0c711f.
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Advances in mobile robot technology allow an increasing variety of applications to be imagined, including: search and rescue, exploration of unknown areas and working with hazardous materials. State of the art robots are able to behave autonomously and without direct human control, using on-board devices to perceive, navigate and reason about the world. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are particularly well suited to performing advanced sensing tasks by moving rapidly through the environment irrespective of the terrain. Deploying groups of mobile robots offers advantages, such as robustness to individual failures and a reduction in task completion time. However, to operate efficiently these teams require specific approaches to enable the individual agents to cooperate. This thesis proposes coordinated approaches to search scenarios for teams of UAVs. The primary application considered is Wilderness Search and Rescue (WiSaR), although the techniques developed are applicable elsewhere. A novel frontier-based search approach is developed for rotor-craft UAVs, taking advantage of available terrain information to minimise altitude changes during flight. This is accompanied by a lightweight coordination mechanism to enable cooperative behaviour with minimal additional overhead. The concept of a team rendezvous is introduced, at which all team members attend to exchange data. This also provides an ideal opportunity to create a comprehensive team solution to relay newly gathered data to a base station. Furthermore, the delay between sensing and the acquired data becoming available to mission commanders is analysed and a technique proposed for adapting the team to meet a latency requirement. These approaches are evaluated and characterised experimentally through simulation. Coordinated frontier search is shown to outperform greedy walk methods, reducing redundant sensing coverage using only a minimal coordination protocol. Combining the search, rendezvous and relay techniques provides a holistic approach to the deployment of UAV teams, meeting mission objectives without extensive pre-configuration.
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Cangan, Barnabas Gavin. "Risk-Aware Human-In-The-Loop Multi-Robot Path Planning for Lost Person Search and Rescue." Thesis, Virginia Tech, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/91444.
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We introduce a framework that would enable using autonomous aerial vehicles in search and rescue scenarios associated with missing person incidents to assist human searchers. We formulate a lost person behavior model and a human searcher model informed by data collected from past search missions. These models are used to generate a probabilistic heatmap of the lost person's position and anticipated searcher trajectories. We use Gaussian processes with a Gibbs' kernel for data fusion to accurately model a limited field-of-view sensor. Our algorithm thereby computes a set of trajectories for a team of aerial vehicles to autonomously navigate, so as to assist and complement human searchers' efforts.<br>Master of Science<br>Our goal is to assist human searchers using autonomous aerial vehicles in search and rescue scenarios associated with missing person incidents. We formulate a lost person behavior model and a human searcher model informed by data collected from past search missions. These models are used to generate a probabilistic heatmap of the lost person’s position and anticipated searcher trajectories. We use Gaussian processes for data fusion with Gibbs’ kernel to accurately model a limited field-of-view sensor. Our algorithm thereby computes a set of trajectories for a team of aerial vehicles to autonomously navigate, so as to assist and complement human searchers’ efforts.
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Ko, W. Y. Albert. "The design of an immunity-based search and rescue system for humanitarian logistics." Click to view the E-thesis via HKUTO, 2006. http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkuto/record/B37222181.
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Gabrecht, Katharina M. "Human factors of semi-autonomous robots for urban search and rescue." Thesis, University of Nottingham, 2016. http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/35458/.
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During major disasters or other emergencies, Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) teams are responsible for extricating casualties safely from collapsed urban structures. The rescue work is dangerous due to possible further collapse, fire, dust or electricity hazards. Sometimes the necessary precautions and checks can last several hours before rescuers are safe to start the search for survivors. Remote controlled rescue robots provide the opportunity to support human rescuers to search the site for trapped casualties while they remain in a safe place. The research reported in this thesis aimed to understand how robot behaviour and interface design can be applied to utilise the benefits of robot autonomy and how to inform future human-robot collaborative systems. The data was analysed in the context of USAR missions when using semi-autonomous remote controlled robot systems. The research focussed on the influence of robot feedback, robot reliability, task complexity, and transparency. The influence of these factors on trust, workload, and performance was examined. The overall goal of the research was to make the life of rescuers safer and enhance their performance to help others in distress. Data obtained from the studies conducted for this thesis showed that semi-autonomous robot reliability is still the most dominant factor influencing trust, workload, and team performance. A robot with explanatory feedback was perceived as more competent, more efficient and less malfunctioning. The explanatory feedback was perceived as a clearer type of communication compared to concise robot feedback. Higher levels of robot transparency were perceived as more trustworthy. However, single items on the trust questionnaire were manipulated and further investigation is necessary. However, neither explanatory feedback from the robot nor robot transparency, increased team performance or mediated workload levels. Task complexity mainly influenced human-robot team performance and the participants’ control allocation strategy. Participants allowed the robot to find more targets and missed more robot errors in the high complexity conditions compared to the low task complexity conditions. Participants found more targets manually in the low complexity tasks. In addition, the research showed that recording the observed robot performance (the performance of the robot that was witnessed by the participant) can help to identify the cause of contradicting results: participants might not have noticed some of the robots mistakes and therefore they were not able to distinguish between the robot reliability levels. Furthermore, the research provided a foundation of knowledge regarding the real world application of USAR in the United Kingdom. This included collecting knowledge via an autoethnographic approach about working processes, command structures, currently used technical equipment, and attitudes of rescuers towards robots. Also, recommendations about robot behaviour and interface design were collected throughout the research. However, recommendations made in the thesis include consideration of the overall outcome (mission performance) and the perceived usefulness of the system in order to support the uptake of the technology in real world applications. In addition, autonomous features might not be appropriate in all USAR applications. When semi-autonomous robot trials were compared to entirely manual operation, only the robot with an average of 97% reliability significantly increased the team performance and reduced the time needed to complete the USAR scenario compared to the manually operated robot. Unfortunately, such high robot success levels do not exist to date. This research has contributed to our understanding of the factors influencing human-robot collaboration in USAR operations, and provided guidance for the next generation of autonomous robots.
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Henson, Peter MA. "Development of a 6 degree-of-freedom manipulator arm for use on an urban search and rescue robot." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/12277.
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Includes abstract.<br>Includes bibliographical references.<br>This document reports on the design, construction and testing of the manipulator arm that is to be fitted to UCT's Urban Search and Rescue Robot (USRR), named the Ratel. The 6 degree-of-freedom manipulator arm is mounted on the crawler base. The USRR is designed to traverse difficult terrain in search of survivors. The base is therefore equipped with variable geometry tracks to enable it to traverse stairs and other tricky terrain. The sensor payload is equipped with life detection equipment and the manipulator arm enables the USRR to manipulate with its environment (opening doors etc.) and to interact with survivors, passing them water or food packs.
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Taylor, Brian Kyle. "Implementation and Benchmarking of a Whegs Robot in the USARSim Environment." Case Western Reserve University School of Graduate Studies / OhioLINK, 2008. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1215620284.
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Kirmizigul, Ugur. "Design Of A Mobile Robot To Move On Rough Terrain." Master's thesis, METU, 2005. http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/2/12606814/index.pdf.
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In this thesis work, a mobile robot is designed to be used in search and rescue
operations to help the human rescue workers. The difficult physical conditions in the
ruins obstruct the movement. Therefore, it is aimed to design a search and rescue robot
which can move easily on rough terrain and climb over the obstacles. The designed
robot is made up of three modules. A connecting unit is designed that is situated
between each module. This connecting unit which is composed of two universal
and one revolute joint gives 5 DOF relative motions to the modules. On the other
hand, the wheel&rsquo<br>s continuous contact with the ground is important while moving on
rough terrain. In order to increase the adaptation of the robot to the rough terrain the
rear axle is connected to the body with a revolute joint. Besides, skid steering system
is used in the design of the robot to attain a compact and light solution which requires
few parts.
In the study, kinematic equations and dynamic equations of the robot are obtained
to be used by the control program. The dynamic equations are obtained by using
the Newton &ndash<br>Euler formulation. The forces, which are transmitted by the connecting
unit to the modules, and the reaction forces formed between the wheels and
the ground are derived by using these equations.
&ldquo<br>Follow-the-Leader approach&rdquo<br>is used as a control strategy to make the
modules move in formation and to reduce the tracking problem. In this approach, the
first module is the leader and the second and third modules follow it. A Matlab program
is written to control the robot by using the constructed mathematical model of
the robot. The reaction forces between the wheels and the ground are calculated
through using the Matlab program written. Moreover to make the simulations of the
robot for some cases, a model is constructed in ADAMS program.
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Kleiner, Alexander. "Mapping and exploration for search and rescue with humans and mobile robots." [S.l. : s.n.], 2007.
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Ko, W. Y. Albert, and 高永賢. "The design of an immunity-based search and rescue system for humanitarian logistics." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2006. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B37222181.
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Scone, Sion. "Opportunistic communication schemes for unmanned vehicles in urban search and rescue." Thesis, Loughborough University, 2010. https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/2134/7269.
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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.
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Hasler, Michael Douglas. "Simulation for Improvement of Dynamic Path Planning in Autonomous Search and Rescue Robots." Thesis, University of Canterbury. Electrical and Computer Engineering, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10092/4475.
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To hasten the process of saving lives after disasters in urban areas, autonomous robots are being looked to for providing mapping, hazard identification and casualty location. These robots need to maximise time in the field without having to recharge and without reducing productivity. This project aims to improve autonomous robot navigation through allowing comparison of algorithms with various weightings, in conjunction with the ability to vary physical parameters of the robot and other factors such as error thresholds/limits.
The lack of a priori terrain data in disaster sites, means that robots have to dynamically create a representation of the terrain from received sensor range-data in order to path plan. To reduce the resources used, the affect of input data on the terrain model is analysed such that some points may be culled. The issues of
identifying hazards within these models are considered with respect to the effect on safe navigation.
A modular open-source platform has been created which allows the automated
running of experimental trials in conjunction with the implementation and use of other input types, node networks, or algorithms. Varying the terrains, obstacles, initial positions and goals, which a virtual robot is tasked with navigating means that the design, and hence performance, are not tailored to individual situations. Additionally, this demonstrates the variability of scenarios possible. This combination of features allows one to identify the effects of different design decisions, while the use of a game-like graphical interface allows users to readily view and comprehend the scenarios the robot encounters and the paths produced to traverse these environments. The initially planned focus of experimentation lay in testing different algorithms and various weightings, however this was expanded
to include different implementations and factors of the input collection, terrain modelling and robot movement. Across a variety of terrain scenarios, the resultant paths and status upon trial completion were analysed and displayed to allow observations to be made.
It was found that the path planning algorithms are of less import than initially believed, with other facets of the robotic system having equally significant roles in producing quality paths through a hazardous environment. For fixed view robots, like the choice used in this simulator, it was found that there were issues of incompatibility with A* based algorithms, as the algorithm’s expected knowledge of the areas in all directions regardless of present orientation, and hence they did not perform as they are intended. It is suggested that the behaviour of such algorithms be modified if they are to be used with fixed view systems, in order to gather sufficient data from the surroundings to operate correctly and find paths in difficult terrains.
A simulation tool such as this, enables the process of design and testing to be completed with greater ease, and if one can restrain the number of parameters varied, then also with more haste. These benefits will make this simulation tool a valuable addition to the field of USAR research.
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Worrall, Kevin James. "Guidance and search algorithms for mobile robots : application and analysis within the context of urban search and rescue." Thesis, University of Glasgow, 2008. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/508/.
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Urban Search and Rescue is a dangerous task for rescue workers and for this reason the use of mobile robots to carry out the search of the environment is becoming common place. These robots are remotely operated and the search is carried out by the robot operator. This work proposes that common search algorithms can be used to guide a single autonomous mobile robot in a search of an environment and locate survivors within the environment. This work then goes on to propose that multiple robots, guided by the same search algorithms, will carry out this task in a quicker time. The work presented is split into three distinct parts. The first is the development of a nonlinear mathematical model for a mobile robot. The model developed is validated against a physical system. A suitable navigation and control system is required to direct the robot to a target point within an environment. This is the second part of this work. The final part of this work presents the search algorithms used. The search algorithms generate the target points which allow the robot to search the environment. These algorithms are based on traditional and modern search algorithms that will enable a single mobile robot to search an area autonomously. The best performing algorithms from the single robot case are then adapted to a multi robot case. The mathematical model presented in the thesis describes the dynamics and kinematics of a four wheeled mobile ground based robot. The model is developed to allow the design and testing of control algorithms offline. With the model and accompanying simulation the search algorithms can be quickly and repeatedly tested without practical installation. The mathematical model is used as the basis of design for the manoeuvring control algorithm and the search algorithms. This design process is based on simulation studies. In the first instance the control methods investigated are Proportional-Integral-Derivative, Pole Placement and Sliding Mode. Each method is compared using the tracking error, the steady state error, the rise time, the charge drawn from the battery and the ability to control the robot through a simple motion. Obstacle avoidance is also covered as part of the manoeuvring control algorithm. The final aspect investigated is the search algorithms. The following search algorithms are investigated, Lawnmower, Random, HillClimbing, Simulated Annealing and Genetic Algorithms. Variations on these algorithms are also investigated. The variations are based on Tabu Search. Each of the algorithms is investigated in a single robot case with the best performing investigated within a multi robot case. A comparison between the different methods is made based on the percentage of the area covered within the time available, the number of targets located and the time taken to locate targets. It is shown that in the single robot case the best performing algorithms have high random elements and some structure to selecting points. Within the multi robot case it is shown that some algorithms work well and others do not. It is also shown that the useable number of robots is dependent on the size of the environment. This thesis concludes with a discussion on the best control and search algorithms, as indicated by the results, for guiding single and multiple autonomous mobile robots. The advantages of the methods are presented, as are the issues with using the methods stated. Suggestions for further work are also presented.
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Boxerbaum, Alexander Steele. "A Whegs Robot Featuring a Passively Compliant, Actively Controlled Body Joint." Case Western Reserve University School of Graduate Studies / OhioLINK, 2010. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1270238370.
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Burke, Jennifer L. "RSVP : an investigation of the effects of Remote Shared Visual Presence on team process and team performance in urban search and rescue teams." [Tampa, Fla] : University of South Florida, 2006. http://purl.fcla.edu/usf/dc/et/SFE0001501.
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de, Barros Paulo. "Evaluation of Multi-sensory Feedback in Virtual and Real Remote Environments in a USAR Robot Teleoperation Scenario." Digital WPI, 2014. https://digitalcommons.wpi.edu/etd-dissertations/454.
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The area of Human-Robot Interaction deals with problems not only related to robots interacting with humans, but also with problems related to humans interacting and controlling robots. This dissertation focuses on the latter and evaluates multi-sensory (vision, hearing, touch, smell) feedback interfaces as a means to improve robot-operator cognition and performance. A set of four empirical studies using both simulated and real robotic systems evaluated a set of multi-sensory feedback interfaces with various levels of complexity. The task scenario for the robot in these studies involved the search for victims in a debris-filled environment after a fictitious catastrophic event (e.g., earthquake) took place. The results show that, if well-designed, multi-sensory feedback interfaces can indeed improve the robot operator data perception and performance. Improvements in operator performance were detected for navigation and search tasks despite minor increases in workload. In fact, some of the multi-sensory interfaces evaluated even led to a reduction in workload. The results also point out that redundant feedback is not always beneficial to the operator. While introducing the concept of operator omni-directional perception, that is, the operator’s capability of perceiving data or events coming from all senses and in all directions, this work explains that feedback redundancy is only beneficial when it enhances the operator omni-directional perception of data relevant to the task at hand. Last, the comprehensive methodology employed and refined over the course of the four studies is suggested as a starting point for the design of future HRI user studies. In summary, this work sheds some light on the benefits and challenges multi-sensory feedback interfaces bring, specifically on teleoperated robotics. It adds to our current understanding of these kinds of interfaces and provides a few insights to assist the continuation of research in the area.
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Burke, Jennifer L. "Moonlight in Miami [electronic resource] : a field study of human-robot interaction in the context of an urban search and rescue disaster response training exercise / by Jennifer L. Burke." [Tampa, Fla.] : University of South Florida, 2004. http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/SFE0000220.
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Kohlbrecher, Stefan [Verfasser], Oskar von [Akademischer Betreuer] Stryk, and Daniele [Akademischer Betreuer] Nardi. "A Holistic Approach for Highly Versatile Supervised Autonomous Urban Search and Rescue Robots / Stefan Kohlbrecher ; Oskar von Stryk, Daniele Nardi." Darmstadt : Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Darmstadt, 2016. http://d-nb.info/1120585228/34.
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Karahan, Murat. "Prioritized Exploration Strategy Based On Invasion Percolation Guidance." Master's thesis, METU, 2010. http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12611450/index.pdf.
Full textAbstract:
The major aim in search and rescue using mobile robots is to reach trapped survivors and
to support rescue operations through the disaster environments. Our motivation is based
on the fact that a search and rescue (SAR) robot can navigate within and penetrate a
disaster area only if the area in question possesses connected voids Traversability or
penetrability of a disaster area is a primary factor that guides the navigation of a search
and rescue (SAR) robot, since it is highly desirable that the robot, without hitting a dead
end or getting stuck, keeps its mobility for its primary task of reconnaissance and
mapping when searching the highly unstructured environment We propose two novel
guided prioritized exploration system: 1) percolation guided methodology where a
percolator estimates the existence of connected voids in the upcoming yet unexplored
region ahead of the robot so as to increase the efficiency of reconnaissance operation by
the superior ability of the percolation guidance in speedy coverage of the area<br>2) the
hybrid exploration methodology that makes the percolation guided exploration
collaborate with entropy based SLAM under a switching control dependent on either
priority given to position accuracy or to map accuracy This second methodology has
proven to combine the superiority of both methods so that the active SLAM becomes
speedy, with high coverage rate of the area as well as accurate in localization.
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Ruan, Hui Yu. "Robot rescue : an interactive game /." Online version of thesis, 2006. https://ritdml.rit.edu/dspace/handle/1850/2802.
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Steen, Thor Audun. "Search and Rescue Mission Using Multicopters." Thesis, Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet, Institutt for teknisk kybernetikk, 2014. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:no:ntnu:diva-25925.
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Search and rescue operations can greatly benefit from the use of autonomous unmanned aerial systems to survey the environment and collect evidence about the positions of missing persons. This thesis considers the design of an autonomous multicopter system for use in a search and rescue mission. The ArduPilot Mega is used as the autopilot and is presented together with detailed information about the utilized hardware and software. The design of a low- level control interface is implemented as an extension to APM:Copter using the MAVLink protocol allowing attitude or velocity control of the multicopter.Furthermore, promising methods for autonomous behavior are discussed and developed with the use of the low-level control interface. The integration of a camera is characterized as a vital part of the fully autonomous search and rescue muliticopter system and presented together with a method used to describe and estimate motion of a target object. The estimator used for the state estimation is the extended Kalman filter.Finally, experiments of the system are conducted at a test field to demonstrate how it can be utilized and to prove the viability of the complete system. The experiments verify that the autonomous search and rescue multicoper can contribute in a search operation using an observer to spot for objects.
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Wang, Zhelong. "Design study of an earthquake rescue robot." Thesis, Durham University, 2004. http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/2811/.
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This thesis describes the design of a brush robot for earthquake rescue and for traversing pipes with varied cross sectional shape. Earthquake rescue is a very dangerous, difficult and challenging task, in which emergency services rescue people who are trapped in man-made structures, such as collapsed buildings after an earthquake. The building collapse may have been caused by natural or man-made events. This technology is also applicable to tunnel collapse and land slips. The focus of this work is finding the location of victims and provision of primary life support and communications. To illustrate the concept of the robot, the thesis first discusses the current development of rescue robots and pipe robots. Then the thesis focuses on the description of a brush based pipe robot, developed by the University of Durham, which would be used as the basis of an earthquake rescue robot. The concept of the robot was illustrated and compared with other current rescue robots and pipe robots. After outlining the advantages of this robot concept, a robot body shape change theory was proposed and theoretical simulations were used to verily the practicality of the robot shape change theory. The thesis also illustrates the design of the working principle and design of a robot sensor, which was subsequently used in the robot shape change experiments. The robot body shape change experiments and the experimental results are described and discussed. The experimental results illustrate the robot concept and support the robot body shape change theory. Chapter 6 focuses on the brush unit traction investigation, bristle theory and mathematical model. Furthermore, the bristle theory and mathematical model were used to explain the variation of traction force in the traction experiments.
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Soylemez, Emrah. "Gis-based Search Theory Application For Search And Rescue Planning." Master's thesis, METU, 2007. http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12608362/index.pdf.
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Search and Rescue (SAR) operations aim at finding missing objects with minimum
time in a determined area. There are fundamentally two problems in these
operations. The first problem is assessing highly reliable probability distribution
maps, and the second is determining the search pattern that sweeps the area from
the air as fast as possible.
In this study, geographic information systems (GIS) and multi criteria decision
analysis (MCDA) are integrated and a new model is developed based upon Search
Theory in order to find the position of the missing object as quickly as possible
with optimum resource allocation. Developed model is coded as a search planning
tool for the use of search and rescue planners. Inputs of the model are last known
position of the missing object and related clues about its probable position.
In the developed model, firstly related layers are arranged according to their
priorities based on subjective expert opinion. Then a multi criteria decision method
is selected and each data layer is multiplied by a weight corresponding to search
expert&rsquo<br>s rank. Then a probability map is established according to the result of
MCDA methods. In the second phase, the most suitable search patterns used in
literature are applied based on established probability map. The developed model
is a new approach to shortening the time in SAR operations and finding the
suitable search pattern for the data of different crashes.
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Mosesson, Yael, and Petra Nyqvist. "Tracking with search and rescue dog equipage." Thesis, Linköpings universitet, Kommunikations- och transportsystem, 2015. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-119940.
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Sjöfartsverket ansvarar för insatser när människor är i, eller befaras vara i sjönöd. För att utveckla metoderna för efterforskning av försvunna människor i sjönöd har Sjöfartsverket tillsammans med Sjöräddningssällskapet, Svenska Brukshundklubben och Myndigheten för samhällsskydd och beredskap (MSB) startat ett projekt tillsammans med räddningshundar som specialutbildats för att agera i sjömiljö, så kallade sjöräddningshundekipage. Syftet har varit att genom intervjuer och observationer ta reda på vilka sökmetoder som används för eftersök av försvunna människor på land med räddningshundar för att sedan överföra sökmetoderna så att de kan användas till sjöss för eftersök med hjälp av sjöräddningshundar. Resultatet visar att det finns ett antal olika sökmetoder för efterforskning av försvunna personer på land och den metod som används vid ett eftersök bestäms utifrån ett antal faktorer såsom väder, vind, terräng och tidsfaktorn. De sökmetoder som används vid eftersök på land är bland annat närsök, frisök, slalomsök, z-sök, parallellsök och rutsök. Författarna har, för att besvara studiens syfte följt tre steg för att överföra sökmetoder från land till sjöss. Av det som framkommit i resultatet har en jämförelse gjorts mellan förutsättningarna för sök på land och till sjöss samt att en jämförelse gjorts mellan sökmetoderna, för att visa på skillnader mellan sökmetoderna på land och till sjöss. De metoder som föreslås att utvecklas är Z-sök, slalomsök och parallellsök.
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Mardell, James. "Assisting search and rescue through visual attention." Thesis, Imperial College London, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/24156.
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With the ubiquity of visual data being recorded, we now have the ability to view vast amounts of visual imagery. However, searching through imagery for an indeterminate target in tasks such as security baggage inspection, medical scan screening and Wilderness Search and Rescue (WiSAR), remains problematic for most people and cannot be automated. If the imagery was presented to account for the way in which humans cognitively process such visuals, then the success of these tasks might be improved. This thesis proposes and evaluates a series of presentation methods to manipulate imagery to seek this improvement. A series of user experience studies were conducted. Given the task of searching for inconspicuous 'lost' human beings in a WiSAR scenario, subjects observed multiple sequences of aerial photography embodied in six specially designed presentations. These presentations were designed following an analysis of existing visual attention literature. The first study to evaluate these methods compared the standard live (i.e. scrolling) view of the terrain to a static representation. This static portrayal of aerial search yielded an improved success rate for target location. The second method adapted the static representation, by segmenting the image into smaller tiles that were displayed for correspondingly shorter durations, while the third method enlarged the segmented tiles to fill the display. With increased segmentation, the ability for subjects to locate targets was broadly unaffected. The fourth study investigated two methods that use eye-tracking equipment to dynamically enhance the display. Contained within this thesis are the findings from these four studies, which include the analysis of each subject's performance, opinions and eye-movement behaviour. The inspiration for each presentation method was the development of a proposed model for visual search. Ultimately, the static method is revealed as the most effective for the chosen scenario of WiSAR.
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Hammerseth, Vegard B. "Autonomous Unmanned Aerial Vehicle In Search And Rescue." Thesis, Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet, Institutt for teknisk kybernetikk, 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:no:ntnu:diva-22880.
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This report presents a way of using autonomous drones to enhance search and rescue operations and takes the first steps in bringing the system to life. By using autonomous drones, less experience is required by the rescue personnel and drone specialists become excessive in this matter. Due to autonomy a drone can operate outside a valid radio link. Hence, when signal is lost, the craft can continue to search, buffer the information and send it when the link becomes active. By creating affordable drones the threshold decreases for deploying a unit in bad weather or other missions where the feedback is more important than drone return.Because the drones must sweep a large area, an aeroplane is the best suitable airframe. To generate less drag and increase stability; long, slender and thin-as-possible wings are recommended. To achieve aerodynamic stability, non-swept wings and a small positive dihedral angle is also advised. The wings should be attached on top of a slender and small-as-possible fuselage. However, due to the difficulties in landing and vulnerabilities related to this, a flying wing which obey the same design requirements, may be a better choice. A prototype for a flying wing made in expanded polypropylene was put together and tested. It proved to be resilient, able to withstand significant abuse, quickly recover to its former structure and be repaired in minutes. Highly convenient for various landing areas.An attitude and heading reference system (AHRS) is required to tell which orientation a vehicle may have. An affordable version has been realised by using micro electro mechanical sensors and a micro controller. Since the vehicle must orient itself within a search area, a NAVSTAR Global Positioning System (GPS) and way-point approach were drones are pre-programmed to follow a path has been developed together with a complete flight system.The drones search path must be programmed automatically from the given search area by the rescue personnel. This requires software and active communication link between a ground station and drones. An intuitive graphical user interface has been developed and verified to work by marking an area in the program and send coordinates over a commercial communication link to a prototype drone.A thermal imaging camera can be used to detect humans. It will make mammals stand out in an environment when viewed in the produced image (thermogram). Together with an arbitrarily threshold limit, the operators can be notified with coordinates when the threshold is reached. An experiment was carried out by placing a human at known coordinates. A drone with self position equipment was sent over the human repeatedly, automatically locating the person and reporting its location. It was concluded that the drone would be within 20 meters radius of the person.The generality and affordability of the airframe, AHRS and vision system can be useful for the university in the years ahead and the threshold for realising applications which uses any of these systems has therefore been reduced. A drone based system like this can enhance search and rescue and assist the majority by saving time, money and lives.
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Gauville, Nicolas. "Coordination de plates-formes robotiques autonomes, en environnement inconnu pour la recherche et le sauvetage." Electronic Thesis or Diss., Université de Lorraine, 2022. http://www.theses.fr/2022LORR0279.
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Cette thèse s'intéresse à l'exploration d'environnements inconnus à l'aide d'une flotte de robots autonomes réactifs. L'exploration autonome est utilisée dans différents domaines, allant des robots aspirateurs aux robots de recherche et de sauvetage utilisés lors de catastrophes naturelles (incendies, éboulements) ou encore dans des contextes militaires. Le travail réalisé au cours de cette thèse a été financé par Safran Electronics & Defense en soutient du projet FURIOUS (FUturs systèmes Robotiques Innovants en tant qu'OUtilS au profit du combattant embarqué et débarqué) de la Direction Générale de l'Armement. Il fait suite au projet Cart-O-Matic, qui était l'un des cinq projets fondés par l'Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR) pour sa participation au concours de robotique "Défi CAROTTE" organisé par la Délégation générale pour l'armement, et qui a remporté ce concours. De très nombreuses approches de l'exploration autonome existent dans l'état de l'art. Dans cette thèse, nous avons cherché à explorer efficacement un environnement intérieur en limitant les calculs et communications. Réduire la quantité de calculs nécessaires permet d'économiser les batteries des robots et d'utiliser plus facilement un grand nombre de robots. Réduire les communications permet une économie d'énergie, mais est également intéressant dans un cadre militaire, de façon à limiter les risques de compromettre la présence des robots. Un algorithme d'exploration local a été proposé, permettant de réduire significativement communications et calculs tout en maintenant un haut niveau de performances et publié aux 27èmes Journées Francophones sur les Systèmes Multi-Agents. Nous avons ensuite proposé une nouvelle approche par carte sémantique, permettant de segmenter l'environnement en pièces et couloirs, ainsi qu'un nouvel algorithme d'exploration par contraintes. Cette nouvelle approche permet aux robots de mieux comprendre l'environnement dans lequel ils évoluent, et de réduire les erreurs de localisation et de perception propres aux capteurs qui les équipent. Notre approche par contrainte permet aux opérateurs de mieux définir les objectifs et priorités des robots, répondant ainsi aux besoins opérationnels de différentes missions, notamment dans le cadre de missions de recherche et de sauvetage ou de soutien militaire<br>This thesis focuses on exploring unknown environments using a group of reactive autonomous robots. Autonomous exploration is used in different domains, from vacuum robots to search and rescue robots used in natural disasters (fires, landslides) or military contexts.The work achieved during this thesis was financed by Safran Electronics & Defense in support of the FURIOUS project (FUturs Innovative Robotic Systems as Tools for the benefit of the embarked and disembarked fighter) of the French General Direction of Armaments. It follows the Cart-O-Matic project, which was one of the five projects founded by the French National Research Agency (ANR) for its participation in the robotics competition "Défi CAROTTE" organized by the "Direction Générale pour l'Armement," and which won this competition.Many approaches to autonomous exploration exist in the state of the art. In this thesis, we have tried to efficiently explore an indoor environment while limiting the amount of computation and communication. Reducing the amount of computation required saves robot batteries and makes it easier to use a large number of robots. Reducing communications saves energy but is also interesting in a military setting to limit the risks of compromising the presence of robots. A local exploration algorithm has been proposed to significantly reduce communications and computations while maintaining a high level of performance and was published at the 27th Journées Francophones sur les Systèmes Multi-Agents.We then proposed a new semantic map approach, allowing us to segment the environment into rooms and corridors, and a new constraint-based exploration algorithm. This new approach allows robots to understand better the environment in which they evolve and to reduce localization and perception errors specific to the sensors which equip them. Our constraint-based approach allows operators to define robot objectives and priorities better, thus meeting the operational needs of various missions, including search and rescue and military support
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Rieger, Michael. "Research and development of a rescue robot end-effector." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/5479.
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Includes abstract.<br>Includes bibliographical references.<br>This report details the research, design, development and testing of an end-effector system for use on an Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) robot which is in development in the Robotics and Agents Research Laboratory (RARL) at the University of Cape Town (UCT). This is the 5th generation Mobile Robot Platform (MRP) that UCT has developed ... codenamed ‘Ratel’. USAR robots used to be mainly of the observation type, but new robots (including UCT’s Ratel MRP) are being developed to deal with inherently dynamic, complex and unpredictable disaster response situations, particularly related to object manipulation and gripping. In order to actively interact with the environment, a flexible and robust gripping system is vital. [an] end-effector solution ... was developed for the Ratel manipulator arm to fulfil these functions.
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Zhuang, Peng Shang Yi. "Wireless sensor network aided search and rescue in trails." Diss., Columbia, Mo. : University of Missouri-Columbia, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/10355/4626.
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Thesis (M.S.) University of Missouri-Columbia, 2006.<br>The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on August 29, 2007) Includes bibliographical references.
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Andersen, Håvard Lægreid. "Path Planning for Search and Rescue Mission using Multicopters." Thesis, Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet, Institutt for teknisk kybernetikk, 2014. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:no:ntnu:diva-25926.
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This thesis considers path planning for a low-cost multicopter used in the searchpart of a search and rescue mission. Search patterns or trajectories are consideredand evaluated through simulations in MATLAB. How to place the onboard camerain order to cover as much area as possible and which altitude that gives the mostarea coverage without making the subjects too small to detect is discussed.The proposed search patterns are implemented in the existing software structureused in this project. The implementation is tested using a ArduPilot software inthe loop simulator, and by flight tests using a hexacopter.
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Redfern, Anthony. "Radar simulator training for effective maritime search and rescue." Thesis, University of Plymouth, 1987. http://hdl.handle.net/10026.1/2213.
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The main effort in locating and rescuing survivors of a maritime incident is borne by merchant shipping. This research shows that search and rescue is a task that will face most seafarers, but as they generally lack the necessary levels of skill and knowledge required the task will often be poorly performed. A remedy to this unsatisfactory situation lies in proper training and guidance for ships' officers. This thesis evaluates, using illuminative techniques, the first simulator course devised to provide such training. The evaluation will be of particular use to others called upon to provide similar training. It also shows a requirement for the adoption of improved procedures in merchant ship searches, makes relevant recommendations, and identifies areas for further research. More significantly the study has allowed, through simulation, an opportunity unparalleled in the real situation to assess the guidance contained in the Merchant Ship Search and Rescue Manual (MERSAR). This International Maritime Organization manual is the primary aid available to seafarers facing search and rescue responsibilities. The assessment concludes there is scope for extensive amendment to MERSAR amounting to overall rather than piecemeal revision. Positive recommendations are made, particularly in the areas of communications, control and co-ordination. It is anticipated that this original research will have an important role to play in MERSAR's revision, and through this improve the effectiveness of maritime search and rescue.
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Schurr, Naomi D. (Naomi Danika). "Inferring beliefs for search and rescue from natural language." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/120439.
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Thesis: S.M., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2018.<br>Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.<br>Includes bibliographical references (pages 97-101).<br>A learned natural language robotic interface can allow a human operator to intuitively communicate instructions to a robot. A number of models, including probabilistic grounding graphs, have been used to ground natural language input to the real-world tasks a robot must perform. In this thesis, I provide two extensions to existing work in grounding natural language instructions. First, I apply an existing probabilistic grounding graph model in the context of outdoor search and rescue, introducing a new set of groundings to allow a continuous cost map to be inferred from the natural language. Second, I incorporate pool-based active learning into the training of the probabilistic grounding graph model, which shows promise for reducing the number of labeled examples needed to train the model.<br>by Naomi D. Schurr.<br>S.M.
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Meredith, Andre Paul. "An unmanned aircraft system for maritime search and rescue." Thesis, Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/6720.
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Thesis (MScEng (Electrical and Electronic Engineering))--University of Stellenbosch, 2011.<br>ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Search and Rescue is an essential service provided by States and Militaries to
search for, locate and rescue survivors of accidents and incidents. Civil Search and
Rescue utilizes a system of well-trained professionals or volunteers, an effective
Search and Rescue organization, supported by industry and other providers of
infrastructure and assets. The service is rendered to save the lives of civilian
individuals in imminent danger of losing their lives. Military (Combat) Search and
Rescue is provided by militaries to save the lives of military practitioners in a similar
predicament. In addition, Search and Rescue is performed over land and over the
sea.
All forms of Search and Rescue rely on capable, specialized assets for efficiency en
affectivity. Assets are specified and chosen on the grounds of various factors,
amongst others operating environment, operational profile, performance and special
abilities.
This thesis has determined the need for a Search and Rescue asset, capable of
performing effective and efficient Search and Rescue over the entire national
maritime Search and Rescue Region, up to the Region extremities. An analysis was
performed to prove this deficit, and quantify the key performance and special
equipment requirements for such an asset. An analysis was also performed which
proves that an Unmanned Aircraft System should be an ideal choice to meet this
need. Finally, an Unmanned Aircraft System concept was specified that could
potentially meet this need.<br>AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Soek en Redding is ‘n essentiële diens wat deur State en militêre organisasies
gebied word om oorlewendes van ongelukke en insidente te soek, op te spoor en na
veiligheid te bring. Siviele Soek en Redding maak gebruik van ‘n stelsel van goedopgeleide
professionele persone, sowel as vrywilligers, asook ‘n effektiewe Soek en
Reddingsorganisasie, ondersteun deur die industrie en ander voorsieners van
infrastruktuur en toerusting. Derglike dienste word daargestel om die lewens van
siviele persone, wie se lewens in gevaar is, te red. Militêre Soek en Redding word
deur militêre organisasies daargetel om die lewens van militêre persone, wie in
gevaar is, te red. Soek en Redding word oor land sowel as oor die see uitgevoer.
Alle vorms van Soek en Redding maak staat op die beskikbaarheid van
gespesialiseerde toerusting met gespesialiseerde gebruiksaanwending, vir
maksimale effektiwiteit en doeltreffendheid. Toerusting word gekies op grond van
verskeie faktore, onder meer die gebruiksomgewing, operasionele profiele, verlangde
prestasie en spesiale vermoëns.
Hierdie tesis het die behoefte aan ‘n gespesialiseerde Soek en Redding platform, wat
die vermoë het om effektiewe en doeltreffende Soek en Redding uit te voer oor die
hele nationale Soek en Redding Gebied, tot en met die ekstreme daarvan, vasgestel.
‘n Analise is uitgevoer om hierdie tekortkoming uit te wys, asook om die sleutel
prestasie- en gespesialiseerde toerustingbehoeftes vir so ‘n platform te kwantifiseer.
‘n Verdere analise is uitgevoer om te bewys dat ‘n Onbemande Vliegtuig die beste
opsie sou wees vir ‘n platform om aan hierdie behoeftes te voldoen. Ten slotte is ‘n
konsep vir ‘n Onbemande Vliegtuig Stelsel voorgetsel wat potensieël hierdie
behoefte sou kon vervul.
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Ambrose-Thurman, Andrew Michael Luke. "Autonomous, collaborative, unmanned aerial vehicles for search and rescue." Thesis, Durham University, 2014. http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/10652/.
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Search and Rescue is a vitally important subject, and one which can be improved through the use of modern technology. This work presents a number of advances aimed towards the creation of a swarm of autonomous, collaborative, unmanned aerial vehicles for land-based search and rescue. The main advances are the development of a diffusion based search strategy for route planning, research into GPS (including the Durham Tracker Project and statistical research into altitude errors), and the creation of a relative positioning system (including discussion of the errors caused by fast-moving units). Overviews are also given of the current state of research into both UAVs and Search and Rescue.
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Lin, Rongbin Lanny. "UAV intelligent path planning for wilderness search and rescue /." Diss., CLICK HERE for online access, 2009. http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/ETD/image/etd2906.pdf.
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