ICARUS

The ICARUS project develops an unmanned search and rescue technologies for detecting, locating and rescuing humans. The objective of the team of robots is primarily gathering data.

In major crisis, a primary task of fire and rescue services is the search for survivors at the site of the incident. This is a complex and dangerous task, which frequently, causes deaths among the managers of the humanitarian crisis. The introduction of unmanned rescue and search devices can speed up rescue and become a valuable tool to save human lives.

The Autonomous Systems group at Eurecat was the leader of all the developments related to the robotic platforms, including up to 10 aerial, ground and marine vehicles equipped with sensors for the detection of victims. The unmanned SAR devices are foreseen to be the first explorers of the area, as well as in situ supporters to act as safeguards to human personnel. They are equipped with sensors that detect the presence of humans and a wide array of other types of sensors for localization and navigation. At the base station, the data is processed and combined with geographical information, thus enhancing the situational awareness of the personnel leading the operation with in-situ processed data that can improve decision-making.

Particularly, Eurecat contributed with the developments of a multirotor system that was optimized for search and rescue (SAR) operations. The payload includes a visible and thermal imagers, providing enhanced awareness in the field and real-time victim detection, tracking and geolocalization. It also offers fast mapping capabilities in several frequency bands (RGB, grayscale, thermal) and orientations, all in one single flight, avoiding multiple missions over the same area. Automatic collision detection, real time target tracking and the possibility to carry and deliver a survival kit up to 1kg complements the advanced features of this state-of-the-art robotics tool.

Moreover, Eurecat also developed the interoperability that ensure the collaboration of the heterogeneous fleet of unmanned vehicles and shared operation from a control interface (C4I), which informs the team in charge of the mission of the real dangers that await, hence increasing the probabilities of successful rescues and the saving of lives.