Maritime Search and Rescue (SAR) is without doubt among the
most challenging tasks that rescue agencies must perform. Attempting to locate
victims in dark and stormy water over a wide area before they succumb to the
environment is a very difficult task at best. A consortium of European NATO
members have banded together to develop a system that allows various unmanned
systems and their associated sensors to be able to communicate with each other
and combine their sensor data over a cooperative network.
The Integrated Components for Assisted Rescue and Unmanned Search
Operations (ICARUS) program has shown great promise following sea trials according
to a presentation developed by Mr. Alfredo Martins of the Portuguese Institute
for Systems and Computer Engineering (ResearchGate, 2016). Among the many
systems involved in the ICARUS trails is a dedicated IR sensor that is being
developed specifically for detecting humans in hazardous environments (Martins, 2014).
To meet this demanding requirement, a team of researchers (De
Cubber et al., n.d.) determined that the optimal exteroceptive sensor will
demonstrate ultra-high sensitivity in the mid-IR wavelength range to be a
critical characteristic. The team also recommended the camera will be capable
of 128 x 128 resolution on a small array of quantum cascade detector (QCD)
chips. According to the researchers, QCD chips have shown great promise in
narrow-band IR detection capabilities but suffer from low resolution. To
counter this, the team recommends that the QCD sensor be complemented by a
commercial camera with higher resolution and lower sensitivity. The meet the
size and weight requirements demanded by smaller unmanned systems, the targeted
dimensional goal of this camera would be a weight of 500 grams and measure
12x12x6 cm with a maximum current draw of 5 watts. Given this size, such a
camera could be incorporated into a sensor turret that be sealed to provide
protection from maritime conditions. An added benefit is that this sensor may
be mounted on a variety of unmanned systems and platforms.
Successful results and improvements of Ultra-High sensitive IR
sensors show great promise in locating victims of maritime disasters and
greatly reducing the response time needed to rescue humans in a challenging
environment.
Resources:
Martins, A. (2014). ICARUS.
Retrieved from http://ums2014.inescporto.pt/final-program/ums2014_icarus.pdf
ResearchGate. (2016). Alfredo
Martins. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Alfredo_Martins2
De Cubber, G., Doroftei, D.,
Baudoin, Y., Serrano, D., Chintamani, K., Sabino, R., & Ourevitch, S.
(n.d.). ICARUS: Providing Unmanned Search
and Rescue Tools (Unpublished Dissertation). Royal Military Academy,
Brussels, Belgium.
Mark;
ReplyDeleteGreat post the technologies that go into an imaging devices has been growing in importance because they can lead to wide-range applications. ICARUS aims to develop tools that can assist in the introduction of unmanned Search and Rescue devices to save human lives and to speed up the SAR process. Infrared (IR) technology addresses a broad variety of wireless applications, especially in the areas of sensing and remote control.