WO2015144947A1

WO2015144947A1 - Rescue system

Info

Publication number: WO2015144947A1
Application number: PCT/ES2015/000040
Authority: WO
Inventors: José Manuel ANDUJAR MARQUEZ; Andrés Mejias Borrero; Marco Antonio Marquez Sanchez; María Reyes Sanchez Herrera
Original assignee: Universidad De Huelva
Priority date: 2014-03-28
Filing date: 2015-03-26
Publication date: 2015-10-01
Also published as: ES2549464B1; ES2549464A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a rescue system, for emergencies close to the coast, comprising: at least one flying automated device, RPAS (4) (drone, multicopter etc.); a client rescue sub-system (2) that identifies the position of the emergency and transmits the coordinates to the RPAS (4), said RPAS having a sub-system (1) of flying devices that manages the transfer thereof to the point of the emergency, and the release of the aid cargo; and a, for example wireless, communications sub-system (3) between the two. The position of the emergency can be calculated on the basis of the azimuth and distance measurements calculated by observation binoculars (200). The RPAS (4) can comprise a video camera (120), speaker (140) or strobe lights (160).

Description

DESCRIPTION

SALVAMENTO SYSTEM SECTOR OF THE TECHNIQUE

The present invention relates to a complete system, capable of reaching a person in danger of drowning (bathers, float crew, small boats, etc.) emergency equipment such as a life jacket, from a base or a rescue post located on the ground, by means of a robotic flying device, scientifically called RPAS (Remotely Piloted Aerial / Aircraft / Air System) and that adopts in society in general names such as UAV, UAS, VANT, multicopter or drone, according to its variant (hereinafter will adopt the generic name of RPAS). The system is able to reach the exact point where the person is in danger of drowning automatically, keep the flight over its position and launch the emergency material at the precise point where it is located. The RPAS may have a video camera that sends a real-time image (preferably with sound) to the ground rescue station of the person in danger of drowning from a low height. At the same time, the RPAS can have a sound receiver and a speaker, which allows the rescue post to send voice instructions.

The rescue system supports both a single-position configuration (a single RPAS) and a configuration with multiple RPAS that work in cooperation to cover a wider coastal area. The exact position of the person in danger of drowning is determined by a control system located at the rescue station on the ground, supported by other systems as described in this document.

STATE OF THE TECHNIQUE

Traditionally, the help on the beaches and coastal areas of people in danger of drowning is carried out by specialized personnel (lifeguards) who have surveillance posts located along the coastal area, and under the jurisdiction of the relevant organizations (in Spain normally the Red Cross coordinated with Maritime Rescue) that cover this public service.

This service consists of a human component (first responders, medical personnel, etc.) and a set of material resources, such as inflatable boats, jet skis or individual assistance systems (personal floats, life jackets, etc.) that the lifeguard makes reach the person in danger of drowning either by swimming or using motorized resources such as those already mentioned. However, these means require a total performance of the human component at all times and can be slow. The time needed to reach the person in danger of drowning a first aid for their survival depends on factors such as the orography of the coastal area, availability of nearby rescue boats, distance from the relief team to the media and the area where the person is in danger of drowning, etc.

Also on the coasts there are equipment for receiving distress signals from boats. When one is appreciated, an assistance boat or helicopter is sent that rescues or assists people at risk.

This entails a response time that is sometimes too much. Likewise, when the emergency includes adverse weather, tidal or swell conditions, it puts at risk the personnel that comes to the emergency. The applicant does not know of any coastal or maritime rescue system that applies principles similar to those of the invention.

BRIEF EXPLANATION OF THE INVENTION Coastal maritime rescue services, based on observation towers and lifeguards on land, must cover extensive coastal areas, to provide assistance to bathers and other users in positions relatively close to the coast. The time that elapses since a lifeguard locates a person in danger of drowning until he receives help at sea is a critical factor, since it its survival depends in many cases. This response time can also be strongly influenced by the orography of the area, such as the presence of rocks and other obstacles. The invention presented here optimizes the response time by using RPAS that immediately and directly carry a first aid to the person in danger of drowning in the form of an automatic inflation lifejacket.

This invention makes it possible to eliminate some of the factors that do delay the classic method (usually consisting of motorized inflatable boats, or jet skis) from the response time of a rescue system, such as terrain orography or preparation time or the availability of the rescue boat.

From the point of view of the orography, the RPAS can arrive in a straight line to the position of the person in danger of drowning or vessel at risk, regardless of the obstacles that are in that path, and that are easily avoidable by adjusting of the flight height on the way.

The present invention, by its characteristics, optimizes the time needed to reach the person in danger of drowning a first aid, in the form of a personal rescue device, until the rescue personnel who come to their rescue can arrive.

This is done through a computer system on the ground (rescue client subsystem) that performs the necessary calculations, and that programs and sends an automatic flight RPAS that brings emergency material to the person or persons in danger of drowning, in addition to being able to provide the relief team with a direct view of the person in danger of drowning through real-time video, and even allowing him to give relevant instructions and information to the person in danger or to other rescue personnel. In the most complete embodiments it has a high degree of automation, and incorporates all the necessary hardware and software components so that it can be easily handled by non-specialized personnel. The invention consists of the elements defined in the first claim, although it has several secondary embodiments as indicated in the dependent claims. Specifically, the rescue system consists of at least one robotic flying device, RPAS (drone, multicopter or others), with a flight device subsystem that manages its transfer to the emergency point indicated by a rescue client subsystem which is the in charge of identifying the emergency position and transmitting the coordinates to the RPAS through a communications subsystem, for example wireless. The flight device subsystem also decides on the release of the relief load.

For the location of the emergency observation binoculars can be provided with means to detect the distance and azimuth of the emergency with respect to the lifeguard who carries them, which are part of the rescue client subsystem. As this subsystem knows the position of the lifeguard or observation tower, because they are fixed or have their own geolocation system, the rescue client subsystem can calculate the emergency coordinates. Preferably, the rescue client subsystem comprises a base microphone and a wireless sound transmission system, and the flight device subsystem comprises a wireless audio receiver connected to a speaker.

It is also preferred that the flight device subsystem has a camcorder and a wireless audio / video transmission system for broadcast to a video / audio receiver arranged in the rescue client subsystem, which issues it by a lifeguard computer or control center. The camcorder can be mounted on a self-stabilized stand by means of an electronic management unit, and comprise night vision means.

In addition, the RPAS may have elements that facilitate its location, by the person at risk (which gives certainty that the relief is coming soon) or by the emergency services that come to rescue the person at risk, who They can locate it more easily. These can be strobe lights or the speaker itself. DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a better understanding of the invention, the following figures are included. Figure 1. General view of the system of the invention where its main components are indicated.

Figure 2. Diagram of the components of an RPAS of the flight device subsystem.

Figure 3. Enlarged view of the different components of the rescue client subsystem.

EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

Next, an embodiment of the invention is briefly described, as an illustrative and non-limiting example thereof, with reference to the attached figures, in which each RPAS corresponds to a multicopter. The embodiment of the system of the invention shown in Figure 1 of this document preferably comprises the following main elements:

Flight device subsystem (1).

Rescue customer subsystem (2).

Communications Subsystem (3)

Flight device subsystem (1)

It is the subsystem that manages the RPAS (4), directing it to the emergency point and deciding where and when the cargo is released with the emergency material. This will preferably be launched at a low height to better control the drop point. This height can be configured from the rescue client subsystem depending on the weather conditions. A strong wind situation will require a lower height, but not too low to avoid putting the RPAS at risk (4) which would prevent assistance to the person in danger. The emergency material will normally be a quick-inflation life jacket, preferably that it automatically inflates on contact with water or shortly after be launched by the RPAS (4), although it may include other salvage elements and auxiliary equipment such as flares or signaling buoys, concentrated foods or isotonic liquid, etc. For their part, the RPAS (4) will incorporate all the necessary elements to receive the flight parameters when they are in the ground base, preferably wirelessly. This allows you to quickly program the RPAS (4) and then start the support mission. This will consist of a microcontrolled system for wireless reception of flight parameters (100). This system will be based on a microprocessor board that is mounted on the RPAS itself (4), with connection to the system network (Wifi or equivalent technology), and that makes these parameters available to the navigation control system.

The RPAS (4) may autonomously reach the point where the person is in danger of drowning, to maintain the position on it and then return to the base station. This will consist of a navigation control system (110) based on a GPS (111) or other geolocation system (radio beacons, ...). The system can follow a route based on the coordinates it receives on land. Preferably, the RPAS (4) will be able to send in real time a video image (with sound) of the area where the person is in danger of drowning (taken from the flight position).

For this, it will have a digital camcorder (120), preferably with a remotely manipulable zoom, for example through the flight control system (180) from the user interface, or an automatic zoom that regulates the image once identified by a operator or by an image recognition system the person at risk. It is recommended that you understand night vision elements. The camcorder (120) will preferably be mounted on a self-stabilized support (121) by means of an electronic administration unit (122) and may have a microphone.

This provides a two-axis stabilization of the camcorder (120), which allows to obtain very sharp and detailed images of the area where the person is in danger of drowning who needs help. For this, the RPAS (4) will comprise a wireless audio / video transmission system (130). The receivers will be installed in the rescue client subsystems (2), thus providing the image and sound from the RPAS (4) on the computer of the rescue client subsystem.

The RPAS (4) will also allow you to receive a sound stream wirelessly and play it through a self-powered speaker (140) or connected to a small integrated amplifier (142). For this, the RPAS (4) will comprise a wireless audio receiver (141), which will receive the sound from the base microphone of the lifeguard who activated the mission or the control center. Thus, the person in danger of drowning can receive instructions, and know that relief is on its way.

The load securing system (150) will be electronically controlled to release the load, usually of a small size, by means of servomotors that will release the retentions. The servomotors will be controlled from the flight control system (180), by means of specific channels for it so that they do not interfere with the other functions of the flight control system (180). It is advisable to facilitate the visual location of the RPAS (4), already simple because of its low flight height, using one or more strobe lights (160) all horizon, and eventual sounds through the speaker (140).

The RPAS (4) will comprise the consequent engines (170) activated and controlled by the engine control system (171), at the command of the flight control system (180), as well as the corresponding power supply of all systems .

Rescue customer subsystem (2)

The lifeguard uses a rescue client subsystem (2) to determine the exact position of the person in danger of drowning who is sighting through his observation binoculars, (200), which preferably will have laser telemetry and compass or compass to correctly locate the emergency coordinates from the position, known, of the lifeguard post or observation tower. The distance and orientation will be introduced by the lifeguard, or transmitted directly by the observation binoculars (200), on a computer (210), tablet digital or similar instrument, client with the control software to calculate the GPS coordinates of the emergency, and calculate the flight parameters, (altitude, destination, base station of return, maintenance of rescue position) to be sent to the device subsystem of flight (1).

The user interface should be simple to enter the fundamental orders without requiring great training.

The computer (210) will select the RPAS (4), if more than one is available, which will perform the service. Normally the one that identifies the person closest to the danger, or more prepared according to the parameters of the emergency (number of people, ...) or the state of the RPAS (4).

The computer (210) will have access to the RPAS database (4) of the system (resident concurrently in all client computers), to have the units that are currently operational and their conditions of loading and fuel or battery If any RPAS (4) is not operational (for example for maintenance reasons) it will be marked in the database as "non-operational". Likewise, if an RPAS (4) is performing a service, or must replace its load, it is marked during the duration of the mission as "non-operational", thus avoiding that a new support service that coincides with time may attempt to use an RPAS (4) already in service or empty. The computer (210) will also proceed to the wireless transmission of data to the microcontrolled system of wireless reception of flight parameters (100) of the RPAS (4) chosen to perform the service.

The rescue client subsystem (2) will comprise a video / audio receiver (220) that receives from the RPAS (4) active the image and audio of the camcorder (120) located on board. The video / audio receiver (220) is connected to the computer (210) that will display the video flow on the screen and provide the sound coming from the RPAS (4), preferably filtered to reduce the noise of the RPAS motors (4). Thus, the invention will allow the person at risk to give information about their situation (cramps, hypothermia, wounds, ...). When the RPAS (4) has a loudspeaker (140), and wireless sound transmission system (231), the lifeguard can communicate with the person in danger of remote drowning, giving instructions and safety of his prompt assistance by his own base microphone (230).

Communications Subsystem (3)

The communications subsystem (3) will be formed by a wireless network that covers the land area that comprises the previous subsystems. Its mission is to maintain connectivity between the rescue client subsystems (2) and the flight device subsystems (1) of the RPAS (4) when they are on the ground (to program their flight plan and give the order to initiate the rescue service). A private network with Wifi or similar technology perfectly covers the needs of the robotic assistance system for coastal maritime rescue. The communications subsystem (3) may be carried out by radio in the event of changing the emergency coordinates during the RPAS trip (4) to the emergency point, for example because the tide or currents have dragged the person in situation of emergency. Example of operating mode:

When a lifeguard, from an observation tower, sighs with the observation binoculars (200), that a swimmer or other user may require assistance in the water, mark the distance from their observation post using the laser rangefinder integrated in the binoculars (These binoculars are a product already existing in the state of the art). At the same time, the observation angle or azimuth is marked, a value provided by an electronic compass that is placed on the binoculars housing, as shown in Figure 1.

The client computer (210) of the rescue client subsystem (2) located in the lifeguard's observation tower calculates, based on these two data and the known GPS position (Global Positioning System) of the observer lifeguard, the swimmer's GPS position observed. In addition, it calculates the distance from each of the base stations where the RPAS (4) of the flight device subsystem (positions also known) are located to the person in danger of drowning, automatically choosing from this data the RPAS (4 ) closest available. The computer (210) generates the flight parameters, sending them via the communications system (3) (a Wifi network) to the selected RPAS (4), which is programmed and begins the mission immediately, moving in a straight line to the place of the incident.

Once it reaches the position of the person in danger of drowning, the load with the life jacket or other rescue device is released from the RPAS (4). The lifeguard can see the swimmer using the RPAS camcorder (120) (4), and can instruct him by voice from the observation post. Once in contact with water, the vest (or other rescue device) is automatically inflated, using the bottle of compressed air that it incorporates (this vest is an existing product in the market).

If the lifeguard or control center so indicates on the computer through the user interface, the RPAS (4) can remain in flight at the place of the incident, either static if it is a multicopter, or in circles if it is another type of drone, until a rescue boat or motorcycle arrives, thus facilitating these means to arrive at the scene of the incident by directly observing the position held by the RPAS (4), which also incorporates a strobe light pilot (160) to facilitate Your sighting Finally, the RPAS (4) returns to its base, thus terminating that rescue mission.

It is also possible to place a plurality of RPAS (4) on a single base per beach, so that the rescue client subsystem (2) transmits to that base the azimuth and distance, as well as the position of the lifeguard (which can be detected by a geolocation system specific to the lifeguard or by the coordinates of his observation tower), and this base includes the RPAS and emergency monitoring equipment. A single control center could manage several RPAS (4) and remotely manage emergency equipment over a long coastline. In this way, the lifeguard is released to remain alert to new emergencies, or to go by their means to attend to the person or people at risk.

Likewise, the control center will be able to respond to emergencies farther from the coast (within the scope of the RPAS (4)) that are received by other means, such as distress calls from vessels transferred by Maritime Rescue, which normally already will have obtained the coordinates of the emergency.

Claims

1- Rescue system for emergencies near the coast, characterized in that it comprises at least one robotic flying device, RPAS (4); a rescue client subsystem (2) that identifies the emergency position and transmits the coordinates to the RPAS (4), which has a flight device subsystem (1) that manages its transfer to the emergency point and the release of the relief load, and a communications subsystem (3) between the two. 2- Rescue system according to claim one, characterized in that the RPAS (4) is a multicopter.

3- Rescue system, according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the rescue client subsystem (2) comprises observation binoculars (200) with means for detecting the distance and azimuth of the emergency with respect to the lifeguard or observation tower .

4- Rescue system, according to claim 3, characterized in that the rescue client subsystem (2) calculates the emergency coordinates from the distance and the azimuth, as well as the position of the lifeguard or observation tower.

5- Rescue system, according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the rescue client subsystem (2) comprises a base microphone (230) and a wireless sound transmission system (231), and the flight device subsystem (1) comprises a wireless audio receiver (141) and a speaker (140).

6- Rescue system, according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises a camcorder (120) in the RPAS (4) and a wireless audio / video transmission system (130) in the flight device subsystem (1 ), as well as a video / audio receiver (220) in the rescue client subsystem (2).

7- Rescue system according to claim 6, characterized in that the camcorder (120) is mounted on a self-stabilized support (121) by means of an electronic administration unit (122). 8- Rescue system according to any of claims 6 or 7, characterized in that the camcorder (120) comprises night vision means. 9- Rescue system, according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the communications subsystem (3) is wireless.

10- Rescue system, according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises strobe lights (160) in the subsystem of flight devices (1).