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Portuguese researchers develop maritime search and rescue technology
According to the news website Ciência 2.0, a team from the Institute for Systems and Computer Engineering – Technology and Science (INESC TEC) is leading the development of maritime search and rescue technology. This technology is being developed as part of project ICARUS – Integrated Components for Assisted Rescue and Unmanned Search operations, and will be demonstrated in Portugal in the summer of next year.
The initiative gathers 24 partners from ten countries and its goal is to create robotic devices which can be applied in search and rescue operations on land and at sea. The project, which started in 2012, will be completed next year. The tools to be used in a maritime environment will be demonstrated next year in a simulated disaster scenario off of Lisbon’s naval base.
“ICARUS will not provide solutions for everything, but it is an important contribution to make rescue operations faster and more effective. Several institutions are already interested in it”, states Aníbal Matos, the researcher leading the project at INESC TEC.
A robotic life raft has been developed in Portugal to complement the operation of specialised teams “in adverse weather conditions, when the sea is heavy, in difficult access areas or at night”. These robots can move, detect and avoid obstacles using technology based on radars, lasers, acoustic systems and cameras.
For more information on the ICARUS, go to the project’s official webpage.
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